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Digital Dividend Digest vol. 49
August 25, 2004
CONTENTS
1. New "What
Works" Case Study to be Released: Smart Communications
2. New in the Digital Dividend
Clearinghouse: PCtvt, TN Malawi Community Phones, Health
E-Books for Afghan Women
3. Special Opportunities:
COL-PROTEIN, AYF Scholarship Award, Global Development Awards,
INFOLAC Web Prize for Education Portals, IDRC Doctoral Research
Awards
1. New "What
Works" Case Study to be Released: Smart Communications'
BOP-Driven Business Model
The newest "What Works" case study, Smart
Communications, focuses on the firm's success providing telecommunications
services to low-income Filipinos. Look for the full-length
case study to appear on Digital Dividend’s web site
and linked in a future edition of the Digest. In the meantime,
an excerpt from the executive summary:
"Smart Communications, Inc. has become the Philippines'
leading wireless company by paying attention to the needs
of the country's low-income market. They have created innovative
products and services designed specifically for the bottom-of-the-pyramid
(BOP) consumer, thereby growing their pre-paid subscriber
base and, in turn, steadily generating income from these subscribers."
"Smart's ability to adapt to customers' shopping patterns
and limited individual purchasing power generated a ripple
effect in the Philippine wireless market. Not only did their
approach with Smart Buddy, Smart Money, Smart Load, and Pasa
Load help telecommunications services reach the majority of
Filipinos, but Smart's applications have helped to generate
real revenue and opportunities for small entrepreneurs."
2 . New in the Digital
Dividend Clearinghouse: PCtvt, TN Malawi Community Phones,
Health E-Books for Afghan Women
Ten new projects have been entered since the last
Digest. Among the highlights:
PCtvt
A Carnegie Mellon University research team has developed
an all-inclusive entertainment appliance called the PCtvt,
which will be rolled out this fall beginning in India. The
PCtvt offers television, personal computer, Internet-protocol
phone, video phone, and DVD capabilities, and will sell for
under US$250. By bundling multiple IT services in one appliance,
PCtvt's creators hope to leverage the demand for entertainment
services in order to bring ICTs to a larger audience.
TN Malawi Community Phones
Telecom Networks Malawi (TN Malawi) recently launched its
Community Phone initiative, which provides 70 mobile phones
to rural entrepreneurs in underserved areas of the country.
The Community Phone program fulfills a licensing mandate from
Malawi’s telecommunications regulatory commission, but
in doing so, it creates business opportunities and provides
service to some of the 98 percent of Malawians who lack access
to landline or mobile phones.
Health E-Books for Afghan Women
California-based Leap Frog, in conjunction with the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, will distribute 20,000 E-Books
to Afghan women to combat maternal and infant mortality. The
education campaign uses Leap Frog’s innovative LeapPad
technology, which interacts with users and is appropriate
for a range of literacy levels. The E-Books are programmed
in Dari and Pashto, the two main languages of Afghanistan.
3. Special
Opportunities: COL-PROTEIN, AYF Scholarship Award, Global
Development Awards, INFOLAC Web Prize for Education Portals,
IDRC Doctoral Research Awards
COL-PROTEIN
This opportunity supports the innovative use of information
and communications technologies (ICTs) to reduce rural poverty.
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) invites proposals for initiatives
that need expertise and limited financial support for their
success in helping to alleviate rural poverty. Deadline to
apply is September 15, 2004.
African
Youth Foundation (AYF) Scholarship Award
Awarded to an African youth between the ages of 18 and 30,
this is a writing contest on how ICTs could help the writer’s
generation and nation to create jobs and eradicate poverty.
Deadline to apply is September 20, 2004.
Global Development Awards
Open only to scholars and practitioners based in developing
countries, with an emphasis on recognizing and supporting
the work of younger researchers at the start of their careers.
Every year, approximately US$400,000 is awarded in prizes
to researchers, both as cash and travel to GDN's Annual Conference.
Deadline is September 20, 2004.
INFOLAC
Web Prize for Education Portals
For the best educational website portals in Latin America.
The winner of the US$4,000 award will be announced in January
2005. Other awards will be given for the second place ($2,000)
and for the third place ($1,000). In addition, a special prize
($1,000) will be given to the best web page for training instructors.
Deadline for applications is October 15, 2004.
IDRC
Doctoral Research Awards
Applications will be accepted for research at the doctoral
level in areas corresponding to IDRC's research priorities.
IDRC's research activities focus on three program areas: Social
and Economic Equity, Environment and Natural Resource Management,
and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for
Development. IDRC awards are for Canadian nationals only.
Deadline: November 1, 2004.
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