-
How Blockchain Can Support Social Impact: Three Innovative Use Cases that Highlight its Potential
When it comes to blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin seem to dominate the headlines, whereas blockchain itself – cryptocurrencies’ underlying technology – often gets overlooked. But according to Raj Jain at the Social Finance Fund, blockchain may actually have a more compelling future than cryptocurrency – and the technology is flourishing in a variety of different spaces, including the social impact sector. He highlights three organizations that are putting blockchain to innovative use in social impact.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
-
Analysis: The Case of the Underperforming Circular Economy
Progress resides through the decidedly less-glamorous earthbound work of business process improvements, negotiations among buyers and sellers, and internal business teams needing to resolve highly complex technical issues. These efforts are essential to building more empowering business cultures through intra-organizational and cross-value-chain networks.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Global
-
It’s Time for More Open Source in Energy Access. Here’s Why.
What needs to happen to achieve global access to energy by 2030? Tamara Mahoney of EnAccess spent several years talking to energy access innovators about the best way to move the sector forward, and a common viewpoint emerged from those conversations: An open-source approach is necessary to achieve universal energy access. She explains why this model is both effective and inevitable, and discusses EnAccess' efforts to support new technologies, business models and knowledge in energy access by funding and sharing open-source tools and innovations.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
-
Analysis: How to Harness the Energy of Social Innovators for an Inclusive Recovery
Social innovators have risen to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for how they’ve responded to the immediate needs of communities around the world.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- Global
-
Under-Skilled and Outdated: Why India Could Lose Out on Nearly $1 Trillion in GDP if it Fails to Upskill its SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for around $700 billion – roughly 27% – of India’s $2.6 trillion gross domestic product. But impressive as those numbers sound, Samir Sathe at Wadhwani Foundation points out that they're nowhere near the 40% of GDP that policymakers hope SMEs will generate in the coming years. He explains why India could lose out on around $0.75 trillion in SME contributions to GDP by 2027 if it fails to prioritize and fund skill development efforts, and discusses what the public and private sectors can do to train entrepreneurs more effectively.
- Categories
- Education, Entrepreneurship
-
Fintech is Not Enough: Why Startup Investments in Africa Must Diversify Across Sectors
Africa is often considered one of the world's largest untapped venture markets, and this potential has fueled interest in the region's tech startups. But as Elo Umeh of Terragon Group explains, though investments have been increasing, they have typically focused only on certain sectors, like fintech and off-grid tech. He explores the value in diversifying these investments across other growing industries, including edtech, agritech and martech, and urges founders and investors to extend their resources to build a robust and complementary technology ecosystem on the continent.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
-
The Value and Limitations of Market-Based Innovations for Impact: Three Takeaways After COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has made one thing clear: Digital innovation in service delivery and infrastructure is critical to economic inclusion – both in emerging markets and around the world. But as Tilman Ehrbeck at Flourish Ventures points out, the crisis has also provided a humble reminder that digital infrastructure, private-sector innovation and market-based solutions are not sufficient to ensure broad-based prosperity. He shares three observations, rooted in the experiences of the pandemic, about the value — and limitations — of private-sector approaches in a post-COVID-19 world.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
-
Trash Talk: Why the Circular Economy Could be Sub-Saharan Africa’s Latest Leapfrog Industry
From mobile banking to off-grid energy, sub-Saharan Africa has shown a tendency to leapfrog the rest of the world in establishing widespread access to digital infrastructure and new technologies. Tine Fisker Henriksen at BESTSELLER Foundation explores how the continent is making similar strides in the circular economy. She shares how enterprises across the region are taking innovative approaches to waste management, developing groundbreaking approaches to waste collection and recycling – while also supporting the often-informal workers who power the industry.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Technology, WASH
Parent Organization
