NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Poisonous Tree Frog Could Bring Wealth to Tribe in Brazilian Amazon

I came across this article in?last week’s New York Times and thought that it might be of interest.? ? Abstract: An indigenous group from th...

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The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Innovation in nations such as India, with low cost operations and high levels of poverty, can be ada

According to Prahalad, the secret to India’s corporate success is not just the low cost of labour. Instead, it is judicious use of capital investment, a hefty reliance on outsourcing, smart use of technology and creative cost-cutting practices - techniques which can be adapted to other parts of the world. Named by BusinessWeek as ’the most influential thinker on business strategy today’, Prahalad points to the ’bottom of the pyramid’ as the foundation for future bu...

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AME Info (link opens in a new window)

In a pilot program promoting stronger village involvement in poverty alleviation participating poorer communities in four provinces will themselves make local development decisions, manage funds, undertake smaller infrastructure projects and public service improvements. It’s a two-year community-driven development (CDD) program launched yesterday by China’s State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LG...

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china.org.cn (link opens in a new window)

All-Filipino team wins MIT entrepreneurship tilt

A team composed of Filipino students and professionals bagged the top prize in the MIT $100K, an entrepreneurship content run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The 17-year-old contest has facilitated the birth of over 60 companies with an aggregate value of 10.5 billion dollars, generated 1,800 jobs and 175 million dollars in venture capital funding. CentroMigrante won this year’s award with the idea of providing clean and affordable temporary hous...

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inq7.ent (link opens in a new window)

Over 30,000 families living below the poverty line in Asia?s largest slum at Dharavi may soon have insurance cover for their medical expenses and regular health check-ups, thanks to a unique care model. The scheme focuses on partnership between general physicians and the poor families through a health maintenance organisation (HMO), supported by a general insurance company and micro-financing institutions. A year?s research by actuaries has gone into the making of this model, b...

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Business Standard

Have we got a business deal for you! Build a state-of-the-art cell-phone network in one of the world’s poorest countries. And include among your target customers the country’s poorest citizens -- many of whom live without running water, few of whom have ever seen a telephone. Laughable, right? Not when the entrepreneur behind this deal has spent 20 years building one of the world’s most remarkable financial institutions. Not when he ranks among the leading social innovators of his...

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Fast Company .com (link opens in a new window)

The Third World Goes High Tech

Corporations specializing in information technology have discovered a new market -- the world’s poor. But high-tech is often already there, and Third World innovations may soon be available in the developed world. The computer of the future is like a pet: always wanting to be fed -- not unlike an oversized Tamagotchi. Otherwise, it causes trouble. After 10 hours in front of the monitor, you have to run down to the nearest kiosk, buy a new prepaid card, scratch free the code and ty...

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Spiegel Online (link opens in a new window)

He was the second employee in Nokia?s mobile division, when few imagined Indian telecom would do so well. From marketing manager in 1995? after stints with Pepsico and Reckitt Benckiser ? to managing director of Nokia India, Sanjeev Sharma has played a pivotal role in ensuring the Finish company?s domination in the marketplace. Sharma, who declined to shift to Singapore for a larger role in Nokia because he thought ?India is were the action is? will bid the company adieu on June 30. He talks to ...

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The Business Standard (link opens in a new window)