Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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Using Technology to Collect Poverty Data

Collect Poverty DataIn order to provide an impoverished area with the necessary aid, extensive and detailed data needs to be collected. Data can identify specific regions in poverty along with the types and causes of poverty in those vicinities. Yet, traditional pen and paper data collection is time consuming and error prone. Using technologies such as mobile phones and tablets as well as developing new information-collecting technology is a way to collect poverty data that can solve the glitches data collection has suffered in the past.

In the past, enumerators, or data collectors, would travel house to house and conduct paper surveys in order to acquire information on those living in poverty. These answers would then be manually transferred onto a computer.

Now, enumerators are using tablets that send survey answers to a centralized system. The tablets also have a GPS system that tracks the enumerators’ processes and makes sure they are in the right area. The tablets also allows for enumerators to record video interviews. This provides a visual context for the living conditions in certain impoverished areas.

Mobile phones are another great resource for data collecting. The World Bank’s Listening to Africa initiative uses cellphones to send out surveys as well as to monitor crises. The initiative plans to pass out phones and solar chargers to all respondents who don’t already own them. Mobile surveys provide a cheap way to gather frequent data from a large amount of people. Crises such as famines and natural disasters can be reported and monitored in real time as well by calling those in affected areas.

New information gathering technology is also being developed to make data collecting easier. Satellite imagery is being used to measure how many people live in poverty in certain areas and assess living conditions of these populations. Likewise, Smart Survey Boxes are being installed in households to automatically monitor power outages and energy quality in areas like Tajikistan.

With extensive data that’s up to date, the causes of and solutions to poverty can be better understood. Using technology to collect poverty data may be the solution to providing better aid to the world’s poor.

– Hannah Kaiser

Photo: Flickr

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3-D-Printed Prosthetic Limbs

3-D-Printed Prosthetic LimbsCompanies have started using 3-D printing technologies to create prosthetic limbs for amputees in developing and war-torn countries. The loss or congenital absence of limbs is prevalent in many third-world nations. Reasons for this, according to The Guardian, include war, disease and random accidents.

Amputations are an especially heavy burden in cultures based around agriculture. An inability to farm leads to causes families to provide support for amputees, a heavy burden for those already poverty-stricken.

Typical prosthetics are incredibly expensive for citizens. Many of them can run up to thousands of pounds, according to The Guardian. 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs, however, are much cheaper. In fact, the cost of acquiring one is sometimes as little as 40 pounds.

Regular prosthetics also take a significant amount of time to make. The Guardian estimates that the process of measuring a prosthetic for the right fit, building a mold and getting amputees used to prosthetic can take up to a week.

However, turnaround times for the 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs streamlines this process. TRT World explains how scanners can take an amputee’s measurements in minutes, reducing the construction of 3-D limbs to several hours.

3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are also convenient for child amputees because they are still growing. According to TRT World, prosthetic limbs have to accommodate for children getting taller and gaining and losing weight. 3-D models can be sized and adjusted for the patients’ particular necessities.

Another appeal specifically towards children is the variety of appearances that 3-D-printed limbs can take. The limbs often come in many different colors and designs. For example, the Cyborg Beast prosthetic hand designed by Jorge Zuniga is created specifically to look like a robot for the enjoyment of children.

However, 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are not without their faults. According to The Guardian, the prosthetics are often too heavy to maneuver, and they can melt in high temperatures.

Regardless, 3-D printing technology is improving. Companies Po and Thalmic Labs, for example, have created the MyPo, which uses 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs and muscle and nerve-reading technology to simulate the movement of natural limbs.

In spite of their shortcomings, the technological advances show that 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are worth the investment of time and resources.

– Cortney Rowe

Photo: Pixabay

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Kenyan Teenagers Develop an App Fighting FGM

App Fighting FGMFive Kenyan teenage girls have been invited to participate in the finale of the international Technovation Challenge in Silicon Valley in August. They have developed I-Cut, an app fighting FGM, or female genital mutilation.

I-Cut offers help to girls that are in danger of FGM or have already experienced it: it connects them to rescue centers and gives them information about where to get legal or medical help. In situations of immediate risk, girls can also use the app’s panic button to alert local authorities.

FGM was outlawed in Kenya in 2001 already. Its prevalence has since declined: from 37 percent in the late ’90s to 21 percent in 2014. Young women today are less likely to get cut than their mothers.

A 2014 study found that the prevalence of FGM in Kenya gets linked to the levels of education, socioeconomic status and media exposure. Additionally, girls are at a higher risk of being cut in rural areas. The highest prevalence got found in the North Eastern province, where 97 percent of women had undergone the procedure.

FGM does not entail any health benefits, but the risk of numerous immediate and long-term risks to the victims’ physical and mental health. Possible effects include infections, death, urinary and sexual problems, death, childbirth complications, PTSD, depression and anxiety.

I-cut was developed by Ivy and Macrine Akinyi, Cynthia Awuor, Stacy Adhiambo and Purity Christine, aged 15 to 17, who call themselves the “Restorers.” In an interview with Reuters, the girls said they had friends who became victims of FGM, and that they wanted to “restore hope to hopeless girls.”

The team beat nine other Kenyan semi-finalists and qualified for the finale of the Technovation Challenge, an annual event sponsored by Google, Verizon and the United Nations. Technovation challenges girls to create apps that address problems in their communities and translate them into a business. It aims at teaching girls entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

The girls will compete against five other teams of girls from all over the world in the competition’s senior division and hope to win $15,000 with their app fighting FGM.

However, it is not merely about winning. As Owino states, “Whether we win or not, our perspective of the world and the possibilities it has will change for the better.”

– Lena Riebl
Photo: Flickr

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New Apps That Are Helping Refugees

Helping RefugeesToday, web and cellphone apps are being used by billions of people around the world. With so many applications being free there is an increased number of people who can access them. Today new apps are being created in order to help those who are in distress, such as refugees. Here is a list of just three new apps of this year that are helping refugees translate, gain access to information and connect with their families.

Tarjimly is a new translator app that connects volunteer translators to people, such as refugees or immigrants, who need translations in real-time for medical or legal purposes. Tarjimly acts as a Facebook messenger bot connecting an immigrant or refugee to a translator in an anonymous conversation. This app just recently launched in February of this year and already has more than 2,000 translators signed up.

Arrived is another app that is helping refugees gain quick access to information. Called “the hub of immigrant information,” this app is free and is available on Apple and Android phones. One of the things the app provides is the latest news about immigration. This news section also provides analysis of legislative proposals and actions in Washington. Arrived also provides information about deportation processes, English lessons and a study guide for citizenship tests. There is a section of answered questions that are most common that have been researched and a map to show law clinics and sanctuary cities in the U.S.

RedadAlertas is a web app that has not been released yet but will be arriving soon. Created by Celso Mireles who was previously an undocumented immigrant, this app delivers alerts about what is happening in different areas. Notifications about areas that have ICE raids, checkpoints or any type of confrontation will be sent out to its users. The app will work through crowdsourcing, which relies on people at scenes of an area to verify and provide details about what is happening. RedadAlertas hopes to help vulnerable immigrants in risk areas while also allowing legal aid groups, community organizations or activists to help immigrants.

These apps are helping refugees and immigrants around the world. These apps are versatile and all free so that they can be accessible to all users. By providing access to information, translators and up to date notifications these apps are allowing refugees and immigrants to get the help they may need.

– Deanna Wetmore
Photo: Flickr

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STEM Programs in Kazakhstan Invest in Young Engineers

STEM Programs in Kazakhstan
Robot battles, solar trackers and a laser that shoots for the moon — these are the inventions of western Kazakhstan’s youngest engineers. As part of their experience with the Zangar Initiative, which runs several STEM programs in Kazakhstan, these students combined the math and science they learn in school with the technological skills and hands-on experience that the initiative provides. The results seem almost like science fiction.

The results seem almost like science fiction. Although supported by Chevron and the International Youth Foundation, the community propels the initiative. The young people and their families chose the name “Zanger,” which is Kazakh for “mighty.”
The participating students are taught to use the engineering design process, a step-by-step guide for how to turn a brilliant idea into a concrete model. The process gives students a straightforward way to address a problem. They also learn skills like C programming and 3D design, which are not in the school curriculum, and have access to high-tech equipment.

The teens who participate in the STEM Capstone after-school clubs learn more than just technical skills. They often work in groups and learn both teamwork and stress management. One of the key tasks of a teammate, besides helping with design, is to steer his or her fellow engineers away from the temptation to give up should the early prototypes fail.

Perseverance is always rewarded. Many of these students go on to win regional and even national competitions. One student who created a laser designed to beam Helium-3, a potential clean energy source, from the moon to the earth, received a scholarship to the university of her choice in Kazakhstan.

The students of these STEM programs in Kazakhstan gain confidence in themselves and have high motivation to continue learning. Many of them gain the courage to become entrepreneurs. The program also opens their eyes to the needs of the community, inspiring service work and volunteering.

In December 2016, the city of Atyrau hosted its first STEM and English fair, featuring games and activities provided by the Zangar Initiative. Government officials hope that STEM programs in Kazakhstan will inspire a new generation of scientists and entrepreneurs, promoting economic and technological development within the country.

– Emilia Otte

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On Board With India’s First Solar-Powered Train

Solar Power in IndiaWhile cars may not be able to fly, solar energy can now power trains and this might be the next best thing. On July 14, 2017, India’s first solar-powered train hits the railroad as the country looks to move toward more renewable energy sources.

As a nation, India has long relied on railroad transport to get from one place to another. With 68,000 kilometers of railroad, India is the country with the fifth-greatest capacity for rail transportation. These rails play a critical role in transporting both passengers and cargo around the country.

Railroads account for 85 percent of India’s passenger traffic and 60 percent of its freight capacity. However, railways in India emit a significant amount of carbon dioxide. As a nation, India contributes four percent of the world’s fossil fuel emissions, posing serious environmental challenges.

The DEMU (diesel electric multiple train) that was launched out of the Safdarjung train station in New Delhi is expected to offset these emissions. The DEMU train is significantly more environmentally friendly than previous train models and counteracts carbon emissions by nine tons per coach per year, with a total of six coaches.

The design for the DEMU train was completed by Jakson engineers after they were awarded this project by Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuels, a unit of Indian Railways focused on promoting biodiesel and other alternative fuels for India’s railways.

The solar panels on India’s first solar-powered train have the capacity to power its internal lights, fans, and other electrical systems within the train, generating a total of 7,200 kilowatts per system per year. Additional energy generated during peak hours will be stored in a battery.

Regardless, with India’s expanding economy, it is necessary to address the limitations of current methods of transportation. While a commitment to renewable energy sources like solar power curbs carbon dioxide emissions, India’s current transportation methods pose certain limitations.

Transportation infrastructure is strained and unable to support future economic growth that could help alleviate poverty for many. Trains in India do reach most of the population, but rural areas are often under-served and many of the poor are not connected to India’s main economic centers by road or railway.

While India’s current dependence on rail transportation poses economic and poverty-related problems, the shift toward more environmentally sustainable practices alleviates some of these issues and India’s first solar-powered train is a good step towards this.

– Jennifer Faulkner

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Closing the Gap in Global Education

Closing the Gap in Global EducationDebates about education often center on the quality of public schools, diminishing budgets, scarce resources and technological provisions in the United States. While a focus on domestic educational issues is commendable and necessary, there is a grimmer picture across the world. According to the World Inequality Database on Education, fewer than 50 percent of the poorest children have completed primary school in 39 out of 88 countries. The economic productivity and social quality of life of any country depends on its educated population, and closing the gap in global education is the key to global prosperity, safety and stability.

Indeed, education can eliminate bigger problems such as poverty, inequality, insecurity and disease. Equal access to a quality education, including access to content and means of delivering instruction and following a set curriculum, remains an unrealized dream and a struggle for many.

The last two centuries have seen an exponential increase in the number of children attending primary school globally, from 2.3 million to 700 million today. What is troubling is that children in the poorest households of developing nations, those arguably most in need of educational opportunities, are four times as likely to be out of school as those in the wealthiest households.

It is going to take another 100 years for children in developing countries to reach the education level of their counterparts in developed countries.

Access to a quality education remains a basic building block to success. Current approaches to educational equity necessitate a fundamental rethinking in that they must take into account that many children are unable to go to school because schools simply do not exist in parts of developing countries.

If schools do exist, teachers may lack proper training and simply be incapable of handling the demands of a classroom setting. Furthermore, barriers inherent in certain areas, such as societal demands and expectations, can hamper learning outside the classroom.

Technological tools and resources ignite curiosity and promote more efficient, up-to-date learning. A huge growth in social media platforms can certainly be aligned with classroom activity and curriculum, establishing more innovative ways for students and teachers to learn about global issues.

Though technology makes learning opportunities more widely accessible by decreasing the significance of geographical boundaries, a lack of technological infrastructure means that many children are deprived of the digital educational resources taken for granted in developed nations. For these students, the difficulty of closing the gap in global education comes with an additional cost: loss of productivity.

In 2015, the United Nations heavily promoted the Millennium Development Goals to achieve free universal primary education for all children by the year’s end.

Although it was unfortunate that the pace of improvement by countries could not keep up with the desire to have universal primary education, the primary school net enrollment rate did reach over 90 percent, and the number of out-of-school children fell from 100 million in 2000 to 57 million in 2015 . Movement toward closing the gap in global education is signified by the fact that not a single country in the world today is completely without a schooling system.

Today’s economy is knowledge-based and highly competitive. Schools in developed nations are entrusted with students who lack neither skills nor talents, but educational opportunities.

Some factors are beyond students’ control, such as where they were born and what their financial means are. But with the recent advancements in educational models, global education disparity can meaningfully be addressed and mitigated.

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

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Blockchain Technology and Poverty Disruption

Blockchain Technology and PovertySince its conception, blockchain technology has become widely synonymous with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. However, the utility of blockchain comes not necessarily from its manifestation in online currency but the nature of its security and accessibility. These two features are what make blockchain technology and poverty so interlinked. It holds promise as a secure and equalizing tool for the world’s poorest and most rural.

The inner mechanisms and mathematical coding of blockchain are highly complex. The principle is simple. It is a public ledger, stored and spread across multiple networks in countries around the world, making an impermeable information network. The decentralized nature of the data stored on blockchain allows for its application across all sectors without risk of disruption.

Significant to alleviating poverty, blockchain technology’s secure nature allows for it to be used as a financial services platform. In both urban and rural areas of developing countries, banks can be hard to come by, expensive to set up an account in and somewhat unreliable.

Cryptocurrency services can be scaled up and down to be incorporated into everything from the most basic phones to the world’s most sophisticated smartphones. This cryptographic technology would allow its users to send money directly to other individuals without a middleman or “trusted third parties” which take a percentage as a fee for its services and can be largely inaccessible.

Estimates suggest that by 2020 over 70 percent of the world will have access to smartphones. With financial technologies such as blockchain services, there is a real chance for those in rural or economically unstable countries to secure themselves without huge risk. Blockchain technology and poverty could have a progressive and important relationship.

By using cryptocurrencies or internet-money, individuals in financially insecure nations can take steps to avoid financial vulnerabilities, such as fraud or hyperinflation. M-PESA, a mobile money-transfer and micro-loan financing company, operates all across Africa and in parts of central Asia. Numbers from early 2017 suggest that M-PESA’s user base allowed approximately 186,000 families, two percent of Kenyan households, move from poverty into sustainable working conditions.

Blockchain’s financial services allow for mass participation in the most remote parts of the world. A wide range of business owners can build financial credibility. Currently, Chinese pharmaceutical companies receive assistance from Yijan, a blockchain created by IBM and Hejia, a Chinese supply management company.

Significant and notable players on the international landscape are quickly getting involved in blockchain techniques. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Level One Project aims to use digital financial services to bring the impoverished into the formal economic ecosystem, providing them with the tools necessary for financial mobility.

In early 2017, the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) incorporated blockchain technology and cash-based transfers into its humanitarian aid outreach in Pakistan. By using mobile-transfers, the WFP ensured that those in need were receiving financial aid without the risk of the disruption possible with cash-based aid. The technology-based transfers also allowed for the WFP to streamline its tracking system. Since the success in Pakistan, the WFP has chosen to expand blockchain to other humanitarian efforts.

These are a few of blockchain’s many applications. Its reach and potential as a tool for poverty alleviation are great, especially if utilized jointly by governments and NGOs. Although it may be no panacea, the incorporation of blockchain technology may be a significant macro approach in solving the systematic issue of poverty. Blockchain technology and poverty disruption may be one of the most exciting aspects of the new digital age.

– Sydney Nam

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Reducing Poverty with Mobile Phones in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mobile Phones in Sub-Saharan AfricaIn the rural farmlands of Tanzania, a woman is preparing to plant her crops for the season. She is part of the more than 50 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans who use agriculture to survive and feed their families. Her knowledge stems only from experience and word of mouth. In a constantly changing climate, inevitable questions arise. How much fertilizer does she need? She can either waste time walking to find an expert or an agricultural extension officer, or she can go on her mobile phone. 500 miles away, a family in Kenya is terrified that their crops may succumb to the dryness of the land and die, leaving them with nothing to sell or eat. Their mobile phone allows them to research the weather, giving them peace of mind when it says that the rain is coming, or allowing them to plan ahead when it is not. Mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa are already showing their potential.

For these people, a cell phone can mean a world of difference, and it doesn’t end with just agriculture. From education to banking to health, mobile phones opened up to a whole new realm of possibilities for the citizens of developing countries.

The GMSA Mobile Economy 2017 report predicts that mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa will reach half a billion users by 2020. This is more than double the number at the end of 2016, making it the fastest growing region in the world. The report attests the climb in numbers to the increased affordability of mobile devices and the improved market for used devices. In addition to the accessibility of information generated by mobile, the economy benefited as well, supplementing 3.5 million jobs in 2016. Tech start-ups are thriving in a mobile Africa as well. According to GMSA, “some 77 tech start-ups across the region raised just over $366.8 million in funding in 2016, growth of 33 percent compared to the previous year.” The opportunities that mobile platforms allow are attracting both talent and investment, according to GMSA.

Sub-Saharan Africa had 140 mobile money services in 39 countries as of December 2016, giving more and more users easy access to paying their bills online and sending/receiving money between friends and businesses. Zazu is Africa’s first digital-only bank, providing users with a debit card, a point-and-pay feature that utilizes the phone to scan payments with participating merchants and a mobile app to access transactions.

The mobile community provides impoverished people the chance to access financial services to make investments, save money and manage expenses. M-Pesa, for example, is a widely-used money-transferring mobile platform that recently added a savings and credit feature. According to GMSA, the platform lifted 194,000 Kenyan households out of poverty since 2006.

The report notes that there are more than 1,000 mobile health services that target families in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa makes up 25 percent of the global “disease burdened” population but only accounts for three percent of health workers. Living Goods supports health needs in Sub-Saharan Africa via a mobile platform run by trained health professional agents, focusing on child deaths with simple and affordable solutions. The agents use the mobile platform to identify diseases such as malaria and send automatic SMS reminders to the patient ensuring that they complete the whole course of treatment. Pregnant women can sign up to receive weekly messages with advice on maternal health and nutrition according to where they are at in their pregnancy. Living Goods even sells its own brand of food with nutrients and vitamins, often too difficult for people in developing African countries to access.

Mobile technology also allows those in poverty to receive better educations. Eneza Education is a learning platform utilizing mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa, enabling users to communicate with teachers and lesson programs via SMS, the web and Android. Students of all levels can take courses in any subject and interact instantly with teachers via their tablet, computer, or mobile phone. They also offer small business courses and teacher refreshment courses (which is hugely important, considering only about one-quarter of pre-primary teachers are trained in Sub-Saharan Africa). Eneza already has over two million subscribers across Africa and over 300,000 questions have been answered by their live ask-a-teacher feature.

Kytabu, out of Nairobi, allows users to essentially lease required learning and teaching materials (such as textbooks) online through their mobile device. The application provides exams, educational videos, group-chat classrooms, audiobooks and learning games.

Although accessibility to mobile phones in Sub-Saharan Africa is relatively new, the innovations made so far are a great testament to the technology’s potential. Clearly, the simplest technologies have the power to improve developing countries and make strides towards the elimination of poverty. In a modern world where phones have become grouped with simple technology, they are becoming as much of a right as water filters and electricity.

The things which we take for granted every day hold so much power. Think of what a cell phone can do.

– Katherine Gallagher

Photo: Flickr

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Technology Developed in Asia

Technology Developed in Asia
Asia is the largest and most populous continent in the world. The continent has vastly different economies from Japan, Korea and China to Indonesia and India, and habitually brightens the world with its latest innovations, which are about to cultivate promising changes in global poverty fight. It’s widely thought that the most interesting digital market in Asia is actually not the likes of Korea and Japan, but is more China, Indonesia, and India. These are the markets that are really pushing the boundary and innovating the most.

Here are a few examples of new technology developed in Asia that will assist the world of poor:

  1. Life Saving Dot
    According to the World Health Organization, iron deficiency anemia is one of the most widespread nutritional disorders in the world. Millions of women across rural India suffer from breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease and complications during pregnancy and most of these cases are linked to iodine deficiency.In order to fight one of the most common causes of breast cancer, Talwar Bandi in association with Grey Singapore developed Life Saving Dot. A little iodine patch, meant to replace a bindi — a traditional red dot worn on the center of the forehead, commonly by Hindu and Jain women as a celebration of femininity and beauty — and consists of 150-220 micrograms of iodine. This amount is a daily norm for women that dramatically increases chances to prevent breast cancer.

     

  2. Eco Cooler
    Eco Cooler is another revolutionary technology developed in Asia, namely in Bangladesh. It is a cheap and environmentally-friendly zero electricity air cooler developed by Grey Dhaka. The technology uses re-purposed plastic bottles cut in half and put into a grid, in accordance with available window sizes. Depending on wind direction and airflow pressure, the Eco Cooler is decreasing the temperature inside the house. The invention is critical for the country, where the temperature often rises up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer period. 
  3. Vodafone
    About 47% of the labor force in India is involved in agriculture. In April 2016, the Indian government revealed that about 330 million people across the country were affected by drought.Vodafone is rolling out rainwater-harvesting billboards, invented in India and meant to help drought-affected farmers by harvesting rainwater. The billboards store up to 2,000 liters of water in U-curved aluminum sheets that can be distributed to farmers. Water sensor technology alerts collection teams who transport the rainwater to rural farms when tanks are full.
  4. 30-minute Ebola Tests
    Researchers from Nagasaki University in Japan are collaborating with colleagues from Eiken Chemical to develop a 30-minute Ebola virus detection kit. The technology developed in Asia uses short DNA sequences called primers to amplify DNA unique to Ebola. Samples become cloudy if the patient has the Ebola virus. The team is currently working out ways to make its technology available in countries stricken by Ebola. 
  5. RainSprout
    Grey Group Malaysia has developed innovative protection against Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease. The RainSprout locates on a top of an umbrella and uses rainfall to distribute larvicide into the very puddles where mosquitoes can breed. The technology developed in Asia was distributed for free in central Malaysia.The RainSprout works via a replicable patch at the base which is impregnated with a non-toxic larvicide. When rain hits the patch, it mixes with the larvicide and runs off the umbrella into the puddles. Harmless to all other living organisms, the larvicide starves the mosquito larvae before they develop.
  6. Flo
    Mariko Higaki Iwai has designed an affordable solution to improve the lives of adolescent girls living in poverty. She designed a kit that allows girls to wash, dry and carry reusable sanitary pads.Flo will allow girls from Asia and Africa to go to school during their periods, where females often drop out of school due to the absence of sanitary pads and tampons. The innovation promises to improve the situation by helping girls to avoid embarrassment, attend school during the period and prevent reproductive infections and illnesses in the countries where young women were.

Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties and governments. There is much significant progress coming out of this continent to help the world’s poor with new technology developed in Asia.

– Yana Emets

Photo: Flickr