Dear Colleagues,
This has been a powerful and rewarding discussion for me -- and I hope
for everyone else. On behalf of the World Resources Institute, I want to
thank all those who have participated and shared their insights and
experience. I have been particularly struck by the degree of
On 11/17/04, Tom Abeles [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
What I would like to see is WRI's projection on the resources of the
world with its increasing success in this approach to poverty
alleviation even with increased efficiency and maximum recycling.
Tom Abeles raises the question of resource use
For Tom Abeles and others who have joined the conversation recently, I
would like to point out that we have documented a number of what we
believe can be win-win models, and even sustainable models, in
connectivity, agriculture, finance, health care, and other sectors, in
detailed case studies
Chetan Sharma points out that technology by itself may not generate
jobs. But entrepreneurship certainly does--and the examples of Germany
and Finland he points to may reflect lack of an entrepreneurial culture
more than anything about technology. And technology can play a role in
helping create
Sam Lanfranco makes some nice points about profitability as an indicator
and driving force, even for non-profit or socially-motivated projects.
I'd like to turn the point around and argue that being profitable, or
the profit motive, is not a good basis for judging the social motivation
or social
I agree fully that benefits must reach the very poor, whose greatest
need is often livelihoods. And you are right that globalization--on the
export platfrom model--has so far contributed little to such people. But
I do believe that when companies target poor communities as customers,
something
Bettina Hammerich and Jim Forster both make useful points. Of course,
markets don't attend well to everything. But the core of providing
useful services at prices people will pay--and the market discipline of
listening to customers that Forster underscores--is a strength of the
business approach,
Vickram Crishna offers interesting insights--and I accept that the world
is more complicated and that boundaries are often blurred in practice.
How do we understand the recent marketing partnership between Care and
Hindustan Lever in rural India--is it business (yes) or social
development (yes)?
Cornelio Hopmann raises some important points. I agree that IT may often
be used by service providers rather than by the poor directly. But I
don't agree that there is no connection between what companies can sell
to the poor and the needs of poor households. In conjuction with
Professor CK
I agree strongly with Simon Woodside's answers--experimentation, more
modern technology, and broadband. But I was also struck by what another
contributor said, e.g. Find successful and sustainable activities.
Replicate. Get constraints out of the way. Get funding on the right
basis. Let the demand
I think William Lester and Fola Odufuwa are pointing out something
important--the potential of cellular networks to provide data
connectivity inexpensively, if imperfectly. As converged devices
proliferate and newer network technologies spread to developing
countries, these problems will ease--and
A resource that describes briefly many such efforts can be found on line
at www.digitaldividend.org--our Clearinghouse, with over 900 ICT for
development projects. Quite a few are basic connectivity efforts--both
networks, like n-Logue, EID Parry's Corners, ITC echoupal, etc., as well
as access
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