China & mobile social venture

Ludovic — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:25:23 -0500

Congrats to the NYT & NextBillion team / commnunity for all the good work done ! We animate here in China an ecosystem of Social Venture,via the Social Venture Forum (www.socialventureforum.com) - and last year organized a forum on "Harness the power of mobile toward Social Good" in China. For those interested to share, hereunder a link to the summary of the presentation: 2... Any idea, question, suggestion, am available at : Ludovic (at) kalibrio (dot) com

NYT Magazine Asks: Can Cellphones Alleviate Poverty?

Derek Newberry — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:41:15 -0500

All of us at NextBillion.net were both humbled and thrilled to see the New York Times Sunday Magazine draw on our work - and the work of many colleagues - to write an extended piece on the impact of cell phone usage in emerging economies.

Sara Corbett's article follows Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase as he navigates the human terrain of countries like Ghana, Brazil and Uzbekistan, trying to figure out why a farmer in Kenya or a prostitute in Brazil is finding unique value in their cell phone. The article uses Jan's experience as a device for sparking a broader discussion on the potential for the booming cell phone market to increase incomes and quality of life among the BoP.

What was most interesting about the piece is that the author poses her central theme as a question, not an assertion: "Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?" In her narrative, while laying out the case that cell phones increase productivity, she does not present this technology as a silver bullet development solution.

Rather, we get a very rich, on-the-ground account of how technology is changing people's lives in BoP markets everywhere.

(This post continues past the break; click "Read More" to continue.)

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China & mobile social venture

NYT Magazine Asks: Can Cellphones Alleviate Poverty?