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Digital Dividend Digest vol. 27
July 31, 2003
CONTENTS
1. Lessons from the Field: ICTs
in Microfinance
2. Case Study Interview: AKASHGANGA
3. New
in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse: Cambodia
Telemedicine, Rwanda Electoral Commission's Digitization Project,
and the Bangladesh Engineers' Anti-Corruption GIS Mapping
4. Special Opportunity: ICT-4-Bus
1.
Lessons from the Field: ICTs in Microfinance
In communities throughout the world, independent artisans
create arts and crafts that reflect local culture, history,
and tradition. Historically, these artisans have marketed
their wares directly to local consumers, tourists and, through
middlemen to export markets. Upscale handicraft boutiques,
art galleries, and specialty import stores pay high prices
for traditional arts and crafts, but to reach these markets,
local artisans have had to work with middlemen who mark up
the prices significantly, leaving local producers with a fraction
of the profit. With the spread of the Internet and other information
and communication technologies (ICT), however, these artisans
are beginning to have access to tools that give them a competitive
alternative.
Read more...
2. Case Study Interview: AKASHGANGA
Digital Dividends interviewed Akhilesh Yadav, a student at
University of Michigan’s Business School and one of
the members of the research team writing the soon-to-be released
Digital Dividends case study on AKASHGANGA in India.
DD: What kind of services does AKASHGANGA
provide?
AY: AKASHGANGA employs cutting-edge
ICT along with mainstream hardware in its efforts to modernize
milk collection and processing. The company has developed
a suite of products for Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS)
throughout India, the collection points for dairy farmers
in a rural villages. From the DCS, the farmers' milk is aggregated
and then sent to a milk union for processing. AKASHGANGA markets
an Automatic Milk Collection (AMC) system which, in conjunction
with milk analyzers, ensure that the volume and quality of
the milk is properly measured. These advanced applications
are complemented by more traditional weighing scales and raw
milk receiving dock (RMRD) systems. Financial accounts are
tracked using Rojmel accounting software.
DD: How many AMCS are currently operating,
and where are they typically located?
AY: Currently there are 600 AMCS
operating and they are spread throughout the states of Gujarat
and Maharastra. Almost all of these installations are in villages
as that is where milk collection traditionally takes place.
Read the full
interview and see photos... 
3.
New in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse: Cambodia
Telemedicine, Rwanda Electoral Commission's Digitization Project,
and the Bangladesh Engineers' Anti-Corruption GIS Mapping
Fifteen new projects have been added to the Clearinghouse
since our last edition of the Digest. Among the highlights
are:
Cambodia
Telemedicine is a telemedicine initiative in Cambodia
which works using a combination of traditional healthcare
services and modern telemedicine. Once a month, a mobile nurse
travels up to nine hours to visit the villages, where the
nurse performs physical examinations and takes digital photographs
of patients. These photos, along with text descriptions of
possible diagnoses, are entered into a laptop computer and
transmitted via the village school's Internet link to medical
experts in the capital city hospital. Typically, the visiting
nurse receives a response within a few hours of transmittal,
allowing the nurse to both diagnose and prescribe treatments
in one visit.
Rwanda Electoral Commission: Digitization Project
Through USAID's dot-ORG project, the Academy for Educational
Development, in assosiation with GeekCorps, is working with
Rwanda's National Electoral Commission (NEC) to digitize voter
registration records and other important information. The
project connects the 12 provincial offices with Kigali headquarters,
and accurately tracks the 4.3 million registered voters in
Rwanda.
Bangladesh
Engineers' Anti-Corruption GIS Mapping
In an effort to fight corruption, Bengali engineers are using
GIS mapping to monitor and insure that infrastructure is built
according to plan, rather than being re-routed for political
favor. The information gathered in the project is available
to all, enabling local groups to lobby for a school, road,
or other needed project without fear that the money will be
diverted away.
4. Special Opportunity: ICT-4-Bus
ICT-4-BUS, a program to improve the competitiveness of small and medium
size enterprises in the Latin America and Caribbean region,
is accepting proposals for its "Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) Innovation Program for E-Business and SME
Development" competition. Nonprofit institutions are
invited to submit their project proposals before September
22, 2003 in order to qualify for part of the $2.2 million
in grants that will be awarded. Full details are available
on their Web
site.
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