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Highlights
News: Low-cost technology, Global
APC is developing a “pro-poor” internet access kit
In order to reduce poverty and foster inclusive development through affordable access to the internet, APC is working on a resource kit for realising a universal access agenda, present promising options, experiences, lessons and opportunities in pro-poor access provision in developing societies.
Did you say cell phones for development? “Yes, technology can do anything, really, but people have to drive it”
Considering the demographic overlap between those most affected by HIV/AIDS and cell phone users, it only makes sense that a major focus be put on how this low-cost technology can fight this deadly pandemic. APC-member Women’sNet recently engaged in a UNICEF-driven speed assessment of fifteen projects that apply cell phones towards development objectives in Africa, with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care.
'Gold in the mud' unleashed through ‘inclusive capitalism’?
In 1993, Bangladesh was considered a no-go zone by foreign investors. Foreign direct investment in the country totalled USD 3 million that year. Today, it has multiplied to around USD 1 billion, three quarters of which feeds the telecommunications industry. How did foreign investment skyrocket in such a short period of time? The answer lies in the story of the GrameenBank, if we are to believe Nicholas P. Sullivan, author of You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones are Connecting the World’s Poor to the Global Economy.
Low cost mobile are coming in, but how to minimise thefts?
The good news is that mobile phones are becoming cheaper. But the not-so-good news is that the mobile global industry is yet to take up creative solutions to ensure that the mobile handsets increasingly being used by the less-affluent are not stolen from them.
