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Tapping the Network to Fight Poverty: How targeting influential leaders can increase financial innovation uptake
Whether you measure it by Twitter followers or by how crowded your kitchen is at dinnertime, it’s clear that some people have larger social networks than others. And a few individuals invariably emerge as central points of contact for their larger social groups. Jake Kendall of Gates Foundation discusses innovative research suggesting that these network “hubs” can propel the diffusion of financial innovations at the BoP.
- Categories
- Education
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To treat innovation ills, remove funding roadblocks
The effects of the federal shutdown, combined with budget cuts implemented this year as a result of sequestration, pose a significant barrier to healthcare innovation in both the public and private sectors.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Tags
- research
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User Participation: The Secret to Successful Prototyping
This is the final post in a three-part series from Grameen Foundation that has discussed designing products and services for poor people. In this post, Tanya Rabourn reviews how to involve the user in the prototyping process to ensure a financial product that will truly serve their needs.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
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Agricultural Mobile Finance: Understanding patterns of daily life at the BoP to leverage market solutions
The growth of mobile technology can lead to disruptive business model innovations in many sectors. One such innovation is agricultural mobile finance that can benefit all the participants in the field-to-fork value chain. But connecting farmers to formal banking on their mobile phones will require multi-stakeholder alliances, market research and an end-user design approach, says Lee Babcock.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
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GSMA Releases Initial Findings Of 2013 Mobile Money Adoption Survey
The GSMA today issued the initial findings of its 2013 Mobile Money Adoption Survey.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- research
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Exploring the Role of Venture Capital in Latin American Economic Development: Dalberg, IDB study assesses VC’s social impact
In advanced economies, it’s easy to see the positive impact of venture capital: Facebook, iPhones and FedEx packages all came from companies that were once venture-backed. But can venture capital also help fight poverty or spur social and environmental well-being in the developing world? Dalberg explored this question in a study commissioned by IDB on the impact of venture capital in Latin America.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- research, venture capital
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Ethnographic Design: The best ideas come from your users
In this second post in Grameen Foundation’s series on designing products and services for the BoP, Julius Matovu reviews the use of design ethnography in early research phases to gain insights into the financial needs of the poor. He describes what to do - and what to avoid - when spending time with potential users to gain a deep understanding of their wants and needs.
- Categories
- Education
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Practical Insight: Studies support mobile money decision making
Contextual, demand-side research can make all the difference when mobile money providers make decisions about what products and services to offer and how to attract and keep customers. In many developing countries, however, such research is often in short supply. Recent studies conducted by InterMedia shed light on the mobile money markets in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, providing insight that is not always intuitive.
- Categories
- Education
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