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Helps eliminate toxins, and parasites

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:05:29 -0500

You have many choices when it is put alongside Garcinia Cambogia Premium. There are a passel of blueprints you could locate Garcinia Cambogia Premium. There is no better way to enjoy Garcinia Cambogia Premium. There are dramatic theorems in that marginal area. It is kind of off topic but what I have is a hate about Garcinia Cambogia Premium. Ideally, tricked again!

Who Stole My Cow? Open Data and Praedial Larceny

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:41:15 -0500

Praedial larceny the theft of agricultural produce and livestock - is widely acknowledged as a major threat to agricultural production and food security in developing countries. It robs legitimate producers, stifles incentives for farming entrepreneurs and adversely affects the poor. In Jamaica, this scourge deprives farmers of more than JA$5 billion (US$52 million) each year. At its core, praedial larceny thrives on information asymmetries that limit coordination between stakeholders, such as farmers, law enforcement, and buyers of produce. The free flow and accessibility of information about registered farmers, their production, incidences of theft and linkages between production and market are all a part of the information ecosystem that is needed to combat this challenge.

While the value of data is derived from its usage, the principle of openness is founded on access and participation. Having more relevant and timely access to data for not only policy makers and data scientists, but also farmers, innovators and other intermediaries, will help to create the solutions needed to prevent threats to food security.

one thing is clear: open government data in agriculture will be critical to breaking down the silos that typically create governance bottlenecks. This requires focusing not aggregate macro datasets, but instead opening small, service level indicators, originating from any development partner, that can provide just in time data to inform decision making. Early program prototypes include employment opportunities as data collectors for at-risk youth, and mobile farmer ID verification for law enforcement and buyers of produce.

The Problem with Our Data Obsession

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:29:49 -0500

In his trenchant new book,To Save Everything Click Here,Evgeny Morozov, a writer forSlateand The New Republic,uses the Eightmaps episode to support his claim that Internet-centrism is warping our view of whats truly important. Transparency is ascending at the expense of other values, Morozov suggests, mainly because it is so cheap and easy to use the Internet to distribute data that might someday prove useful. And because were so often told that the Internet has liberated us from the controls that gatekeepers had on information, rethinking the availability of information seems retrograde - and the tendency toward openness gathers even more force.

Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig haseloquently describedwhy having more data about politicians is more likely to mislead people into cynicism than to make politics better. But Lessig seems resigned to the inevitability of such data-gathering projects in the age of the Internet.

The most chilling potential problem is that the data we use to guide ourselves can be incomplete or overly reductionist. Many crimes go unreported, which could fool predictive policing software into thinking a neighborhood is safe. Cops on the beat, however, might be able to tell when things dont seem quite right there and keep an eye out. Morozov fears a future in which such intuitive knowledge about how to deploy resources is overruled by algorithms that can work only with hard data and cant, of course, account for the data they dont have.

Mobile Privacy Disclosures: Building Trust Through Transparency

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:20:43 -0500

In the fourth quarter of 2012, consumers worldwide bought approximately 217 million smartphones, which weigh about four ounces and fit in the palm of the hand. Consumers derive enormous benefits from these devices, which are used to make audio and video phone calls, buy movie tickets, check traffic on the regular commute, browse a digital library while waiting for an appointment, and connect with friends for spontaneous get-togethers.

The mobile ecosystem has changed in other ways, too. The complexity of the ecosystem raises 21st century concerns: When people use their mobile devices, they are sharing information about their daily lives with a multitude of players. How many companies are privy to this information? How often do they access such content and how do they use it or share it? What do consumers understand about who is getting their information and how they are using it?

ICT4Ag 2013 Conference, Plug & Play Day, Kigali, Rwanda, 4 November, 2013: Call for Innovations Opens!

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:55:35 -0500

As a precursor to the ICT4Ag conference being coorganised by CTA, MINAGRI and partner organisations in Kigali, Rwanda, the Plug and Play Day (November 4, 2013) offers participants a valuable and very practical insight into the latest technological developments in the field of ICT for agriculture.

Proposals are being solicited from the general public for apps/tools/solutions developers and techies, who may be interested in demonstrating or teaching others how to use these technologies for agricultural development.

If interested in submitting a proposal for the Plug & Play Day, please follow the link below where you will find the full details and the form for submission of your proposal.

ICT4Ag 2013 Conference, Kigali, Rwanda 4-8 November, 2013: Call for Content Opens!

Mon, 20 May 2013 02:22:09 -0500

Co-hosted by CTA and MINAGRI, and supported by an impressive array of international organisations working in the fields of ICTs and agriculture, this conference taking place in Kigali, Rwanda on 4-8 November 2013, offers participants the opportunity to discover exciting opportunities and cutting edge technologies.

Proposals are being solicited from interested resource persons under a broad range of session topics within the field of ICTs and agriculture. If interested in submitting a content proposal for the ICT4Ag 2013 conference, please follow the link below where you will find the full details and the form for submission of your proposal.

comparison of socio-economic characteristics of ethnic minority vis-a-vis main stream population: New survey evidence from Vietnam

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:56:29 -0500

The ethnic minority people are known to be poor in general, low in education and perform less compared to the main stream population in Vietnam. There is however less evidence backed by field data to compare the overall standards of ethnic minority people and the main stream people. This note based on survey data gathered from 420 households (75% minority and 25 % main stream) corroborates that minority households in general perform poorly compared to main stream population is. Out of the 11 socio-economic variables populated in this survey, it is revealed that ethnic minority people have performed less in 7 while their achievement is higher than the main stream in two variables namely, ownership of income-generating assets and schooling rate. The ownership of household assets by ethnic minority and main stream households show a mixed pattern where a higher number of ethnic minority households owned water storage jars and sewing machines compared to the main stream households.

"Socio-Capitalism" Is This the new order world wants?

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:45:28 -0500

Socio Capitalism is an economic structure which privileges Communities, Individuals, Capitalists and Governments involve together to achieve Economic Goal. Thus Growth Share reaches entire population. Socio Capitalism is a system where capitalist invests and gets due reward. Its role is to invest but functions by communities and its people to promote the project and shared by all involved, encourages involved having equal interest in the growth. Governments role does not merely sticking to running public sectors rather priority is protecting societys interest and social order, obligates thorough watch on financiers and society functioning, market economy and have upper hand on both categories. As socialism and capitalism both together attached to economic order, their endeavour is to make project successful. Unlike socialism socio capitalism encourages energetic challenging behaviour among involved citizens, communities, and investors as incentives and disincentives involved. And unlike capitalism, the objective is profit with social consciousness.

As each individual is a contributor to the objective, would prefer the success to survive. Share of the result shared with all involved according to their capacity. This objective promotes success economy. System helps sliding poverty level down.

System facilitates population to involve in economic and social sectors to build a powerful stable economy. Reluctance of Capitalists investment in agro and rural based industries escaped rural growth causing heavy migration to cities.
Educational Institutions and Societies: Socio Capitalism is a community initiation to explore its resources to benefit people. So educate and train is priority to identify sectors for economic growth. New system encourages introducing new research based education system to identify new resources and sources helping employment generation.
Environment and Society: Communities initiation towards identifying usage of natural and cultural resources to attract tourism and so-on is promotion to environmental importance. Environment- cultural related and small sector opportunities to soar employment opportunities in neighbourhoods.
Health and medical care and societies: Entrance of capitalism in Health and Medical sectors have soared manifold the cost of treatment and medicines reaching beyond ordinary citizens capacity. In Socio Capitalism system each neighbourhood to have health care units with qualified doctors and nurses. Financed by institutions or Government and governed by communities, thus would transform present system to social compatibility.
Layoffs Job cuts contract worker and Capitalism: Job cuts (DWnews) is easy privileged systems of capitalism to hire and fire when want. On the other hand under Socio Capitalism each involved is share holder. An eligible person hired is an asset to the company thus on hire, shares offered at subsidised value. That may be as easy payable or bank finance recommended by the company credibility. These shares are only transferrable during way out or retirement. Unlike socialism pattern workers are equally responsible for functioning.
In fact individuals investing in stock exchange are more or less unproductive as earnings not directed to companies rather exchanged between seller and buyer of shares. In socio capitalism people are encouraged to invest in projects rather than speculative stock exchanges. Careful Government regulation assures secured investments.
The objective of the society shifts to humanity and human needs. Social security and social order is priority as all are linked to each other.
Political and administration systems would have different philosophy to match social needs. Money and vote wouldnt be the criteria rather performance and experience in respective fields would invite candidates to enrol for competition.
Large private sectors too are obliged and have flavour of socio capitalism in regard to employment, production and marketing.

A website that helps save your electricity bill

Sun, 19 May 2013 03:00:55 -0500

Abhishek Jain has come a long way since he left a high-profile job in Deloitte to help Indians save electricity at home. His online initiative, bijlibachao.com, not only helps analyse electricity bills but also calculates how a consumer can save money by choosing the right colour for a room and correctly placing appliances.

An electricity bill is a confusing entity. If the bill is Rs. 2,000 - 3,000, lets go pay it, but how it gets to Rs. 2,000 - 3,000 no one knows, and one just goes and pays the bill. The whole idea is to help them understand why the amount has gone up and help reduce it, said 31-year-old Jain, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology and founder of the website.

Appliances such as refrigerators can save electricity if appropriately placed in the house, according to him. It is a well-known fact that refrigerators release heat, but if it is not given ample place, it will not cool properly, affecting its efficiency. Stuffing it with warm food uses up a lot of electricity, risking its efficiency. Such tips are on the website for viewers to read.

The Global Fund should take transparency to another level

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:58:00 -0500

Global Fund transparency, as it is practised today, is more of a barrier to journalists and in-country activists than anything else: intimidating piles of reports filled with obscure language, countless files and downloadable materials that reassure technocrats in donor capitals but that dont say much about the reality of what happens to the funds when they hit the ground. Understanding, processing and making use of this information requires learning about technical jargon, Global Fund internal processes, and the roles and responsibilities of different local partners. One needs to be familiar with web searching techniques and data processing methods, and to have some basic communication skills to translate often indigestible data into a plain, common language that non-technical audiences can understand.

Last, but not least, trying to make the powerful accountable in countries with no such tradition is a risky game for the few activists and concerned citizens who dare to do so. With the rise of the Open Government and Open Data movements in Africa and elsewhere, people may fear less for their lives than they used to, but threats and intimidation are still very much a daily reality for local watchdogs.

This leads to a strange paradox. As I heard recently: That is almost the flip side of transparency. Its very easy to use transparency if actually you want to drown people in information. I know its a tactic for lawyers: just give too much information to people, and it will be difficult for them to really figure out what is important. Certainly, the Global Fund did not create this complexity consciously and voluntarily, but the result is the same: mountains of data and files that have the effect of shielding grantees and the Funds bureaucracy from too much scrutiny.

Bill Gates: Teachers need real feedback

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:54:57 -0500

Until recently, many teachers only got one word of feedback a year: satisfactory. And with no feedback, no coaching, theres just no way to improve. Bill Gates suggests that even great teachers can get better with smart feedback -- and lays out a program from his foundation to bring it to every classroom.

A passionate techie and a shrewd businessman, Bill Gates changed the world once, while leading Microsoft to dizzying success. Now he's set to do it again with his own style of philanthropy and passion for innovation.

Second-Generation Americans: A Portrait of the Adult Children of Immigrants

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:52:51 -0500

Second-generation Americans - the 20 million adult U.S.-born children of immigrants - are substantially better off than immigrants themselves on key measures of socioeconomic attainment, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. They have higher incomes; more are college graduates and homeowners; and fewer live in poverty. In all of these measures, their characteristics resemble those of the full U.S. adult population.

Hispanics and Asian Americans make up about seven-in-ten of todays adult immigrants and about half of todays adult second generation. Pew Research surveys find that the second generations of both groups are much more likely than the immigrants to speak English; to have friends and spouses outside their ethnic or racial group, to say their group gets along well with others, and to think of themselves as a typical American.

Adults in the second generation are doing better than those in the first generation in median household income ($58,000 versus $46,000); college degrees (36% versus 29%); and homeownership (64% versus 51%). They are less likely to be in poverty (11% versus 18%) and less likely to have not finished high school (10% versus 28%). Most of these favorable comparisons hold up not just in the aggregate but also within each racial/ethnic subgroup (e.g., second-generation Hispanics do better than first-generation Hispanics; second-generation whites do better than first-generation whites, and so on).

Research Uptake: A guide for DFID-funded research programmes

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:49:19 -0500

DFID funds research in order to contribute to its overarching goal of poverty reduction. We fund some research which aims to produce new products or technologies which directly improve the lives of poor people. Other research produces knowledge and will only have an impact if it is understood and used to inform decisions. Research uptake includes all the activities that facilitate and contribute to the use of research evidence by policy-makers, practitioners and other development actors.

This guidance note aims to support DFID-funded research programmes as they develop and implement their research uptake strategy. Research programmes which are part-funded by DFID should consult with their DFID programme manager to determine which part(s) apply to them.

Civic Engagement in the Digital Age

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:46:34 -0500

Social networking sites have grown more important in recent years as a venue for political involvement, learning, and debate. Overall, 39% of all American adults took part in some sort of political activity on a social networking site during the 2012 campaign. This means that more Americans are now politically active on social networking sites (SNS) than used them at all as recently as the 2008 election campaign. At that point, 26% of the population used a social networking site of any kind.

The growth in several specific behaviors between 2008 and 2012 illustrates the increasing importance of SNS as places where citizens can connect with political causes and issues:

In 2012, 17% of all adults posted links to political stories or articles on social networking sites, and 19% posted other types of political content. That is a six-fold increase from the 3% of adults who posted political stories or links on these sites in 2008.

In 2012, 12% of all adults followed or friended a political candidate or other political figure on a social networking site, and 12% belonged to a group on a social networking site involved in advancing a political or social issue. That is a four-fold increase from the 3% of adults who took part in these behaviors in 2008.

Digital Panchayat: Vital to Shape India's Future

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:43:21 -0500

The soul of India lives in its villages. More than 69 percent of 1.21 billion Indians, i.e. nearly 830 million people live in different villages. While the urban population has been dramatically increasing in India since the last decade, the rural economy and life is still central to India's existence and identity. This country cannot develop without developing its villages. The digital revolution in each and every Panchayat is a must in a bid to make Indias growth inclusive. Without this revolution, the fully flagged e-Governance for India will only be a dream. There are 245,525 Panchayat offices in India. It includes offices of 525 Zila Panchayats, 6,299 Block Panchayats and 238,644 Gram Panchayats.

As per the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, only 58, 291 Panchayat offices have computers. In Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, barely one or two Panchayats have computer facilities. This is not the end of challenges. The irony is, most computers in the states Panchayats are either non-functional, or there is no trained person to operate them.

Digital Panchayat is a story illustrating how every Panchayat used the believe in a ray of hope. Also, at Digital Empowerment Foundation, we are looking for people in various areas who can help members of Panchayats in order to make them part of Global Digital Revolution.

More Information on the New Funding Model, Please

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:40:12 -0500

This is a plea for the Global Fund to become more active in communicating information about the new funding model to its broad audience of people working on and interested in Global Fund matters.

For a multilateral agency like the Global Fund, the development of a new funding model (NFM) is extremely complex and time-consuming, as is the transition from the rounds-based system. All of this needs very careful planning and attention to detail from all involved. It also needs a good communication strategy to ensure that those affected by the NFM understand what is happening.

Discussion of the design of this new system has been ongoing for at least 12 months, yet new details are emerging with every iteration. In addition, there are elements of the NFM that have not yet been fully defined; some aspects wont be finalised until after the transition period. This is understandable, but it is also frustrating to observe.

Through this period, the biggest complaint that we have heard from people in the field is that they are not being kept informed.

Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:34:54 -0500

The Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals examines rural-urban disparities in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how urbanization, if managed well, can contribute to the attainment of these goals. The report provides information about the differences in progress toward the MDGs across geographical areas and recognizes that urban populations are better off than their rural brethren. However, unfettered urbanization can cause migrants and the urban poor to end up in slums where attainment of the MDGs lags. GMR 2013 calls for an integrated strategy to better manage the planning-connecting-financing formula of urbanization. Notwithstanding the importance of urbanization in poverty reduction and MDG attainment, rural areas remain a huge challenge - one that underscores the importance of policies that can improve rural livelihoods.

The rural-urban spectrum ranges from small towns to large cities. The general experience is that poverty is lowest in the largest cities and considerably higher in smaller towns. The MDGs reflect the basic needs of all citizens, and governments should aim to meet them fully in both urban and rural areas. However, resources are scarce, so priorities must be set and trade-offs made. The report argues that the sequencing of actions be tailored to local conditions when it comes to the degree of urbanization and rural-urban differences in MDG outcomes.

The world has met four global MDG targets. New estimates confirm the 2012 reports that MDG 1.a - reducing the $1.25-a-day poverty rate (2005 purchasing power parity) - was reached in 2010, falling below half of its 1990 value. The world also met part of MDG 7.c - to halve the proportion of people without safe access to drinking water - in 2010. MDG 7.d - to improve significantly the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020 - was also achieved. Finally, the first part of MDG 3.a - to eliminate gender disparity in primary education - was accomplished in 2010. Global progress on the full MDG 3.a (to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education) is close to being on track. Global Monitoring Report 2013 was prepared jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, with consultations and collaborations with regional development banks and other multilateral partners.

Open Government Data: Helping Parents to find the Best School for their Kids

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:30:39 -0500

I recently relocated my family from Chisanau to The Hague, leading to the difficult experience of trying to find the best primary school for my son in a new city. This challenge finding the right school is probably one of the most important decisions in many parents lives. Parents are looking for answers to questions such as which schools are located in safe neighborhoods, which ones have the highest teacher students ratio, which schools have the best funding, which schools have the best premises or which ones have the highest grades average.

It is rarely an easy decision, but is made doubly difficult in the case of migrants. People residing in the same location for a long time know, more or less, which are the best education institutions in their city, town or village. For migrants, the situation is absolutely the opposite. They have to spend extra time and resources in identifying relevant information about schools.

Open Government Data is an effective solution which can ease the problem of a lack of accessible information about existing schools in a particular country or location. By adopting the Open Government Data policy in the educational field, governments release data about grades, funding, student and teacher numbers, data generated throughout time by schools, colleges, universities and other educational settings.

Special Report: Mobiles for Social & Behaviour Change in India'

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:27:29 -0500

The consultation paper (draft) presents the key areas of emphasis in the growing mobile for development space in India. The purpose is to understand the scope and magnitude of the expanding mobile domain as it is lately linked essentially to advance development and governance objectives and seen as the most democratic technology medium to offer scope to deliver service needs anytime, anywhere. The Paper content has been derived from existing research and field inputs. The paper is intended to assist consultation (Mobiles for Social and Behavior Change) stakeholders to get an overview of issues, scope and relevance in mobile thrust to support development efforts of the government and private players including bilateral agencies and civil society bodies.

A review of 13 practices for this paper indicates the most common sectors for focus are education, health, socio-economic development, and disaster management well within the central focus of MDGs. There is evidence that stakeholders are interested and expressed keenness in using mobiles as service and solution providers, yet there remain vital challenges towards sustaining the pilots and scaling them. The pilot initiatives have highlighted two essential points. One, mobiles have emerged as effective mechanism to derive project impacts in information dissemination, project monitoring / tracking, training of frontline workers and interpersonal communication practices. Second, mobile projects calls for inclusive agenda among stakeholders in multi-stakeholder partnership mode.

Obama Administration Releases Historic Open Data Rules to Enhance Government Efficiency and Fuel Economic Growth

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:23:40 -0500

The Obama Administration recently took groundbreaking new steps to make information generated and stored by the Federal Government more open and accessible to innovators and the public, to fuel entrepreneurship and economic growth while increasing government transparency and efficiency.

Todays actions - including an Executive Order signed by the President and an Open Data Policy released by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy - declare that information is a valuable national asset whose value is multiplied when it is made easily accessible to the public. The Executive Order requires that, going forward, data generated by the government be made available in open, machine-readable formats, while appropriately safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, and security.

The move will make troves of previously inaccessible or unmanageable data easily available to entrepreneurs, researchers, and others who can use those files to generate new products and services, build businesses, and create jobs.

The Global Innovation Index 2012

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:19:26 -0500

In recent months, policy discussions about how to reignite confidence in the world economy have questioned the focus on austerity measures. The economic policy debate is placing renewed emphasis on achieving an appropriate policy mix that fosters growth and employment while promoting sustainable public finances. Policies to promote innovation should feature prominently in these discussions - even if innovation cannot cure the most immediate financial difficulties, it is a crucial element of sustainable growth. Future generations will ask whether the stimulus programmes of 2009 and any upcoming initiatives successfully married short-term demand stimulus with longer-lasting growth objectives. They will also ask whether policy makers seized the opportunity presented by the current crisis to put forward-looking measures in place to lay the foundations for future prosperity. Finally, they will judge whether firms and other innovation actors invested appropriately in the future, and attempt to determine why some emerged from the crisis more strongly than others.

The GII helps to create an environment in which innovation factors are under continual evaluation, and it provides a key tool for refining innovation policies.

How to Note: Assessing the Strength of Evidence

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:14:24 -0500

The Assessing the Strength of Evidence How to Note aims to help all DFID staff appreciate better the strength of evidence they are using to inform their policy and programming choices. DFID is making the guidance publically available, as it may be helpful to researchers and policy makers in government departments, research institutes and funding bodies. Identifying and using high quality research studies isnt straightforward. The note offers some rules of thumb. When DFID writes or commissions evidence, it typically differentiates research on the basis of quality and appropriateness to the question, rather than design and method alone.

DFID is therefore encouraging staff and development partners to be clear about the type of research they are citing to support particular claims. That way, the reader of any evidence summary can form their own view about how appropriate the evidence is for the question at hand.

The note is an integral part of DFIDs commitment to equipping staff with the skills to improve their use of evidence. It forms part of several current initiatives to advance staff analytical skills. There are also plans to help staff use evidence and research. This will allow staff to make more informed decisions about how DFID spends taxpayers money on viable development projects.

ELLA GUIDE: Strengthening Capacities for Climate Change Adaptation in Mountain Ecosystems: The Latin American Response

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:27:55 -0500

Mountains provide a broad range of environmental services including water, energy, soils and biodiversity, and are of vital importance for local populations as well as ecosystems and human populations at lower altitudes. Climate change impacts in mountain ecosystems are therefore affecting large geographic areas and millions of people worldwide. In Latin Americas mountain ranges in Central America and the Andes, strategies to build capacities for climate change adaptation have generally been participative in nature and have aimed at improving natural resource conservation, providing access to new technologies and capturing traditional knowledge and practices. A strong focus has also been on maintaining water resources and agrobiodiversity. This Guide presents a range of experiences, publications and organisations from the region, concluding with lessons that could prove useful to other mountain regions of the world.

Oliver Wyman - How "new form lending" will reshape banks' small business strategies

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:25:11 -0500

you will have to write to Oliver Wyman to get a copy of this very interesting paper by Peter Carroll and Ben Hoffman, but it's worth it. While the focus is on the USA, the paper is a great and concise description of how banks should be looking to transactions records to build the strongest SME businesses, in this era when more and more SMEs do more and more of their business on credit cards. It cites pioneers like Capital Access Network, Amerimerchant and OnDeck Capital, who have been discussed in our Forum. Their key point, which I believe soon will apply equally to emerging markets (particularly for larger banks), is that this is becoming the standard way of driving SME business. The article makes the important point that this approach allows banks to offer different types of credit products for SMEs, in particular standby lines, that SMEs often say they want, but rarely can get with the flexibility and responsiveness needed. They estimate the market for this as approximately 8 million lines for $80-120 billion, with a potential after tax profit of $1.5-2.5 billion. It also notes how this approach not only reduces marketing and underwriting costs, but also loan administration.

the article also points out that third party providers can provide platforms for running such programs for banks (as we well know, as several of them have partcipated in our discussions on emerging markets!)...and it points out that many of these (as is the case for our commenters) also have their own finance companies, opening up possibilities for dividing up markets and leaving the riskier prospects to the platform partners.

overall, a very useful overview of this approach, and just 7 pages! worth a read...write to OW for more...

maybe they will comment further?

matt

Building an Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in Rural Livelihoods

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:50:49 -0500

Bihar has more than 100 million inhabitants and is Indias second poorest state. Ninety percent of the population lives in rural areas and the state has lagged behind in reducing poverty.Jeevika, a rural livelihoods program has been working with community institutions since 2007 and has built an institutional platform by mobilizing 1 million women into self-help groups (SHGs) and higher-level federations. Eventually, the project plans to mobilize 15 million households and reach most poor households in the state over the next 5 years.

Traditionally, both government and the private sector have struggled to reach remote and poverty stricken parts of India, especially eastern states such as Bihar. Even social entrepreneurs and civil society organizations struggle to apply their innovations because of poor reach and lack of absorption,. However, Jeevika, a program jointly supported by Government of Bihar and the World Bank, has built a community-based institutional platform that can reach millions of poor households in Bihar. It is now offering a unique opportunity to social innovators to capitalize on the platform as well as access to financial capital providing enterprises with a chance for a leap.

Soap Opera for Social Change

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:47:54 -0500

Can soap operas educate TV audiences on personal finance issues? Researchers at the World Bank did the test: They integrated messages on personal finance into 2 episodes of South Africa's famous "Scandal!" soap opera. The results was stunning: debt mediat

Obama Administration Releases Historic Open Data Rules to Enhance Government Efficiency and Fuel Economic Growth

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:43:06 -0500

The Obama Administration today took groundbreaking new steps to make information generated and stored by the Federal Government more open and accessible to innovators and the public, to fuel entrepreneurship and economic growth while increasing government transparency and efficiency.

In Jakarta, Open Environmental Data Meets Freedom of Information Law

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:38:48 -0500

FOI provides citizens with rights to access. Open data, for the most part, has simply afforded a privilege. Our colleagues in Jakarta have rightly pointed out their discomfort with this and are giving the open data community - which, as a broad tent, has always included those interested in not just transparency, but non-profit, commercial uses, scientific uses - a push to demand more.

There is a central the difference between a FOI and open data. FOI is a document centric process. It requires one to audit documents (for privacy and secrecy) that have already been produced. It is, by definition, backwards looking and non-scalable. Open data, in contrast, is a system centric process. With a guarantee to data you are not asking for a specific document or data at a specific moment in time, you are asking for access to all products of a system including those in the present and future, and possibly even those from the past.

The entire accountability infrastructure within governments will need to think of transparency and accountability with a whole new paradigm, one of systems not just documents. And this reskilling and new perspective will affect not just the people who have to implement these new rules, but also the solicitors, civil society organizations and access to information commissioners who oversee the government.

The Shakespeare review: what's the future of UK open data?

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:33:19 -0500

The UK is the world leader on open government data, according to YouGov CEO and Open Data Strategy Board chair Stephan Shakespeare, but needs to avoid being the "boffins ... we generate the excitement but don't mint the money". The finding is one of the core messages of The Shakespeare Review, a government-commissioned report on what should happen next with opening up government data for the benefit of government, business and (of course) citizens.

Open data has the potential to deliver a 2bn boost to the UK economy in the short-term, the research concludes, with a further 6-7bn further down the line. But to do it, the UK will need a clear, cohesive strategy on what to do next no more ad-hoc, "out-the-window", chuck out the data approach.

So: what's Shakespeare recommending, and what does it mean?

Open Government Data: Helping Parents to find the Best School for their Kids

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:30:54 -0500

The School Portal, developed under the Moldova Open Data Initiative, uses data made public by the Ministry of Education of Moldova to offer comprehensive information about 1529 educational institutions in the Republic of Moldova. Users of the portal can access information about schools yearly budgets, budget implementation, expenditures, school rating, students grades, schools infrastructure and communications. The School Portal has a tool which allows visitors to compare schools based on different criteria infrastructure, students performance or annual budgets. The additional value of the portal is the fact that it serves as a platform for private sector entities which sell school supplies to advertise their products.

The Uncertain Relationship Between Open Data and Accountability: A Response to Yu and Robinsons The New Ambiguity of Open Government

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:28:10 -0500

David Robinson and Harlan Yu are among the foremost scholars in the field of open government data research. With their 2009 article, Government Data and the Invisible Hand,1 Robinson, Yu, and their colleagues were among the first in the academic community to offer a well-articulated rationale for the release of governmental data in open formats.

In 2012, Robinson and Yu returned with a new contribution to the field - The New Ambiguity of Open Government - providing an analytical framework that evinces the ambiguities underlying the term open government data.2 The distinction suggested is a conceptual milestone in the field of open government and data and a welcome addition to a developing body of literature on the subject.

To build on the authors contribution, I put forward two arguments. First, I contend that the authors ignore the enabling conditions under which transparency may lead to accountability.I suggest that for adaptable data to engender accountability, it must fulfill at least two conditions: the publicity and political agency conditions. In discussing the agency condition, I also expand on Robinson and Yus argument by emphasizing the importance of participatory mechanisms to foster better services and policies. In this sense, I argue that the authors overlook the role of civic participation as an essential element in unlocking the potential for open data to produce better government decisions and policies.

Finally, I use the analytical backdrop of developed and developing countries in which national governments have recently promoted open data initiatives to conduct an empirical analysis of their publicity and political agency conditions. By doing so, I broaden the analytical scope adopted by Robinson and Yu - which tends to focus on the United States - while highlighting the challenges associated with open data as a path to accountability.

Making the DC Code Open

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:23:12 -0500

Join us at the OpenGov Hub for a special Brown-Bag Lunch (BBL) session with General Council V. David Zvenyach on how Washington DC's Legal Code became available to all earlier this month, and what this means for government data overall.

And remember: it's a BBL so be sure to bring your own lunch! Refreshments will be provided by the OpenGov Hub.

About the OpenGov Hub: The OpenGov Hub is the day-to-day home to a range of people and organizations working on the open government agenda while also serving as a community gathering point for open government learning and networking activities in the Washington area.

The Power of Social Networks to Drive Mobile Money Adoption

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:17:03 -0500

This study identifies and explores the key drivers of mobile money (MM) adoption by comparing data from three African countries. It uses innovative analytics and data mining techniques. It processes findings from a data set of 7 billion transactions performed by more than 10 million mobile phone users over 7 months.

The study reveals two key variables that indicate a higher propensity to adopt MM. The first variable is the social network and social interactions of the mobile user. Individuals with five MM connections are over 3.5 times more likely to adopt MM than individuals with only one MM connection. The second key variable is the users telecom usage profile. Adopters tend to call twice as much as non adopters, send twice as many SMS, rely more on electronic recharges than scratch cards for airtime credit, and use more data than non adopters.

Transparency Camp & Chinese aid

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:14:31 -0500

Last week l was in Washington D.C. to attend the Sunlight Foundations excellent Transparency Camp and present our plans for the 2013 Index. My week kicked off with an event at CGD to launch a new dataset of Chinese aid projects (not that the Chinese call it aid) which has set off a flurry of blogs about the pros and cons of using media sources to collect aid data. Of course my response to all this is predictable - if all providers of development flows published their information in an open, common format as they committed to by the end of 2015, then AidData wouldnt have to resort to undertaking laborious initiatives such as this.

China is unlikely to start publishing to IATI any time soon, so AidData should be commended on having a go at building a dataset, with all the difficulties and drawbacks that involves. At the very least, its fired up the discussion about the importance of credible datasets, the globalisation of aid and the need for donor harmonisation. A comment from one of the panellists at the event, Professor Yan Wang, on the difficulty of allocating costs to south-south cooperation, reminded me of a similar comment we received last year from Brazil in response to our 2012 Index, along the lines of you cant quantify technical cooperation to which I say doctors/teachers/engineers salary + their flight + their subsistence + the materials you provide for them to practice = cost.

Deutsche Bank and IFC accused of bankrolling Vietnam firms' land grabs

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:11:46 -0500

Two Vietnamese firms bankrolled by Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation the World Bank's private lending arm are leading a wave of land grabs in Cambodia and Laos, causing widespread evictions, illegal logging and food insecurity, according to a report. The study, concluding a year-long investigation by the watchdog Global Witness, names two of Vietnam's biggest companies, the privately owned Huang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and state-owned Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), as the businesses behind the land grabs.

The report alleges the IFC invested $14.95m in a Vietnamese fund that holds 5% equity in HAGL, while Deutsche Bank owns some $4.5m-worth of HAGL shares. Deutsche Bank is also said to have 1.2m shares in a subsidiary company of VRG amounting to more than $3m. Current figures show that Cambodia has leased nearly three-quarters of its arable land 2.6m hectares in economic land concessions (ELCs), 80% of which were turned into rubber plantations, and 14% of which went to Vietnam.

US Navy ship to sail the Pacific on a humanitarian mission

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:07:50 -0500

The US Pacific Fleet said May 9 that it will send an amphibious dock landing ship to six Pacific island nations over the next several months to provide humanitarian assistance and help people better prepare for disasters. The USS Pearl Harbor will leave Hawaii on May 24. It will stop first in Samoa and then visit Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, and the Solomon Islands.

The US Navy has been sending vessels on similar humanitarian missions since 2006, when it sent the hospital ship USNS Mercy to the Philippines, Indonesia, and other Asian countries. Humanitarian missions can have great public relations value for the United States and other participants. This became particularly clear after the US sent ships and planes to deliver food, tents, and medical care for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Approval ratings for the U.S. in predominantly Muslim Indonesia climbed to 38 percent in 2005 from 15 percent two years earlier because of the help, according to a poll by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. The Navy began sending vessels on annual "Pacific Partnership" tours shortly afterward.

All Our Ideas: Breakthrough in Citizen Feedback Solutions

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:04:55 -0500

A new version of All Our Ideas - a freely available citizen feedback tool that enables data collection by combining the best features of quantitative and qualitative methods has just been launched. With a new responsive design, built with the support of the World Bank Institute as part of the World Banks Open Development Technology Alliance (ODTA), All Our Ideas enables data collection through a number of devices: desktop, laptops, tablets and mobile.

Easily deployable, the tool has already been used in different environments and for different purposes, from collecting feedbackfrom slum dwellers in Rio de Janeiro to the collaborative development of New York Citys long-term sustainability plan. All Our Ideas is also the tool behind The Governor Asks initiative, winner of the internal Citizen Feedback contest for World Bank staff.

Saudi Arabia blocks climate change from UN poverty goals

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:02:28 -0500

Saudi Arabia is leading calls for climate change to be omitted from the UNs 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At an SDG meeting in New York recently attended by over 70 nations the Saudis, together with fellow oil producers Venezuela and the UAE called for discussions of climate change to be separated from those on energy. Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other big oil exporters have already gained reputations as serial blockers at the these talks, which are at a delicate stage. Discussions outside of this forum can make some nations uneasy as evidenced by Chinas objections to climate being discussed at the UN Security Council.

Obervers believe Ban Ki-moon will pull together the development focused post-2015 panel and the more environment led SDG group. The SE4All targets, to double energy access, renewables penetration and energy efficiency, could form part of the SDGs.He has already expressed frustration with the slow progress of the UNs climate talks and could view the goals as another means to build momentum.

RCTs Awesome, but Then What?

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:00:21 -0500

Randomized evaluations became the chic international development approach a few years back, as they re-energized the aid effectiveness debate with the promise to unbury the causal links of program interventions and development. According to Brigham, Findley, Matthias, Petrey and Nielson, By assigning interventions to treatment and control groups, researchers can learn the causal effects of the projects and, by replication, accumulate knowledge of effective development practice in which we can place high confidence. Randomized evaluations tell us what worksand what doesnt. To twist Dani Rodriks terms slightly, We shall experiment, but how shall we learn from the outcomes of those experiments?

In a recent paper, Brigham, Findley, Matthias, Petrey and Nielson begin to tackle this critical question. The five authors contacted 1,419 micro-finance institutions (MFI), with an offer to partner on evaluations of their programs. With the offer, a randomized set of MFIs received positive information on the effectiveness of MFIs; a second set received negative information on the effectiveness of MFIs; while a third group received no additional information. Those that received the negative treatment are significantly and substantially less likely to respond to their offer, about 10% respond to the positive message, 5% respond to the negative message. The analysis thus concludes that there is significant confirmation bias among microfinance institutions. As attractive as randomization is, what good does it do if no one listens to the results they didnt want to hear?

Open Government: A Time for Self-Assessment

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:56:52 -0500

Since the first day of the Obama Administration, the Federal government has worked to make government more efficient, effective, and responsive to citizens needs. The Administration has harnessed new technology to engage the public, worked to disclose information more quickly, and given citizens a greater voice in decision-making.

In September 2011, the Administrations work was launched on the world stage when President Obama and other world leaders endorsed the principles of the global Open Government Partnership (OGP). As part of our commitment to OGP, the United States launched the National Action Plan, a set of twenty-six concrete commitments that help increase public integrity, promote public participation, manage public resources more effectively, and improve public services. Praised by civil society organizations and the public, the Plan stands as a great example of what we can do as a country when government, civil society, and the public collaborate together. As the President has said, Put simply, our countries are stronger when we engage citizens beyond the halls of government.

How Vietnamese Companies and International Financiers are driving a Land Grabbing Crisis in Cambodia and Laos

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:54:26 -0500

This report shows how vast amounts of land have been acquired for rubber plantations in Cambodia and Laos by two of Vietnams biggest largest companies, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG). The rubber barons are financed by international investors including Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) the private lending arm of the World Bank.

It lays bare the culture of secrecy and impunity that has allowed these two rubber giants to gain rights to more than 200,000 hectares of concession land through secretive deals with the Lao and Cambodian governments. They have close links with the regions corrupt political elites and operate with complete impunity, devastating local livelihoods and the environment in the process. Rubber Barons is the first expos of the role of international financiers in these land grabs. Deutsche Bank has multi-million dollar holdings in both companies, while the IFC invests in HAGL.

Recap: A Big Day for Open Data

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:43:06 -0500

Indeed, in a major step to provide innovative companies like Stormpulse with increased access to government data, the President signed a groundbreaking Executive Order and published a new open data policy requiring that going forward, data generated by the government be made available in open, machine-readable formats, while appropriately safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, and security.

President Obama said: And today Im announcing that were making even more government data available, and were making it easier for people to find and to use. And thats going to help launch more start-ups. Its going to help launch more businessesIts going to help more entrepreneurs come up with products and services that we havent even imagined yet. This kind of innovation and ingenuity has the potential to transform the way we do almost everything.

Why Open Data Matters: G-8 and African Nations Increase Open Data for Food Security

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:39:04 -0500

Jimmy Wambua, a social justice worker and young entrepreneur in Nairobi, Kenya, saw a problem. In a country where smallholder farmers grow the food that feeds the Kenyan people, crop yields were not reaching their full potential and growers were not getting a fair price. Decisions about what crops to plant and when were made on speculation and instinct, and farmers sold their crops based on prices offered by middlemen and traders. A solution seemed evident: increase access and sharing of information that already exists and is public, but is not in-use by the farmers. Jimmy joined the M-Farm organization that set up a text-message based mobile phone application for farmers to gain a better price by accessing market price for their crops- rather than relying on the word of the buyer- and provide a platform for farmers to sell their goods online. USAID contributed to the work of M-Farm- not through a grant or loan or other financial capital- but with information capital. With the release of an open data set from the Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNet) M-Farm now has access to ten years of historic data about market prices of crops, which show trends in crop price fluctuation, and enables better decision making on which crops to plant to yield the highest income.

M-Farms story was just one of dozens that took the stage April 29 & 30 at the G-8 International Open Agriculture Data Conference and showcased innovative organizations that use open data to support global food security. Dr. Howard-Yana Shapiro of Mars Global shared progress on mapping the genomes of over 100 crops that are vital to food security, but are overlooked because they are not commercially viable. Palantir Technologies and Grameen Foundation displayed their open data app that they developed at USAIDs Hack for Hunger,which uses community knowledge worker-collected data and Palantir analytics to build a crop-specific food security early warning system for farmers in Uganda.

Citizen Feedback Drives Performance Improvements in Kenyas Water and Sanitation Services

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:36:55 -0500

With support from the World Bank and the Water and Sanitation Program, the government of Kenya is working to address water shortages. The Kenya Water and Sanitation Services Improvement Project (WASSIP) is targeting major infrastructure investment, as well as strengthening governance reforms. As part of its project appraisal document (PAD) it committed to partner with the Water and Sanitation Program in strengthening social accountability. The strategy adopted by the Water and Sanitation Program is to assist the Water Services Regulatory Board (WASREB) to put in place community Water Action Groups, introducing citizen scorecards, and using information and communication technologies (ICT) to create a feedback platform that enhances the accountability of local utilities.

iHub Researchs Uchaguzi Monitoring & Evaluation Brief

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:34:18 -0500

During Kenyas 2013 General Election, Uchaguzi Kenya 2013, a joint initiative between SODNET, Ushahidi, CRECO, and Hivos (with support from CIDA), was used to help increase transparency and accountability through active citizen participation in the electoral cycle. Uchaguzi was coordinated through an ICT platform, which enabled Kenyans to keep an eye on the vote and provided avenues through which they could report, with any technology available to them, any incidences significant to the election.

Concurrent with the Uchaguzi deployment, iHub Research assessed how well Uchaguzi achieved its mission. The research will identify the strengths and weaknesses in the deployment and aims to create a toolkit of lessons learned that can be used by future ICT Election Watch deployments.

This brief is the first of 2 reports and is a first look at the Uchaguzi KE 2013 process. In June 2013, iHub Research will be publishing an in-depth report detailing the successes and challenges of the platform, especially around the key areas of technology, partnerships, publicity and outreach, and personnel.

Electronic governance, premise for implementation of electronic democracy

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:32:34 -0500

Living in a rapidly changing society, where information travels with great speed and its upgrade is essential, we decided to approach certain aspects of e-democracy, as a dynamic way of citizen participation, using new Information and Communications Technologies. The theme chosen for this research, Electronic governance, premise for implementation of electronic democracy, is a part of Electronic Administration field and identifies the meanings of implementing e-government and e-democracy, the necessity and effects of putting them into practice and the conditions to be fulfilled for the development of electronic services and fostering citizen participation in their use.

E-governance as well as e-democracy has a clear contribution in making social progress, thanks to capitalize the most important irreversible resource, the time for achievement of the main administrative operations. The overall objective of the research aims to establish the relationship between governance and electronic democracy. From this perspective, this paper will contain: analyzing the importance of both e-governance and e-democracy, risks and benefits for each one, clarifying the need and implications underlying the implementation of electronic systems and explain the conditions to be met by citizens in order to benefit from these services. To achieve the objectives set, will be dominant the analyzing method of the social phenomena in their evolution. They will also combine harmoniously with practical examples in various member states of the European Union.

Equal access participatory monitoring and evaluation toolkit

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:30:39 -0500

This toolkit aims to help communication for development (C4D) organisations to demonstrate the impacts and outcomes of their initiatives, listen to their listeners, continuously learn, and feed this learning back into the organisation and its practices. It is a key outcome of the Assessing Communication for Social Change (AC4SC) project, which was a successful collaboration between Equal Access Nepal, Equal Access International, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Adelaide, Australia.

The toolkit is guided by the principles of the Communication for Social Change approach to C4D and participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E). It is based on recent ideas about effective evaluation and evaluation capacity development and learnings from the AC4SC project. This toolkit aims to help C4D organisations to become learning organisations that regularly critically reflect on their work.

Either the whole toolkit, or individual modules can be used. The toolkit encourages you to include as many people and stakeholders in your monitoring and evaluation work as possible. Its methods are largely qualitative, because through qualitative approaches you often learn something new and unexpected and gather rich insights into the subtle processes involved in social change. However, it encourages you to use a range of methods, including those that provide useful quantitative data.

Strengthening the Demand and Supply for Better Village Governance

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:12:50 -0500

IRRAD's project nomination on "Strengthening the Demand and Supply for Better Village Governance" has been shortlisted as top 100 innovations out of close to 1000 nominations for Rockefeller Foundation Next Century Innovators Awards 2013.

Follow linkhttp://centennial.rockefellerfoundation.org/innovators/profile/sustainable-solutions-for-improving-rural-governanceto view the innovation and see how it is forging new pathways, changing the way services are delivered, and improving conditions in the rural areas to transform models, rights and acts into instruments of citizen empowerment and community development.