| WHAT
WORKS CASE STUDIES
WRI's business case studies go deeper into some of
the most promising projects that use ICTs to create social and economic benefits in poor communities throughout the developing world. The studies provide a detailed description and analysis
of each business model, the market segment in which it operates,
its successes and challenges, potential replicability and
scalability. If possible, the study also documents the social
impact of the venture.
Digital Dividends contracts teams of MBA students, under supervision
of business school faculty, to research and write our business
case studies, as they are uniquely suited to provide unbiased,
professional assessments of the business models at low cost.
Using MBA students has the added advantage of helping to interest
a generation of future business leaders in microenterprise
and global development issues.
For a more complete list of case studies, please view our updated
case study library on NextBillion.net.
Africa
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AFRICA
 Scaling
Microfinance: The Remote Transaction System, Uganda
Nicolas Magnette and Digby Lock. Digital
Dividend Business Case Study, August 2005.
The Remote Transaction System is a technological innovation
designed to help microfinance institutions serve more clients,
especially in rural areas. A consortium of microfinance institutions,
along with Hewlett-Packard, designed and piloted the Remote
Transaction System in rural Uganda. The technology proved
valuable in lowering transactions costs, reduced risk, and
more convenience for lenders and clients alike. Designed with
the specific needs of microfinance in mind, the Remote Transaction
System could help expand access to finance to underserved
areas in many countries.
HealthNet Uganda
Keisha Phipps, Genevieve Sangudi, and Steve
Woolway. Digital Dividend Business Case Study, August 2003.
HealthNet Uganda is pioneering the use of Personal Digital
Assistants (PDAs) in the African healthcare sector to provide
practitioners with real-time access to vital information.
The technology also allows for easier consultation, real-time
ordering of medicines, and access to medical journals - all
of which improves the quality of Uganda's health care system.
HealthNet Uganda's leadership and strategic planning have
allowed it to successfully transition from a grant-funded
project to a stand-alone non-profit organization, in part
due to its ability to secure support from the Ugandan government.
By introducing cutting-edge technology within an innovative
business model, HealthNet Uganda is successfully working to
improve the health of millions of citizens.
Afrique
Initiatives, Senegal
Luis Castro and Sharon K. Smith. Digital
Dividend Business Case Study, August 2003.
Brussels-based Afrique Initiatives operates two distinct services
in the city of Saint Louis, Senegal: Pesinet, a not-for-profit
health care organization, and St. Louis Net, a for-profit
IT services company. The two entities share IT infrastructure
developed and maintained by Afrique Initiatives, but have
evolved different business models. Pesinet's model, while
successful, is non-profit and therefore requires continued
subsidy; St. Louis Net, meanwhile, is beset by a series of
business challenges and is struggling to succeed. Afrique
Initiatives' mixed results may reflect the difficulty of starting
an enterprise when the impetus comes from an external - rather
than an internal and entrepreneurial - source.
Vodacom's Community
Cell Phones, South Africa
Jennifer Reck and Brad Wood. Digital Dividend
Business Case Study, August 2003.
Vodacom Community Services began under a 1994 government mandate
to provide telecommunications services in disadvantaged communities
in South Africa. Vodacom's development of an innovative way
to meet this mandate, via entrepreneur-owned and operated
phone shops, has both provided affordable communication services
to millions of South Africans and empowered thousands of previously
disadvantaged individuals with income-generating opportunities
and lasting business skills. The Community Services program
now provides over 23,000 cellular lines at over 4,400 locations
throughout South Africa.
ASIA
What
Works: n-Logue's Rural Connectivity Model
John Paul, December 2004.
n-Logue Communications is setting up a sustainable network
of wirelessly-connected Internet kiosks in rural villages
throughout India. Through the kiosks, villagers are able to
access a wide-range of relevant local language content and
services aimed at enhancing the quality of life of rural Indians.
To enable its rapid expansion, n-Logue has employed a three-tiered
franchisee model that empowers local entrepreneurs to invest
in and help run the network. As the company scales, there
is enormous potential to leverage n-Logue's rural networks
in ways that take advantage of both existing and new technologies
in the areas of health, finance, agriculture, e-government
and civil society empowerment.
Executive
summary
Smart Communications,
Philippines
Sharon Smith. Digital Dividend Business
Case Study, September 2004.
Smart Communications has transformed the cell phone market
in the Philippines by enabling electronic sales of airtime
via short message service (SMS) and by reducing the unit size
of such sales to as little as US$0.03. This innovation has
enabled millions of low-income Filipinos to access communications
services - 98% of Smart's subscribers are l ow-income, pre-paid
customers. Its distribution system, using SMS technology,
allows merchants to re-sell minutes, taking a commission on
every sale, in essence creating a business opportunity for
450,000 entrepreneurs.
AKASHGANGA, India
Ajay Sharma and Akhilesh Yadav. Digital
Dividend Business Case Study, August 2003.
Through its AKASHGANGA Automatic Milk Collection Systems (AMCS),
SKEPL Pvt. Ltd. is using simple technologies to revolutionize
the dairy industry in India. The Dairy Cooperative Societies
that use the system are able to process greater quantities
of higher quality milk, while also saving money through reduced
staff requirements. For farmers, lines are shorter, less milk
is spoiled and payment is quick and accurate. The systems
are successfully being used at more than 750 dairy cooperative
societies (DCS) spread throughout the Indian states of Gujarat
and Maharashtra.
e-Choupal,
India
Kuttayan Annamalai and Sachin Rao. Digital
Dividend Business Case Study, August 2003.
In a country where 200 million people are engaged in farming
or related activities, ITC is developing its internationally
competitive agricultural business by empowering, not eliminating,
the independent small farmer. The company is setting up of
a network of Internet-connected kiosks, known as e-Choupals,
through which farmers can receive all the information, products
and services they need to enhance their farming productivity
and receive a fair price for their harvest. Through the choupal,
ITC sources the farmer's produce directly, reducing its procurement
and transaction costs. Currently ITC has set up 4300 e-Choupals
covering six states and 25,000 villages. By 2010, the e-Choupal
network plans to cover over 100,000 villages, representing
one sixth of rural India, and create more than 10 million
e-farmers.
ICICI
Micro-Banking, India
Todd J. Markson and Mike Hokenson. University
of Michigan Business Case Study, December 2003. Reproduced
with permission. © University of Michigan Business School,
2003.
ICICI Bank, India's second largest financial institution,
is betting its future expansion on leveraging new partnerships
and innovative uses of ICTs to profitably market banking services
to the poorest of the poor. The bank has combined its capital
and expertise with the social mobilization strength of existing
microfinance organizations and self-help groups (SHGs), in
order to help such groups scale up their activities. In two
years alone, the company has increased the number of SHGs
it serves from 1,500 to more than 8,000. To further increase
their rural presence, ICICI has also partnered with several
Internet kiosk networks that will utilize ICTs to provide
online banking services. By formalizing the rural financial
services market, ICICI is fulfilling the long unmet demand
for rural credit at an interest rate that enables the borrower
to lift themselves out of poverty.
Aptech's
Vidya, India
Mayank Dhanuka, Dan Price, and Warren Teichner.
Digital Dividend Business Case Study, August 2003.
Vidya, Hindi for "knowledge," is a computer literacy program
run by Aptech Ltd., one of the two largest computer education
and training companies in India. As a part of its corporate
citizenship effort, Aptech launched the Vidya program in 1999
to expand its course catalog beyond the company's core offerings
targeted at computer professionals and corporate markets.
The pricing of Vidya has provided opportunities to many low-income
students that would otherwise not have able to afford computer
training. Aptech has introduced Vidya at approximately 1,250
of the company's 2,449 centers in India and enrolled more
than 350,000 students.
What
Works: Grameen Telecom's Village Phones
Nevin Cohen. Digital Dividend Business
Case Study, June 2001.
Grameen Telecommunications uses Grameen Phone's advanced GSM
technology in stationary village phones owned and operated
by local entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs purchase the phones
with money borrowed from Grameen Bank, and sell phone services
to customers by the call. An average of 70 customers a month
uses each phone. This shared-access business model concentrates
demand and creates relatively high cash flow, even in poor
villages, enabling operators to make regular loan payments
and still turn a profit. Executive
summary
What
Works: TARAhaat's Portal for Rural India
Caitlin Peterson, Vivek Sandell, and Dr.
Andrew Lawlor. Digital Dividend Business Case Study, July
2001.
Aiming to stimulate employment and economic opportunities,
TARAhaat is setting up a network of franchised village Internet
centers in rural India. Through these 'TARAkendras', villagers
can access the local-language TARAhaat portal, a site which
provides a wide range of social and economic information,
as well as educational and other services, The locally-relevant
content-from market prices to marriage opportunities to educational
material-is what drives the model at the village and peri
urban level. TARAhaat, which has set up 30 TARAkendras so
far, earns its revenues through fee for service, membership
fees, and commissions.
Executive
summary
LATIN AMERICA
PRODEM FFP's Multilingual
Smart ATMs for Microfinance, Bolivia Roberto
Hernandez and Yerina Mugica. Digital Dividend Business Case
Study, August 2003.
PRODEM FFP targets low-income communities and the entrepreneurs
and micro- to medium-size enterprises that constitute Bolivia's
informal economy, offering a wide range of savings, credit,
and money transfer services. Its 65-branch network is the
largest in the country and spans both urban and, especially,
rural areas. To help them overcome barriers such as illiteracy,
they have created a solution that employs smart cards, digital
fingerprint recognition technology, and Smart ATMs, as well
as stand-alone, voice-driven Smart ATMs in local languages
with color-coded touch screens.
Voxiva,
Peru
Cynthia Casas and William Lajoie. University
of Michigan Business Case Study, December 2003. Reproduced
with permission. © University of Michigan Business School,
2003.
In Peru, the for-profit Voxiva has developed and implemented
a technology platform that enables medical professionals to
collect data in real-time and communicate with one another
in order to effect change based on the data. Rather than be
constrained by rural Peru's low teledensity, Voxiva's Alerta
project worked with the existing IT infrastructure to provide
24-hour, 365-days-per-year access to data, via text message
or e-mail. Voxiva's flexible solution can be adopted by any
end user - whether they are in a developed or developing country
setting.
What
Works: Educar's Strategy for a Nation Connected & Learning
Norissa Giangola. Digital Dividend Business
Case Study, July 2001.
A novel public-private partnership centered around connectivity
and the Internet, Educ.ar could transform education in Argentina.
Click here for an executive
summary
What
Works: The Infocentros Telecenter Model
Yacine Khelladi. Digital Dividend Business
Case Study, July 2001.
El Salvador's Infocentros has a business model that is unique
among telecenter networks. Not only it is based on a sophisticated
franchising approach, but each telecenter operates as an incubator
for new businesses based on local content and knowledge. Successful
businesses are replicated across the telecenter network, with
Infocentros gaining a share of the revenue. Infocentros is
an example of a development-centered ICT strategy based in
a unique partnership between government and civil society.
Executive summary
ViaSebrae:
E-Commerce Solution for Small Businesses in Brazil
Jason P. Hekl and Carlos Waack. Digital
Dividend Business Case Study, June 2001.
The ViaSebrae platform has enabled Brazilian small businesses
to undertake e-commerce initiatives they could not otherwise
afford. Click here for an executive
summary
Photo: CDI |
".bridging the digital divide and promoting full community development goes well beyond mere access. It requires providing underserved communities with the power they need to use, transform, and design ICTs towards their own community development."
Ricardo Kobashi, CDI Coordinator, São Paulo, Brazil
"Information Technology 'For and By' Low-Income Communities in São Paulo," Centro de Inclusão Digital e Educação Comunitária (Universidade de São Paulo) Web site |
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