Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 18

Recent Innovations in Money Mobile: Moving Past the M-PESA Model

Photo Credit: TechCentral

Within the last month, there have been multiple new examples of mobile phones being leveraged to expand financial services in developing nations. With the popularity and quick success of M-PESA in Kenya, there was a push to copy the model in other developing countries. But it has been realized that the M-PESA model cannot be simply duplicated. The new mobile money products and services need to focus on solving a customer’s pain (or perceived pain) within the regional context (competition, policy environment, culture, infrastructure, etc). The examples below show how innovation in the market is occurring to meet the needs of customers. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are seeing the benefits of providing an expanded set of value-added services to differentiate themselves in the market. In a recent TECHTalk at USAID with Pamela Riley from Abt Associates, she explained that MNOs are most focused on increasing and keeping their customers. With greater competition in the mobile network market, the ability to create more value to a MNO’s service keeps the customers from jumping from one provider to another (usually easier because one MNO’s SIM card can be easily switched out for another’s). The MNOs’ desire to increase revenue creates an incentive for them to implement innovative solutions based on the needs of their customers but also within the region’s entire context.

Below are a few recent examples of innovation in the mobile money space:

Mobile Banking

RedCloud Technology recently completed Bolivia’s first mobile money platform. The product, Nube Roja, was created from a $1.2 million investment from BlueOrchard, CONFIE (Corporación de Fomento a Iniciativas Económicas S.L.), PROFIN (Fundación para el Desarrollo Productivo y Financiero), Iceni Mobile, and RedCloud. The goal of the product is to provide access to financial services to roughly 6.5 million people in Bolivia who do not have a bank account. A pilot of the service will begin in the near future with customers being able to cash in, cash out, top up their airtime, transfer money person-to-person, and send remittances.

A newly formed partnership between First National Bank (FNB) and retail store PEP allows customers in South Africa to use FNB’s eWallet for banking services at the retail store. As long as the individual has a bar-coded South African ID, he/she can deposit, withdraw, send, make payments, and purchase goods at any PEP store in South Africa. In the past, only FNB customers could use the product. But with this partnership, FNB is looking to reach the unbanked in the country. Partnering with PEP expands FNB financial services to 1,200 stores and gives greater access to those who have a mobile phone.

As a part of a strategy to expand financial services further into the rural areas of Mexico, the National Savings Bank and Financial Services (Bansefi) is going to use mobile technologies through the implementation of the Program of Technical Assistance to Rural Microfinance (Patmir). Their goal is to have over 15% of their new partners and customers be served with low-cost mobile technology. Bansefi will be hiring a consulting firm to provide technical assistance with the implementation of new technologies, innovations, and best practices.

Money Transfer Services

In partnership with one of the leading MNOs in India (BSNL), the Indian Post Office has begun its own mobile money service. The service allows money be transferred via text message and utilizes the physical post offices to act as cash in/cash out locations. It works by the sender providing the post office with the receiver’s information (number and address) along with the amount to be sent. Once the cash is deposited, both the sender and receiver are text messaged a unique code by the Post Office. In order to withdraw the money, the receiver shows the code to the Post Office. There is a service charge of 5% and is available to individuals across all networks.

Airtel has plans to establish mobile money transfer services in Kenya and Tanzania as it has already done in Uganda. The goal of the new services, as stated by Michael Okwiri, Vice President of Corporate Communivation at Airtel Africa, is eventually create a cross-border money transfer service between the three countries.

Western Union and Telma, a Malagasy telecomm company, have partnered to start an international mobile money transfer service. The new service allows citizens to transfer money via their mobile phones by using Western Union’s international transfer service. By combining Telma’s mobile money service (MVola) and Western Union’s service, individuals can receive money transfers from abroad via their mobile phone. The transfer will go directly into their MVola account. At this point, it is only a one-way service as Malagasy citizens can not send transfers outside the country. MVola, like other mobile money services, allows customers to purchase goods, make payments, and deposit/withdraw money.

ATM

As a part of Airtel’s new mobile money platform in Uganda, customers will be able to process transactions at ATMs. This includes paying bills, accessing their bank accounts, and withdrawing Airtel money using ATMs located country-wide. This service was made possible via partnerships with banks which include Standard Chartered, Post Bank, KCB, and Diamond Trust Centenary Bank.

Credit-Worthiness

A Cambridge start-up has created software in order to help determine an individual’s credit risk by looking at how the person uses their mobile phone. Cignifi has received $2 million in funding after piloting the product last year in Brazil. The software looks at multiple data points in order to further understand one’s lifestyle. It creates a score similar to the FICO score used in the United States. Since many developing countries do not have credit bureaus or limited ones, it is more difficult to calculate the credit risk of an individual person. This is innovative way to understand the riskiness of an potential borrower.

February 8, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

What is Ecotourism 2.0?

Photo Credit: MarineBio

By some accounts tourism is the world’s largest industry, accounting for more than 10% of total employment. Tourism can have a negative impact on the environment by leading to the degradation of habitats and landscapes, depleting natural resources, and generating waste and pollution.

As a response to these concerns, ecotourism has grown in popularity because of its emphasis on being ecologically and socially conscious by raising awareness and support for conservation and local culture. Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the adverse effects of traditional tourism on the natural environment and enhance the cultural integrity of the local people. Ecotourism has great potential for the developing world as communities come together and get involved, enforcing their own standards for sustainability.

So what is ecotourism 2.0? Ecotourism 2.0 seeks to fill the gaps that exist in ineffective organizing structures of ecotour communities. There are three main characteristics of ecotourism 2.0:

1. Engagement and Education – tourism doesn’t have to be passive and there can be a take-home message

2. Social Media – access and communication of information

3. Radical Transparency – clear organization within communities and with their visitors

Social media has thoroughly changed marketing techniques, now “people aggregate themselves around causes and products they believe in and age, sex and other demographic information is more and more irrelevant as this new media environment takes over.” It also allows for easy access to specific information and advice from locals, extending the experience beyond a vacation with updated news and reminders of key concepts.

Let’s look at successful social media campaigns:

Laos – Ecotourism Laos‘s website has Google Groups for donor organizations, government agencies, NGOs and the private sector to exchange information on current projects and issues relating to ecotourism development in Laos. The website allows for transparency and easy access to information and recommendation for visitors.

India – Ecotourismkeralam.org provides access to information, specifically contact information for visitors to Kerala, India. Kerala is considered one of India’s most unspoiled corners prone to forest clearing.

Kenya – Eco Tourism Kenya is a multifaceted forum with updates and links to everything related to sustainable tourism.

Lebanon – This Baldati community is an ecotourism e-community for public announcements in the field.

February 8, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

NEPAD signs Grant Facility Agreement with AFD for BB Infrastructure

Photo Credit: NEPAD

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency has signed a grant facility agreement towards the financing of its information and communication technology (ICT) broadband infrastructure network for West, Central and North Africa project.

The Grant Facility Agreement (GFA) was signed on Thursday, February 2, with French Development Agency (AFD), a French public institution. The grant of one million three hundred and fifty thousand Euros (EUR 1,350,000,00), was made available to NEPAD Agency by the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-ITF), a European donor coordinated fund, through the AFD.

The NEPAD ICT Broadband Infrastructure Program – the Umojanet project is a terrestrial network that is expected to link every African country to its neighbors and connect to Uhurunet, to realize the dream of the cross-border continental NEPAD Network. The project will also connect the continent to the rest of the world through broadband fibre-optic submarine cables. It will provide abundant bandwidth, easier connectivity, reduced costs, and help integrate the continent by facilitating trade, social, and cultural exchange between countries.

According to the statement issued Friday, February 3, 2012 from Midrand South Africa, the grant completes the initial funds of 850 000 Euros granted by the AFD to the NEPAD secretary to support the initiative.

Commenting on the grant during the signing ceremony at the NEPAD Agency offices, Midrand, South Africa, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NEPAD Agency, said, “This is an opportune moment for us both, AFD and NEPAD, to focus on ICT as a crucial element in developing infrastructure in Africa and we welcome this support to the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) as the development Agency of the African Union.”

For his part, Mr. Yves Boudot, Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Department of AFD, expressed his satisfaction to proceed with the signature and noted that “as the case with AFD support to NEPAD ICT continental infrastructure developments, AFD is ready to discuss and widen the scope of collaboration to address other continental infrastructure development challenges.”

The French Development Agency (AFD), a specialized development financial institution, funds sustainable development projects carried by government local authorities, public companies, and the private and associative sectors on five continents – with primacy given to Africa.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a program of the African Union (AU) adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2001. NEPAD is a radically new intervention, spearheaded by African leaders to pursue new priorities and approaches to the political and socio-economic transformation of Africa. NEPAD’s objective is to enhance Africa’s growth, development and participation in the global economy. Read more about NEPAD’s principles, program of action, priorities and desired outcomes.

February 8, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Mobile, Mobile Money, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Western Cape taxis to use smart cards

The Peninsula Taxi Association (PTA) in the Western Cape will become the first taxi organisation using electronic payments in South Africa.

The Peninsula Taxi Association (PTA) will become the first taxi organisation to use a smart cards system for payment (image: Gateway)

The end of January saw the launch of the Tap-I-Fare card payment system. Five thousand cards were distributed to passengers. These cards are compatible with the MyCiTi bus service and Johannesburg’s Reya Vaya bus service too.

With a fleet of 250 vehicles, the PTA is testing the system on a number of taxis for now. “As a pilot project at the moment, the card system was being implemented in 42 vehicles which ran the city to Victoria & Alfred Waterfront route but would be rolled out to other routes in future. The 42 vehicles had wireless hand-held devices upon which the cards were swiped,” the New Age wrote.

“As the most progressive taxi association in the country, it was always the vision of the PTA to look ahead and pre-empt the ever changing needs of the commuter. This meant that changes had to be made to keep up with the times, and this card payment system was but one option that was explored,” said Ghaalid Behardien, association spokesperson .

The first 1000 passengers to buy a new card will get it at 50% discount, while card holders’ fares from Cape Town central to the V&A Waterfront are reduced by 50c.

Charlie Fripp – Online editor

February 8, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Cheat Sheet: ICTs for Climate Change

How can ICTs be used to combat climate change? Stan Karanasios’s paper entitled “New & Emergent ICTs and Climate Change in Developing Countries” outlines emerging ICTs in 3 steps:

monitoring of climate change and the environment
disaster management
climate change adaptation

Excerpts from the paper outline uses of ICTs for climate change:

Monitoring of climate change and the environment

For developing countries to better understand their local climate and be able to anticipate climate change impacts, they must have adequate local and national observation networks, and access to the data captured from other global and regional networks.

Types of technology include:

satellite systems
wireless broadband technologies
wireless sensor networks (WSN)
mobile phones
hand-held devices

Examples of environmental monitors:

Rainfall and Landslide- In hilly regions of western India, SenSlide, a distributed sensor system, predicts rather than just detects landslides. Landslides occur frequently, often during the monsoon when rain causes significant damage. SenSlide makes use of WSN and strain gauges, providing data to a network.
Fire- In South Africa, FireHawk, a forest fire system of cameras with zoom lenses and microwave transmitters and receivers was implemented in mountainous and extreme temperate locations. The system automatically detects fires, even at night, limiting the impact of damage.
Flood- In Honduras, a WSN for flood monitoring was developed that was able to withstand river flooding and the severe stromes causing the floods, communicate over a 10,000 km river basin, predict flooding autonomously, and limit cost, allowing feasible implementation of the system.
Impacts of Agriculture- In India a WSN-based agriculture management system named COMMON-Sense Net, was deployed to support rain-fed agriculture and provide farmers with environmental data. Wireless sensors were deployed in geographical clusters, each with one base-station that was connected to a local server via a Wi-Fi link and organized in groups, each corresponding to a particular application, such as crop modeling, water conservation measures, or deficit irrigation management.

Disaster management

Responding to natural disasters in a timely and effective manner has emerged as an important climate change theme particularly in developing countries; where in addition to the immediate crisis vulnerable communities suffer excessively from the secondary post-disaster effects that compound the tragedy. In many cases, the existing telecommunication infrastructure will be significantly or completely destroyed by an extreme weather event, and hence rapidly deployable networks and other communication services need to be employed for disaster relief operations.

Communication Methods:

Emergency Communication Systems- In Bangladesh an Integrated Information and Communication System is underway which will use satellite, wireless broadband, mobile phones and community radio services strengthening communication links between rescue and relief units and Emergency Operation Centers (EOC).
Rapidly Deployable Communications
Social Networking- During Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines in 2009, local volunteers organized and disseminated information online through websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Organizations and affected people used these sites for timely reports concerning the extent of damage, to provide information on the resources required tand to allocate relief resources.
GIS & Other Information Systems- Visualize high risk zones; evacuation routes, shelters and the catalogue of available resource and their proximity
Early Warning Systems- satellite radio, mobile phones, cell broadcasting system, the web, WSNs, and CAP (common alerting protocol) can be coupled with climate data for immediate and short/medium/long-term warnings to minimize harm to vulnerable communities.

Disaster Management Project Example: Project DUMBO

Mesh Networks and Disaster Response in Thailand DUMBO, a project initiated by the Asian Institute of Technology Internet Education and Research Laboratory, developed and tested asystem for response to emergency scenarios in Thailand . Making use of the concept of wireless mesh networks, DUMBO uses lightweight portable mobile nodes to broaden coverage and penetrate deep into areas not accessible by roads or where the telecommunication infrastructure has been destroyed. During the trials in Thailand, laptops were carried on elephants to extend thewireless mesh network coverage. On the networking side, the solution utilised hybrid WiFi and satellite connectivity. The second application component involved sensors, which allowed for readings of environmental data such as temperature, humidity, pressure, windspeed, wind direction, rainfall and CO2. The third application component involved facial recognition software that allowed rescuers to compare facial images captured from the site to the collection of known faces. This is one of a few systems in developing countries that make use of emergent technologies and combine communications with integrated disaster applications

Climate change adaptation

To cope with current and future climate stress, communities – particularly those most vulnerable to developing countries – must build their resilience, including adopting appropriate technologies, while making the most of traditional knowledge, and diversifying their livelihoods. For instance, monitoring networks can inform habitat location (provide information to house communities away from a flood or landslide in prone areas), better agriculture (based on informed climate information or water allocation) and provide early warnings, amongst other applications. Mobile technology should be scaled-up for adaptation.

There is a lot of room for growth in developing ICTs for adapting to climate change through collecting, analyzing and disseminating information particularly in space-based systems, GIS, WSNs, wireless broadband technology, mobile technology, and soft technologies such as Web-based tools. By doing so, bottom-up local coping strategies will be encouraged.

February 7, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

A Course on e-Health and m-Health: Using Information Technology to Improve Health in Low and Middle-Income Countries

E-HEALTH AND M-HEALTH:
USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE HEALTH IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES

Course URL: http://bit.ly/xo0DG9

International Health – online – Location: Internet

Course Instructors: Edward Bunker – Bill Weiss

Description:

Explores eHealth and mHealth in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). Students consider practical approaches to assess appropriate application of information and communication technologies to solve public health problems and improve health.

Students also identify and discuss challenges for developing and deploying eHealth and mHealth systems.

Through analysis of case studies and interactions with practitioners, students assess and articulate requirements for eHealth and mHealth systems.
Covers current topics and issues, including: “lessons-learned” from recent mobile health initiatives; challenges of creating, developing, and supporting systems within low-bandwidth or no-bandwidth environments; electronic health records (EHRs); role of mobile data collection within program monitoring and evaluation; and role and use of open source systems.

Although not exclusively, faculty and guest lecturers will draw upon their work and experiences related to HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Student Evaluation: Individual assignments (10%); Quizzes (10%); Exercises (10%) participation in group work and discussion (20%); two case study write-ups (30%); exploration of one emerging ICT, eHealth, or mHealth initiative (20%).

Learning Objective:

(1) articulate basic definitions and terms relevant to eHealth, mHealth, and Health Informatics;
(2) apply frameworks and other tools in the assessment and evaluation of eHealth and mHealth projects;
(3) consider how to elicit health-related needs and goals and determine if and how information technology can help meet those needs and goals;
(4) consider how information technology is or could be used to address health needs in LMIC;
(5) assist public health agencies and donors to develop or select information and communication technology to better solve problems and achieve objectives in LMIC;
(6) critically participate in discussions about basic system requirements for proposed systems by writing “Use Case” narratives and requirement statements;
(7) prepare Work Flow and/or Data Flow diagrams;
(8) identify the main drivers for the deployment of mHealth services in LMIC;
(9) describe and be familiar with the basic functions of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems and discuss the potential role an appropriately applied EHR System might play within an eHealth ecosystem;
(10) examine and describe a variety of current mHealth and eHealth initiatives; and
(11) critically discuss and debate current eHealth and mHealth issues, challenges, and opportunities.

February 7, 2012/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Nigerian regulator setting sight on fixed lines

Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator said on Monday it hopes to increase the number of subscribers to its fixed-line licenses to boost broadband internet services in the country.

hopes to increase the number of subscribers to its fixed-line licenses in the next year (image: stock.xchng)

Speaking to Bloomberg, Eugene Juwah, Nigerian Communications Commission CEO, said fixed-lines are key to boosting the country’s internet capacity.

“The licenses will be issued to revive the fixed-line telecommunication services that have been comatose and will benefit our broadband initiative,” Juwah said.

The agency wants to provide a “enabling environment” for private investors to expand the country’s broadband infrastructure, he said.

With Africa’s largest population of more than 160 million, Nigeria’s telephone users dramatically increased over the past decade. According to data published by the NCC, users grew from under a million in 2000 to over 90 million at the end of 2011.

Zooming out, fixed-line telephone users make up less than one percent of the total number, leaving room for growth in broadband communication as demand increases for data services, the NCC chief said.

David Eto

February 7, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Mobile, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Mobile Agriculture to feature at the Mobile World Congress 2012

A panel on “Mobile Agriculture: The Market Opportunity” will be one of the highlights at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2012 scheduled for Barcelona, Spain at the end of this month.

This intensive panel session will cover issues on the immediate opportunities for the mobile industry to launch commercially driven services for farmers, and the emerging best practices and insights from existing service providers on overcoming challenges and launching Agricultural Value Added Services (Agri VAS). It will showcase the market opportunity for Agri VAS in emerging markets, and expected to be patronized by mobile network operators (MNOs), VAS providers, content providers, agricultural organizations, NGOs, development practitioners and academics interested in the opportunity to develop innovative new services.

The panel will include experts and thought leaders from the mobile agriculture industry. Below is the event information.

Event: Mobile Agriculture: The Market Opportunity

Date: Tuesday 28th February 2012

Time: 17.30- 18.30 CET

Venue: GSMA Seminar Theatre, Hall 2.1, Fira Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain

Mobile technologies are enhancing access to information across the world and impacting lives in remote rural communities. There are nearly six billion mobile subscriptions in the world today. Four out of five new connections are happening in the developing world. Yet these markets suffer from numerous challenges in the agricultural sector, from low yield amongst smallholder farmers to supply chain inefficiencies.

The rural sector represents the largest customer base in emerging markets and is a significant growth area for the mobile industry. In response to this opportunity, the GSMA launched the mFarmer Initiative in 2011 to support mobile operators and agricultural organizations in launching commercially viable mobile information services for farmers. The GSMA mAgri Program identifies opportunities where mobile can have the most impact to mitigate these problems.

Mobile World Congress 2012 will celebrate the current state of mobile and offer a glimpse into where mobile has the potential to go next. For more information and to register for Mobile World Congress 2012, please click here. To reserve your place at the Mobile Agriculture panel event please contact the GSMA mAgri program at mAgri@gsm.org.

For more information on the GSMA mAgri Program, please visit: http://www.gsma.com/magri/

February 6, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Forestry, Land Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

The Amazon as Never Seen Before

Last week The Guardian announced that we’re now able to see the Amazonian rainforest as never seen before. A group of scientists, using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) took images from a plane called the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. The images were taken by bouncing a laser beam off of the forest canopy at 400,000 times per second. The resulting images are vibrant, showcasing variation in biodiversity at unprecedented detail. The new technology will be used to manage the ecosystem, monitoring for signs of deforestation and degradation.

February 2, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Best Practices in Creating and Maintaining mHealth Partnerships

During the most recent mHealth Working Group, Kelly Keisling, Co-Chair, passed out a publication of mHealth cases studies developed by GBC Health. Entitled “Building Partnerships that Work: Practical Learning on Partnering in mHealth” and created in collaboration with Dalberg Global Development Advisors and the mHealth Working Group, its goal is to provide best practices for future mHealth partnerships. GBC Health sees partnerships as playing a key role in expanding mHealth into the mainstream of global health.

Photo Credit: The University of Akron

The case studies focused on diverse set of organizations, ranging across multiple sectors – technology, NGOs, and multilateral institutions. Those included were the Carlos Slim Health Institute, Deloitte, HP, Intel, Nokia, Novartis, the Stop TB Partnership, UNICEF, USAID, and Vodafone. The research revealed overlapping topics and ideas that could be used to create sustainable partnerships for mHealth programs. Below is a list of best practices that the publication pulled from the case studies:

Partnership Selection

Shared Agenda and Vision: Look for partners whose vision is aligned with yours.

Organizational Capacity: Make sure that your prospective partner will be able to adequately support the initiative at all stages of relevant involvement – from development and implementation to scale-up.

Local Expertise: Work with partners who are already working in-country and possess relevant local expertise.

Complementary Assets: Identify partners who can bridge gaps in your organization’s expertise and knowledge.

Reputation and Integrity: Consider referrals from trusted partners to identify new partners with a good reputation in the market.

Structuring for Success

Clearly-Defined Problem and Solution: Solidify and remain transparent about objectives from the beginning of your conversations with potential partners.

Roles and Responsibilities: Ensure that each partner has unique core competencies to contribute.

Shared Value: Create shared value by ensuring a ‘win-win’ for all partners.

Leadership: Identify a “champion” in each of the partner organizations to lead the campaign within their organization.

National Priorities and Program: Align projects with government priorities at the outset to help with scale and rollout.

Community Involvement: Engage the end-users in the design and on-going feedback loop to continually refine the program.

Multi-stage Planning: Establish a clear and committed plan for funding, implementation and maintenance among partners, from the beginning.

Strict Project Management Process: Develop a structure project management plan with supporting documentation.

GBC Health is a worldwide coalition of over 200 companies and organizations focused on using their resources to improve global health. Dalberg Global Development Advisors is a strategic consulting firm that works to raise living standards in developing countries and address global challenges. mHealth Working Group is a collaborative forum composed of 150 global organizations and more than 500 individual, for sharing and synthesizing knowledge on mHealth.

February 2, 2012/by actualize

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