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Beyond ‘Take-Make-Waste’ Supply Chains: MIT Solve Seeks Circular Economy Solutions
Most of the products we use today — clothing, furniture, electronics and more — come from “take-make-waste” linear supply chains. These systems result in 2 billion tons of solid waste each year, produce major carbon emissions, and often involve toxic working conditions. MIT Solve is seeking new models through its Circular Economy Challenge, which will give $10,000 grants to the eight most promising solutions - the application deadline is July 1.
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- Environment, Transportation
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Press Release: MDaaS Global Closes on Seed Funding of $1 Million
MDaaS was created to address the lack of high-quality, affordable diagnostic services available for low- and middle-income sub-Saharan Africans, starting with Nigeria’s 130 million low- and middle-income patients. Where available and up-to-date, health services are unaffordable for most of Nigeria’s population, and expensive out-of-pocket costs discourage patients. MDaaS leverages its vertically-integrated supply chain, technology platform, and patient-centered design to provide modern, convenient services at a price point patients can afford.
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- Press Release
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Medical Equipment Graveyards: Three Causes of the Problem – And How Blockchain Can Help
Medical equipment is essential for diagnosing and treating patients. Yet due to inefficiencies and a lack of coordination in donations, much of this equipment sits unused in low-income countries — a situation often referred to as equipment graveyards. According to global health consultant Vikas Meka, blockchain could provide a solution. In this post – the first in a series – he explores three common problems with the current medical equipment donation system, and how a blockchain-driven platform could help.
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- Health Care, Technology
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After Rana Plaza – Do Consumers Care About Supply Chain Transparency? Our Research Shows They Do
The Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh killed over 1,100 people and revealed the horrific conditions that many garment workers endure. Yet it's difficult for apparel makers to create transparent supply chains, and the benefits to their bottom line are not always clear. Do customers really care – and are they willing to reward a company for socially responsible efforts? According to research from Tim Kraft and Yanchong Zheng at the Sloan School of Management, the answers are yes and yes.
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- Uncategorized
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Press release: Parsyl and Gavi announce supply chain strengthening partnership
This partnership is made possible by a combination of support from the Government of Canada, Unorthodox Philanthropy and the Gogel Family Foundation. To lead the new initiative, Parsyl appointed Souleymane Sawadogo, an expert in vaccine quality assurance and a former leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Africa operations where he established laboratory systems across the continent.
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- Health Care
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Turning Saris into Stainless Steel: How the Companies of the Future Can Learn from Business Models of the Past
In India in the 1970s, tens of thousands of itinerant street vendors carried stainless steel kitchenware products from door to door, bartering them for saris and other old clothes in a complex, multi-tiered supply chain. According to Prashant Yadav at Harvard Medical School, these vendors’ business model – like others from past decades – holds valuable lessons for modern enterprises working in challenging markets. He shares some of these insights – and encourages others to do likewise – in this fascinating article.
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- Uncategorized
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The Missing Link in the Blockchain: The Need for Trust in a ‘Trustless’ System
Blockchain has become the ultimate tech buzzword, and development organizations are seeking to apply it in projects of every stripe. But as Rose Davis discovered in researching the technology’s social impact applications for Stanford, reliable digital identification is an essential precursor to many blockchain initiatives. Does a distributed ledger that has supposedly transcended the need for centralized oversight actually require some form of verification from trustworthy authorities? And if so, who should provide it? Davis explores these questions in this thought-provoking post.
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- Technology
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Three Ways Inclusive Businesses Can Become More Customer-Centric
In any successful business, the customer always comes first. However, impact-focused enterprises often paint customers at the base of the pyramid with wide brush strokes, overlooking nuances in culture, location and literacy. Christian Jahn, Executive Director of the Inclusive Business Action Network, understands the desire to "help" poor people – but notes well-intended social entrepreneurs risk ignoring what their customers really want. Instead, Jahn recommends businesses develop a holistic view of customer needs, viewing them through a realistic lens for more meaningful impact.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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