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MIT OpenCourseWarehttp://ocw.mit.edu MAS.965 / 6.976 / SP.716 NextLab I: Designing Mobile Technologies for the Next Billion Users�� Fall 2008 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.ProjectProposalsProject ProposalsMonday September 8 2008Monday, September 8, 2008 Project Proposals NextLab I, F’08, L2 slide 1( y)NextLab Projects: Fall 2008 [OCW Note: This is the complete list of proposals considered] Economic Empowerment • Giving Farmers a Fighting Chance(Monterrey Tec, Mexico/Nicaragua) • Multilevel marketing for microfinance(COBIS, Ecuador) • Mobile pre-screening for microfinance(PlaNet Finance,, Arggentina)( ) • M-commerce interface (United Villages, India) HealthHealth • Mobile diagnostics for cervical cancer(CIDRZ, Zambia) • Ultrasound Outreach to Rural VillagesUltrasound Outreach to Rural Villages(GE Healthcare, Belize) • Real-time Mobile Network for Mid-Wives to Reduce Maternal, Neonatal Mortality(Vaatsalya, India)(Vaatsalya, India) Education • Mobile social network for students in low-income communities (Telmex, Mexico) • M-learning for rural literacy instructors (Monterrey Tec, Mexico) Environment and Community • Disaster Management (CRS India)(CRS, India) • Mobile Sensors and GPS Mapping for Farmers (InnovGreen, Vietnam) Next Billion in Our Neighborhood • Thrive in Five Baby Blog (Mayor’s Office, Boston) Project Proposals NextLab I, F’08, L2 slide 6Following is a selection of project proposals reviewed during this class session. Project Proposals NextLab I, F’08, L2 slide 8Economic Empowerment Economic Empowerment Advisors: Elisabeth Megally Esmeralda Megally Esmeralda Megally Project Proposals NextLab I, F’08, L2 slide 8Giving Farmers a Fighting Chance: Transforming the Rural Economy in Zacatecas through Mobile Technology Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Campus Zacatecas MEXICO Monday, September 1, 2008 6 Slides - 6 minutesNeed or Problem Identified Much of Zacatecas State –one of the most beautiful and traditional in Mexico - has semi-desert terrain, coupled with low per capita income. Despite its dry climate, agriculture is a key economic driver. Zacatecas produces more beans, chili peppers and nopales than any other state, and is a major producer of agave, grapes, jicima, peaches, and tomatoes. Farmers lack communication between their rural communities and cannot establish equitable pricing, let alone distribution or storage centers. As a result, they are at the mercy of middlemen who pay next to nothing for produce, and these communities remain locked in a poverty cycle. 6 Slides - 6 minutesProject Objective and Description • The objective is to enable farmers to communicate (and thus present a united front) that will enable them to escape the endless cycle of rural poverty that in turn accelerates the de-population of the countryside (Zacatecas sends more immigrants to the US than any other Mexican state). • The description is to use peer-to-peer mobile technologies - easily adopted, understood, replicated, and maintained - in a rural area, whose deployment will enable farmers to communicate and collaborate such that they – not the middlemen – can determine fair prices for their crops and ensure a marginally better economic (and socially cohesive) future. 6 Slides - 6 minutesExpected Results, Impact on Community • The expected results are radically transformational. The ability to communicate and collaborate between rural communities would have immediate and long-term beneficial results. It is no stretch to say it would transform the rural economy from one of dependence on middlemen to one of self-sustainability. This model would be adopted by other states with similar demographic and economic profiles. • The impact on these communities would have two immediate effects: retardation of immigration and improved ability to attract social programs that otherwise would never be implemented. These two factors often spell life of death for these communities. 6 Slides - 6 minutesTechnology Guidelines • Technology guidelines for this project are predicated on four factors: 9 Ease of adoption (implementation) 9 Ease of understanding (usage) 9 Ease of replication (across different locales) 9 Ease of maintenance (using continued functionality) • Technology should be portable as opposed to stationary, and scalable (capable of data expansion/storage over time) 6 Slides - 6 minutes Map: Wikipedia.Equitablesale of cropsCommunityreinvestmentImprovedsocioconomicindicatorsRetention ofworkforceHow is the Project Sustainable? • The project is self-sustaining. The farmers and others with access to this technology will have the ability to command more equitable prices, in turn reinvesting their profits in a virtuous circle. This project (and its underlying technology) will act as an economic lever, giving them the ability to directly invest not only in the next season’s crops but also their communities, 6 Slides - 6 minutes sustaining them and in many cases averting abandonment. Agricultural reinvestment Enabling technology Agricultural reinvestmentCommunity reinvestmentImproved socioconomicindicatorsRetention of workforceEquitable sale of cropsDescribe your Organization and its Role • ITESM Zacatecas, part of the ITESM system, was founded by an MIT graduate and attempts to model itself closely on MIT’s commitment to solving the world’s biggest problems. It is the link between the rural communities of Zacatecas State, and technology and other assistance providers, acting as a consultant and bridge between these communities and those entities that can provide support. The communities themselves have no voice, individually or collectively, and are often overlooked by traditional support mechanisms (e.g., government, NGOs). • ITESM Zacatecas neither asks for nor receives any funds or remuneration of any kind for its role as advisor and intermediary. It sees its role as providing a much-needed service to the people of rural Mexico as well as giving its students and faculty an opportunity to participate in a work of economic and social justice with tangible results. 6 Slides - 6 minutesCobis MLM Cobis MLM Macosa SA Ecuador Project Proposals NextLab I, F’08, L2 slide 16Problem: Inefficient Microfinance • Experts agree that the biggest challenge facing microfinance is operational efficiency. • Microfinance in


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