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To Fix the Gender Gap, Fix the Digital Divide
Most job growth will come from STEM fields, yet women make up only 12 percent of engineering students. That’s why MIT’s new Solve initiative launched a Women and Technology Challenge asking for technology-fueled solutions that enable women and girls’ full participation in the economy. Selected solutions will receive support from cross-sector leaders interested in investing in innovative social impact projects – the Solve challenge deadline is Aug. 1.
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Ghana spends millions to enhance digital address systems
Africa needs innovation to effectively deploy address systems and open up economic opportunities.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Alibaba executive chairman creates $10M African youth entrepreneur fund
Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma launched a $10 million African Young Entrepreneurs Fund at the YouthConnekt Africa Summit. The fund is expected to be operational this year.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mukesh Ambani has a four-letter strategy to win India’s telecom wars—free
“…there are more than 50 crore (500 million) feature phone users who have been left out of the digital revolution,” Ambani said at Reliance Industries’ annual general meeting in Mumbai, where he launched the JioPhone.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Opinion: How technology is helping India move toward smart service delivery
In 2015, India launched eVIN, or electronic vaccine intelligence network — a smart, easy-to-use technology aimed at digitizing vaccine stocks in the country. It’s no small ask in a nation with the largest and most ambitious immunization program in the world — aiming to immunize some 156 million women and children each year.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Full Financial Inclusion in India? How the ‘JAM Trinity’ Can Help Businesses Make it a Reality
Changes in India’s financial inclusion ecosystem in the past 10 years have increased access, writes Prabhat Labh, CEO of Grameen Foundation India, but that's only part of the equation. More must be done to ensure poor families can actively use these services. Fortunately, the JAM trinity – Jan Dhan accounts, the Aadhaar ID system and mobile technology – has enabled completely new business models that scale processes for customer acquisition.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Financial Inclusion
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This phone solves one of tech’s biggest frustrations by removing the need for a battery
In an attempt to deliver a long-term solution, researchers at the University of Washington are exploring what happens if we remove batteries from smartphones altogether.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- mobile phones, technology
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The Rise of a New Asset Class: Can ‘PAYGo Finance’ Connect Investors to Low-Income Customers?
Lendable has pioneered a marketplace lending platform that connects alternative lenders in East Africa with impact and institutional debt investors, to provide financing for leased assets like solar panels and motorcycles. According to BFA, providing these alternative lenders with structured debt financing could potentially give rise to a new asset class: PAYGo finance. If successful in raising funds from investors at scale, the Lendable approach could bring financing for low-income individuals full circle.
- Categories
- Energy, Financial Inclusion, Investing
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