Using cell phones to change the world

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Raj Melville

Jhonatan Rotberg, was sent to MIT by Telmex, one of Latin America’s largest telcos, and teaches NextLab where he tries to bring cellular technology to the other 90 percent of the world. One of the labs startups, CelEdu, offers cellphone-based games and quizzes to teach basic literacy skills in India. Ranjani Saigal from the TIE Social Entrepreneurs Group helped connect CelEdu students to Tara Aakshar. Read the entire article at http://blog.ambientengines.com

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TIECON Social Enterprise Track Provides New Perspective

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Raj Melville

For the first time TIECON EAST – TiE Boston’s annual conference on entrepreneurship and innovation – had a dedicated track on Social Enterprise. The three panels for the track were all well attended. Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote for Lokvani about the sessions.

Filed under: Agricultural Development, Conference, Food, Health, India, Information Technology, Investment, Micro-enterprises, Rural Development, Social Business, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, environment, international development, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, social Innovation, sustainability | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Increasing Focus on the Rural Indian Consumer

Posted on May 6, 2009 by Raj Melville

I have been in India for the past week and one of the trends I have noticed is the increased focus on the rural market. Perhaps it is the ongoing elections or maybe the global recession, but companies across the board seem to have a renewed emphasis on targeting the rural consumer. Here are a few key facts that seem to stand out.

Filed under: Agricultural Development, BOP, India, Investment, Poverty, Rural Consumer, Rural Development, bottom of the pyramid, micro-finance, microfinance, mobile technology, sustainable development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

ForSE 2008 – Speakers and Panels for conference

Posted on September 28, 2008 by Raj Melville

We have a terrific line up of speakers and panels for ForSE 2008 on October 10th at Boston University. See the list below. Do make sure you have registered as there are very few seats left.
To register go to: http://www.bu.edu/forse

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Mobile Solutions for the Masses

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Raj Melville

The internet and personal computers have had a significant impact on the developing world. The advent of cell phones provided a cheap technology platform that has penetrated the farthest reaches of the world. No place better exemplifies this than India, with over 8.5 million additional subscribers in 2007, making it the country with the second largest wireless subscriber base. The cheap and pervasive technology platform has spawned a number of innovative solutions to address the social challenges at bottom of the pyramid, such as access to finance, illiteracy, and health care. This track will highlight some of these innovative solutions that have a significant potential for impact in the developing world.

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Registration Opens for ForSE 2008-Forum for Social Entrepreneurs

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Raj Melville

The Forum for Social Entrepreneurship, or ForSE for short, brings together social innovators with leading business professionals, investors, donors, government officials, academics, and students to facilitate the sharing of new technology and business ideas along with hard-earned management learnings to foster informed discussion and action on new social venture concepts. Registration for the ForSE 2008 is now open. Registration is limited. Register early for the discounted registration rates available to the first 180 registered attendees.

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Tapan Parikh – Technology Review’s Humanitarian of the Year 2007

Posted on August 8, 2008 by Raj Melville

Tapan provided a refreshingly different viewpoint that emphasized the needs of the end user in developing countries. By harnessing technology to make things simpler, Tapan has provided platforms that make the daily grind of field workers in rural parts of the world a lot easier. For his innovative and inspiring work, Tapan was identified as one of the 35 Innovators under age 35 by MIT’s Technology Review magazine and named Technology Review’s Humanitarian of the Year for 2007.

Filed under: BOP, Information Technology, Poverty, Social Ecosystem, Social Entrepreneur, international development, micro-finance, mobile technology, social Innovation, sustainable development | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »