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Digital Technology is Key to Solving ‘Wicked Problems’ in Agriculture
There's a great need for partnerships between the private sector and government – as well as broader, cross-sectoral partnerships inclusive of civil society, NGOs, farmer organizations, research institutes and academia – in order to collaboratively solve "wicked" problems with information and communication technologies for agriculture.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Mobile Money Meets Microcredit: Three Key Decisions in Taking a Concept from Design to Pilot
SAJIDA Foundation in Bangladesh is using evidence from data analytics, business case analysis and client research to improve cross-selling as part of the OPTIX project. Three key evidence-based programmatic decisions were necessary to take a new mobile financial service-based microfinance initiative from the design table to being piloted in the field.
- Categories
- Finance
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India Lags Peers in Its Bid Towards a Cashless Economy
The past couple of years have seen a number of initiatives to facilitate cashless transactions in the Indian economy, including the launch of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) earlier this year. Such moves may raise the volume of cashless transactions in India in the years to come but the latest available internationally comparable data shows why moving towards a cashless economy remains a Herculean challenge for the country.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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India vs. Pakistan: The Pros and Cons of Two Radically Different Digital ID Systems
India’s digital identification system, Aadhaar, has registered nearly 80 percent of India’s 1.3 billion citizens. Just across the border, Pakistan's NADRA system has issued 120 million identities among the country's 180 million citizens. Both systems give citizens an ID and can give them access to both government and commercial services, yet they are radically different. Which approach provides the best model for other countries?
- Categories
- Technology
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Mobile Transactions Market to Exceed $500 Billion By 2018
The value of domestic money transfers, including operator money and social media money services, will reach $520 billion in global mobile transactions by 2018, up nearly 200% from an estimated $178 billion last year.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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The G2P Silver Bullet? Not So Fast.
Many governments offer cash transfers to millions of people at or below the poverty line, most of whom are not connected to the formal financial system. If these cash transfers are funneled into bank accounts rather than paid directly out in cash, these people immediately gain an on-ramp to financial services. But there is a resounding dissonance between enthusiasm for this solution, and the evidence to date.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Drinking Water ATM Takes Mobile Payments in Kenya
Global pump company Grundfos and telecommunications firm Ericsson have joined forces to deliver a ATM water dispenser that takes mobile payments.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
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McKinsey says digital finance adoption could add trillions to high growth economies
Adoption of digital finance could add $3.7 trillion dollars to the GDP of emerging markets economies, including $1.1 trillion in China alone, according to a new McKinsey & Company report.
- Categories
- Technology
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