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Digital Dividend Digest vol. 38
March 3, 2004
CONTENTS
1. Case Study Candidate Enterprise Recruitment:
We Need Your Suggestions!
2. Resource Marketplace: Six New Resources Added
3. New in the
Digital Dividend Clearinghouse: Thamel.com, AngkorHotels.org,
JobLab Uganda
4.
Special Opportunity: Digital Vision Fellowships, Ford
Foundation Grants, Petersberg Prize Deadline Extended
1. Case Study Candidate Enterprise
Recruitment: We Need Your Suggestions!
Digital Dividends is recruiting candidate enterprises
for its 2004 round of "What Works" case studies.
Digest subscribers are invited to submit potential project
candidates for consideration.
Digital Dividends is interested in locating innovative, profitable
private sector, or sustainable nonprofit or public sector,
initiatives that appear to be replicable, scalable, and sustainable.
Eligible projects will have at least six months of operational
experience, have documented business or operational models
of serving poor communities, and use technology as a facilitating
feature of their business. (Projects need not be solely focused
on producing a technology product or solution, but should
use technology as an enabling tool in their business.)
Case study candidate enterprise criteria:
o Innovative, well-developed business or organizational model
o Serves poor communities
o Revenue-generating/profitable or sustainable
o Technology-enabled
o Operational for at least six months
o Preference for large or medium-sized companies
Suggestions for case study candidates can be sent to dividends@wri.org
with the subject heading, “Case Study.”
Note: Solicitation of nominees is intended as a means of generating
a pool of potential candidates; Digital Dividends will conduct
further research to determine suitability. Case study participation
is dependent upon funding and enterprise consent. Final case
studies will be published in the fall of 2004.
2. Resource Marketplace: Six New Resources Added
At Digital Dividends, we often receive requests for help identifying
sources of funding, free computers and software, Web development
assistance, and other resources. The Resource Marketplace
highlights some of the most useful resources within and outside
of the Clearinghouse that help address these needs. The resources
listed are intended to be useful to very broad audiences,
and have been divided into eleven categories: agriculture,
business and e-commerce support, community development, education,
hardware, health, microfinance, project support, software,
telecenters, and Web development.
Six new resources have been added to the Marketplace. Highlights
include:
Assessment
Tool: ICT & Development
If you are planning to set up a project in a developing country
using information and communication technologies (ICT) as
a lead feature, this essay and the included checklists will
help you to asses ICT's value as a tool for contributing to
the success of your project.
ICT
Update: ICT in Agriculture
ICT Update is a bimonthly printed bulletin, Web magazine,
and accompanying email newsletter. Each issue of ICT Update
focuses on a specific theme relevant to ICTs for agricultural
and rural development in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)
countries, and features four commissioned articles.
ICT
Training of Trainers: Computer and Internet Course
This Peace Corps publication contains a facilitator guide
and participant reference manual. Together they provide a
complete outline for the design and content of a basic ICT
training of trainers.
Knowledge
Assessment Methodology (KAM) Home Page
As part of its toolkit, the World Bank's Knowledge for Development
program uses a knowledge assessment methodology (KAM) that
helps to benchmark how an economy compares with its neighbors,
competitors, or others it wishes to emulate. The KAM is designed
to help client countries understand their strengths and weaknesses
in making the transition to the knowledge economy.
3. New in the
Digital Dividend Clearinghouse: Thamel.com, AngkorHotels.org, JobLab
Uganda
Eleven new projects have been entered since the last Digest.
Among the highlights:
Thamel.com
Founded by Nepalese entrepreneurs in 1999, Thamel.com
struggled to survive when the dot-com boom turned bust. Its
innovative business plan helped Thamel.com persevere, however,
and it has since become the premier provider of gift and remittance
services for expatriate Nepalese. Creative technology solutions
enable the company to flourish in a less-developed economy
where cultural trust is often valued over price; the use of
digital photo "receipts" is a good example.
AngkorHotels.org
Small and medium-sized hotels and guesthouses in Cambodia’s
majestic Angkor Siem Reap region have developed an Internet
platform to better serve visitors to the area. Powered by
PEOPLink's CatGen software, AngkorHotels.org offers a range
of information on accommodations, transportation, tours, restaurants,
shopping, travel tools, as well as an interactive map. As
tourists continue to plan vacations using the Internet, Web
sites such as this become critical to the survival of small
hotels and guesthouses that would otherwise remain below the
radar.
JobLab Uganda
Uganda’s economic outlook continues to improve, but
Ugandan students remain under-prepared for integration into
the world economy. Addressing this problem is the JobLab,
an IT-based interactive career guidance tool that enables
students to identify personal aptitudes and assess career
development options against the background of existing educational,
training, and business opportunities in Uganda.
3. Special Opportunity: Digital
Vision Fellowships, Ford
Foundation Media, Arts, and Culture Grant Program
Digital
Vision Fellowships: Stanford University’s Digital
Vision program offers up to twelve research fellowships each
year for IT professionals committed to exploring ways IT can
be used to address problems encountered in developing countries.
The program is open to company-sponsored or independent fellows,
and will cover tuition fees, project equipment costs, and
travel grants for field research. In addition, the Reuters
Foundation will offer one fully-funded fellowship each year
to a candidate from the developing world. The fellow will
receive a stipend covering living expenses and travel costs,
in addition to the above benefits. Eligible fellows must have
at least five years of full-time professional experience in
a technology-related industry, an interest in social entrepreneurship,
and seek to explore "nonstandard" applications of
technology. A Bachelor’s degree is required for consideration.
The application deadline is March 15, 2004.
Ford
Foundation Media, Arts, and Culture Grant Program: A resource
for innovative people and institutions worldwide, the Ford
Foundation offers grants through its Media, Arts, and Culture
Program. Grants support the development of media, information,
and technology resources to advance social change, human achievement,
and understanding. Infrastructure and access initiatives are
eligible, as are independently-produced print and Web-based
media. The grant process begins with a letter of inquiry,
followed by a formal proposal. Support is not normally given
for routine operating costs or for religious activities. There
are no deadlines for inquiries and proposals.
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