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The Informal Economy is Complicating Government Responses to COVID-19: Will the Crisis Push Millions Toward Formality?
As COVID-19 devastates the global economy, many governments have designed support measures to help businesses and workers survive. But as Jill Lagos Shemin and James Dailey point out, this support may be ineffective in lower-income countries, where most small businesses and their employees work in the informal economy, lacking bank accounts and even valid ID. They explore some solutions governments can pursue – and trade-offs they will have to accept.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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What Happens When a Billion Identities Are Digitized?
Over the last decade, India’s Aadhaar, a biometrically secured national identification system, has allowed millions to participate in the country’s economic life. But the system’s success has ignited a debate over whether any entity, public or private, should have the ability to pool our full digital profiles.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Brazil Sees Surge in Uptake of Government Services Online
Covid-19 outbreak prompts citizens to rush to the platform, which has been expanded to support service provision during the crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Viewpoint: Can Big Data Fight a Pandemic?
The COVID-19 crisis has intensified the debate over big data and privacy. Governments are pulling together data from public and private systems in order to predict and counter the spread of COVID-19. But setting aside privacy protections in a time of crisis could lead to new, permanent norms. We asked Yale SOM’s K. Sudhir about the role of India’s nationwide identity system, Aadhaar, and the use of big data around the world.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Can COVID-19 Catalyze Vietnam’s Digital Transformation?
Many of Vietnam’s swift and effective public health responses have been enabled by information technology.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Safaricom, Vodacom Acquire M-PESA Payments Platform
“Our joint venture will allow Vodacom and Safaricom to drive the next generation of the M-PESA platform, an intelligent, cloud-based platform for the smartphone age. It will also help us to promote greater financial inclusion and help bridge the digital divide within the communities in which we operate.”
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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An Overlooked Obstacle to Digital Finance in Nigeria: How Persistent Right of Way Issues Have Hindered Financial Inclusion
Mobile financial services have rapidly boosted financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa. But the region’s largest economy, Nigeria, has consistently failed to keep pace with its peers. Many analysts have attributed this to the country’s regulatory caution, but according to Olayinka David-West and Ibukun Taiwo at the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services initiative of the Lagos Business School, there's an even more fundamental obstacle the country must overcome.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
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ID2020 Announces Inaugural Class of Certified Digital ID Solutions
ID2020 announces its first two certified digital identity solutions: Kiva Protocol and Gravity.Earth.
- Categories
- Technology
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