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‘Internet Access is Like Oxygen’: Converging Connectivity and Energy Access
Microsoft’s Affordable Access Initiative is providing grants to internet access and related services companies and startups reaching underserved communities in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and North America. In June, the tech giant announced the second year of grantees. Paul Garnett, senior director of the Affordable Access Initiative at Microsoft, explores how internet connectivity can have a ripple effect.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
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Communications tech biggest catalyst for ICT in Africa – Gartner
Speaking to ITWeb Africa ahead of the Gartner Symposium scheduled for September in Cape Town, principal research analyst William Hahn said Gartner's 2017 Hype Cycle for ICT in Africa confirms that communication technologies are setting the ICT agenda for the region.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Future of Microfinance is Mobile: FinTech Resolves Three Key Obstacles of Lending to the Unbanked
The microfinance industry has arrived at a new inflection point, according to Frederic Nze, CEO and founder of U.K.-based digital microlender Oakam. Those businesses that are slow to embrace the transformative power of smartphone technology will feel the full force of disruption over the next decade while access to fair, affordable retail financial services will flourish for consumers and small enterprises the world over.
- Categories
- Financial Inclusion, Technology
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ShelterTech Mexico 2017: Promoting Entrepreneurship and Investment in the Housing Sector
Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with Village Capital, launched ShelterTech Mexico 2017, a three-month accelerator focused on housing sector startups that are increasing access for marginalized communities to basic services in any of three areas: water and sanitation, energy, and innovative construction materials. Melva Flores talks about the two teams selected by their peers to receive an investment of US $50,000 each.
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- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Making Hardware Easier: ASME ISHOW Helps Expand Social Impact of ‘Frugal Technologies’
There are few resources to help “frugal technologies” and their makers succeed. That’s the problem that ISHOW, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' innovation showcase, tries to solve. The competition draws on ASME’s network of engineers, industrial designers, product specialists and diligence and standards experts, as well as venture capitalists and business specialists, all of whom are keen to see hardware innovation achieve a new level of positive impact.
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- Entrepreneurship, Events and Competitions, Technology
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Want to Boost Financial Inclusion? Pay Interest on Mobile Money
E-money has been the principal means of increasing access to financial inclusion. Yet most accounts in emerging markets are used only to receive government payments that are then quickly withdrawn as cash. Ross P. Buckley, Louise Malady and Cheng-Yun Tsang say that one way to tackle this problem, and to promote financial inclusion, is to pay interest on e-money.
- Categories
- Financial Inclusion
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Developing countries urged to act now to prevent technology exacerbating poverty
Increasing automation in industries risks leaving large numbers unemployed and widening inequality gaps, especially in the global South, the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) said in a report.
- Categories
- Technology
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The UBI Debate: What We Know – and Don’t Know – About Universal Basic Income
Policymakers from Nairobi to Silicon Valley have lately been considering the same approach to reducing poverty: universal basic income (UBI). Evidence from ongoing randomized evaluations will be key to understanding the impact of UBI, and how this disruptive concept might fit into a broader portfolio of social policies. In the meantime, there is much we already know from impact evaluations of related interventions that can help make sense of the debate. Alison Fahey at J-PAL provides an overview.
- Categories
- Financial Inclusion
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