-
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
-
Eight Principles for Digital Payments in Humanitarian Response
Recognizing both the practical challenges to using locally available digital payment services and the powerful opportunity to leverage humanitarian spending to build inclusive, lasting financial infrastructure, 24 public, multilateral and nongovernmental organizations met in Barcelona earlier this year and developed eight principles for digital payments in humanitarian response.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Five Imperatives to Help Address the Challenges of Sustainable Rural Economic Development
More than two-thirds of the populations in the least-developed countries live and work in rural areas, where the proportion of people living below the poverty line is generally double that of urban areas. That makes the development of rural economies critical for poor countries to meet their sustainable development goals. Peter Harlock of VisionFund lays out five imperatives to optimise that development.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
Can Pokemon Go Augment Global Health Reality?
We wondered if global health practitioners had hopes about the Pokemon Go craze helping to amplify their message, raise money and/or recruit volunteers and patients. So we reached out to some of NextBillion’s recent health care writers, asking them if they’ve thought of any practical applications Pokemon Go might have in the work that they do, day to day.
- Categories
- Health Care
-
NexThought Monday: Closing China’s Credit Gap
China's economy is on the path toward becoming more financially inclusive, but because the centralized Credit Reference Agency falls short, there's still a need for a scalable system for credit evaluation. Alibaba-affiliate Ant Financial is trying to provide an innovative solution.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
-
NexThought Monday: How Mindset Shifts Improve Health Care
The Ihangane Project is based on core principles like: 1) the relationship between health care providers and recipients is the essential link to reach good health outcomes; and 2) even the most marginalized members of society have the capacity to shift their mindset from one of scarcity to one of abundance.
- Categories
- Health Care
-
NexThought Monday: The Role of STEM Professionals in Global Sustainable Development
The science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community is changing. Many passionate, hardworking students are not as excited about taking up well-paying, but arguably monotonous, jobs in large corporations. Their big question is: what do we do next? To answer this question, Khanjan Mehta of Penn State spent over three years interacting with hundreds of innovators to find new pathways toward careers in social innovation and global sustainable development.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship, Technology
-
NexThought Monday – What Stands Between Women and Full Financial Inclusion?
Opening a bank account – as more than 200 million people have done since India's financial inclusion push – is an important first step toward empowerment. But simply having an account is not enough; many women in India own bank accounts but lack full freedom to use them.
- Categories
- Uncategorized