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Digital Dividend Digest vol. 30
October 1, 2003
CONTENTS
1. New "What Works" Case Study Released:
PRODEM
FFP 's Multilingual Smart ATMs
2. New
in the Digital Dividend Clearinghouse: Small Tourism
Enterprise Project (STEP) and Central and Satellite Agricultural
Information Centers (AICs)
3. Special Opportunities: Caribbean
Call for Proposals, Petersberg Prize, and a Reminder about Upcoming
Deadline for Reporting on Information Society Awards
1. New "What Works" Case
Study Released: PRODEM
FFP's Multilingual Smart ATMs
The second in a series of "What
Works" case studies to be released, the PRODEM FFP
case study highlights the innovative use of Smart ATM technology
in financial service delivery in Bolivia. Targeting low-income
markets in primarily rural areas, the Smart ATM provides customers
with anytime access to their accounts, freeing customers from
the limitation of branch office hours and wait times for account
inquiry and withdrawal transactions. Smart ATMs use fingerprint
recognition and a voice-driven multilingual interface, effectively
overcoming the challenges of making the technology accessible
to illiterate and non-Spanish speaking customers.
Read the executive
summary or the full
case study (PDF).
2. New in the
Digital Dividend Clearinghouse: Small Tourism Enterprise
Project (STEP) and Central and Satellite Agricultural Information
Centers (AICs)
Ten new projects have been added to the Clearinghouse
since our last edition of the Digest. Among the highlights
are:
Small Tourism Enterprise Project (STEP):
Trust for the Americas' Net Corps program, in collaboration
with the Organization of American States (OAS), is sponsoring
a project to upgrade the IT resources of small hotels in the
Carribbean tourism industry. Selected volunteers for the program
participate in intense six to eight week training modules,
giving entrepreneurial hoteliers an opportunity to learn advanced
skills that will significantly impact their businesses. Training
topics range from Web site development to financial management
software and updated reservations systems.
Central and Satellite Agricultural Information Centers (AICs)
The St. Elizabeth/Manchester Vegetable Growers' Association
has developed a series of Agricultural Information Centers
that use computer and Internet technology to provide information
on production, marketing, import, export, and price data to
hundreds of member farmers. Though the AICs, farmers also
have access to several research institutions, which are available
to answer questions ranging from pest control to plant pathology.
3. Special Opportunities:
Caribbean Call for Proposals, Petersberg Prize, and aReminder
about Upcoming Deadline for Reporting on Information Society
Awards
Caribbean Call for Proposals: ICA has announced a competitive
grants program for the Caribbean region. The grants competition
is being launched with the objective of identifying up to
four project proposals. The proposals selected will each be
awarded with up to USD $60,000 grant to develop a project
in the proposed topic. The ICA grants will support proposals
that contribute to the promotion of innovative, regional alternatives
for the efficient and effective use of ICTs for development
in the Caribbean, and that actively contribute to strengthen
multilingual and multicultural collaboration within the region.
The deadline for submission of proposals to ICA is November
14, 2003. The application form and submission details are
available on the ICA Web site at http://www.icamericas.net
Petersberg
Prize: The call for nominations is ongoing for the Petersberg
Prize which recognizes exemplary contributions in the field
of information and communication technologies (ICT) for development.
The prize will be awarded for a noteworthy contribution to
a successful ICT-for-development project that benefits a significant
number of people. The prize winner will receive an award of
100,000 euros during the Development Gateway Forum which will
take place in 2004. The deadline for nominations has been
moved from January 1 to February 1, 2004. For more information:
http://www.devforum.org/prize
Upcoming Deadline Reminder:
Reporting
on Information Society Award
Global Knowledge Partnership and Panos have established an
award for thoughtful and incisive reporting on developing
countries' progress to becoming information societies. Deadline
for submissions is October 15, 2003.
For more information on these and many other special opportunities,
browse to the
Resource Marketplace.
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