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Nigerian AI Startup Talksign Launches Real-Time Sign Language Translation Models
Talksign said it plans to expand the models’ capabilities in upcoming versions, including support for additional sign languages such as British Sign Language, Deutsche Gebärdensprache, and Nigerian Sign Language.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Report: The Human Cost of Recycling Tech Devices
Using more than 20 years of data, Finn and Gounaridis are working to make sense of what they call the “informal paradox”; a complex trade-off between relative economic opportunity and exposure to chronic health and environmental harm.
- Source
- University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) (link opens in a new window)
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Selling the Outcome, Not Just the Appliance: What the Clean Cooling Sector Can Learn from Clean Cooking
The demand for cooling solutions will more than triple by 2050 — and based on current technologies and strategies, this increase will almost double cooling-related greenhouse gas emissions, worsening the very crisis that's driving this growth. Colm Fay, Ekta Jhaveri and Rajat Chabba at the William Davidson Institute (WDI) explore how sustainable cooling solutions could meet this rising demand, while cutting emissions by nearly two-thirds. To achieve that ambitious goal, they argue that the clean cooling sector should leverage the experience of the off-grid solar and clean cooking industries. They share insights from a new WDI report that highlights what clean cooling can learn from both the successes — and the flawed assumptions — of these sectors.
- Categories
- Energy
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Press Release: Direct Carbon Pricing Covers Nearly One Third of Global Emissions
Just over 29% of global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are now covered by direct carbon pricing. This would increase to around one-third if instruments currently under development are implemented in several more major emerging economies.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Global
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Moving Forward in a Post-USAID World: Why Women Must Be at the Center of Financial Inclusion
The demise of USAID has profound implications for the movement toward gender equality in financial inclusion and other development priorities. According to Julia Arnold and Sara Seavey, consultants specializing in women’s financial inclusion, the agency played a central role in funding, researching and coordinating global gender equality work — and without that anchor, these efforts are at risk of fragmentation and regression. They argue that this moment places responsibility on the sector itself to preserve the values, evidence and accountability structures that made progress toward gender-inclusive finance possible.
- Categories
- Finance
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Viewpoint: As AI Reshapes Development Research, Investing in Data Must Be a Key Priority
"One day, AI may become Newton. But it can never pull data from thin air. The question is not whether AI will shape development research—it will and already is. The question is whether we invest now in the foundations that give it something to work with."
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Global
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7 Shifts That Could Unlock Millions of Blue Jobs in the Ocean Economy
More than 50 million jobs could be added to the ocean economy — or nearly 40 million jobs could be lost — depending on whether countries invest in sustainable industries, worker training and healthy marine ecosystems.
- Region
- Global
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High Expectations Require New Approaches: What Africa’s Social Innovators Need to Scale — And Why Support Systems Must Evolve
Social entrepreneurs are tackling some of Africa's biggest development challenges. Yet many struggle to scale beyond their initial promise, despite heightened expectations to deliver both jobs and social impact. And as Amabelle Nwakanma, Akolade Oladipupo, Abdullahi Ibrahim and Chukwuemeka Okeke at LEAP Africa explain, though accelerators, incubators and fellowships have proliferated across the continent to support these innovators, it's unclear if these programs are actually aligned with their current needs. They share insights from a study LEAP Africa conducted, with support from the William Davidson Institute, to better understand where current enterprise support models succeed, and where they fall short.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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