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  • Getting Help in Emergencies in Super-Quick Time

    Jason Friesen, an American paramedic who had served in Haiti after the earthquake, realized that many poor communities in the Caribbean were lacking the equivalent of the United States’ 911 emergency medical services, and were facing increased death tolls as a consequence. Friesen realized he could help such communities set up emergency response systems through the use of volunteers and a simple text message exchange. Now, his organization Trek Medics simplifies and democratizes the emergency dispatch system, and, as a result, saves lives in rural communities.

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  • How a Cooperative in Indonesia is Bridging the Digital Divide

    Indonesia has a quickly growing digital market, yet there is a large proportion of the population that does not have digital access and those who do have access are all buying from businesses outside the country. Koperasi Digital Indonesia Mandiri is an Indonesian cooperative that has developed lower cost smartphones to help reach the underserved population.

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  • A private sector 'productivity tool' to eliminate poverty is catching on around the world

    Fundación Paraguaya is helping drastically redefine the way that poverty is identified, defined, and addressed. Through a simple, interactive, mobile-based survey called "Poverty Spotlight", workers can self-assess their level of poverty. They are then paired with microfinance agents to develop a plan to tackle their own unique challenges, with assistance in the form of training, technology, or small loans.

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  • The Data Donators

    Around the world, more and more people are launching projects through mobile apps that use smartphones to collect massive amounts of data for solving chronic issues. By asking thousands of volunteers to donate their data for the greater good, researchers can access data in quantities that were previously unobtainable.

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  • Rwanda's 'solar smart kiosk' provides digital solutions to rural mobile phone users

    Although an estimated 75% of the world's population uses cell phones, in places like rural Rwanda, the availability and costs of electricity to charge them can be patchwork at best. ARED's 'solar smart kiosk' provides a stand-alone cart that runs on renewable energy and serves not just as a charging station, but a digital and internet center for users at the base of the pyramid. The company also ensures training and monitoring support to keep kiosk operators current on the technology.

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  • What can the sharing economy bring to emerging markets?

    April Rinne, a sharing economy adviser in Portland, believes that new technology and the emergence of the sharing economy has massive potential to connect talent, resources, and ideas around the globe, particularly in the context of advancing international development initiatives. She works with clients around the world to "help the sharing economy realize its full potential" and challenge the assumptions surrounding poverty.

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  • M-Pesa: Kenya's mobile money success story turns 10

    Ten years ago, Vodafone's Safaricom launched "M-Pesa" a mobile-phone based payment system designed to ease transfer of money in Kenya among individuals and small businesses. With a maximum transaction of 70,000 Kenyan shillings ($675 USD), M-Pesa markets "to the base of the pyramid:" not only has M-Pesa taken root in more than ten other countries, but it counts 18 million active users in Kenya and, through access to a mobile monetary payment system, has lifted 2% of Kenyan households out of extreme poverty.

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  • USPS Could Tackle Food Insecurity

    While the USPS has seen a drastic decline in revenues and capacity in recent years due to growing competition from the private sector and social changes, First Class Meal is reimagining the role that this institution has to play: improving national access to healthy food. Using the existing USPS app to connect organizations and food banks that struggle to distribute donations, postal drivers out on their normal routes would pick up donations, deliver to food banks or pantries, and store food in post offices with excess capacity.

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  • Kenya's booming digital sharing economy?

    Though the big players in the sharing economy like Uber and Airbnb are eyeing growing middle class markets like that of Kenya, the concept of shared access to goods and services is nothing new for Kenyan communities. Whereas in the West, the shared economy structure arose largely from a desire for flexibility, in Kenya, much of it arose from need. Now platforms like Lynk and Little Cabs are helping connect Kenyan customers to a broad range of service providers.

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  • Panic button: how can safety apps for women curb sexual assaults in India?

    Sexual violence is a huge problem in India. The mobile apps and online maps created in response aren’t helping. Why? The tools are unreliable, not integrated with government services, and don’t address the cultural dynamics surrounding sexual harassment and assault.

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