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5 Corporations Working with WaterAid

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing global challenges of our time, impacting more than 2 billion people worldwide. In response, various corporations have stepped up to support initiatives that address this critical issue. Among them, PepsiCo, Hogan Lovells, Belu, Boeing and Google are notable for their impactful partnerships with WaterAid, a leading organization dedicated to improving access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries. This is a closer look at how these corporations working with WaterAid are making a difference.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo, one of the corporations working with WaterAid, is a global leader in the beverage and food industry and focuses on water stewardship as part of its sustainability strategy. The company recognizes the crucial role water plays in its operations. Partnering with WaterAid, PepsiCo has directed its efforts towards improving water access in communities where the company operates. The partnership between WaterAid and PepsiCo aims to achieve three pillars: “empowering women, building resistance and protecting children.”

PepsiCo and WaterAid’s “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement project” provided clean water and toilets to more than 700 students in Lagos, Nigeria. Working with the Lagos state government, PepsiCo and WaterAid helped commission toilets and handwashing stations for schoolchildren, hoping to reach more than 170,000 people in three years.

Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells, an American-British law firm, brings a unique perspective to its partnership with WaterAid through its legal expertise and advocacy efforts. Partnering with WaterAid in August 2023, Hogan Lovells provides pro bono legal advice, volunteer support and unique fundraising and awareness initiatives to assist WaterAid’s mission in combating water scarcity.

This partnership enables WaterAid to navigate complex legal landscapes and secure necessary resources and permissions for its initiatives. Hogan Lovells’ involvement goes beyond legal assistance. The firm also engages in fundraising efforts and awareness campaigns to highlight the importance of water access and sanitation. By leveraging its legal knowledge and network, Hogan Lovells amplifies WaterAid’s mission and supports its global impact.

Belu

Belu, a British bottled water company, is a prime example of how corporations can integrate sustainability into their core operations. It has committed to a unique partnership with WaterAid, channelling profits from its bottled water sales directly to the organization. This approach not only supports WaterAid’s projects but also raises awareness about the importance of clean water and sustainability.

Belu’s commitment to WaterAid entails giving 100% of its net profits to the latter organization. According to the Belu’s website, it has given WaterAid approximately £5.8 million since their 2011 partnership, aiding the latter corporation’s goal of providing clean water across 27 countries.

Boeing

As a global aerospace leader, Boeing brings its engineering prowess and innovation to its partnership with WaterAid. The company supports WaterAid through funding, contributing to projects such as the WASH Project, that tackle water scarcity and improve sanitation in underserved communities. Boeing’s involvement often includes leveraging its technological capabilities to develop sustainable solutions for water access and management.

A WASH project that exemplifies Boeing and WaterAid’s partnership is their 2022 workshop in Ethiopia’s Gimbichu District. Only 52% of Ethiopians have access to clean water and are also susceptible to long droughts and famines. With Boeing and WaterAid’s planned WASH project, the two corporations devised an objective to increase access to clean water, hygiene facilities and sanitation in the Gimbichu community. The WASH project targeted areas such as schools and health care facilities, aggregating a total of approximately 25,000 Ethiopians.

Google collaborates with WaterAid to enhance the effectiveness of water and sanitation projects to help many impoverished regions, such as Hyderabad, India. It helped build 25 handwashing stations at local schools and health care facilities, along with 21 additional water projects in the region. This collaboration underscores the transformative potential of technology and corporations in addressing complex global challenges.

Conclusion

The partnerships between PepsiCo, Hogan Lovells, Belu, Boeing and Google with WaterAid exemplify the diverse ways corporations can contribute to solving global water issues. Each company brings unique strengths to the table, from financial support and legal expertise to technological innovation and sustainable practices. By working together with WaterAid, these corporations advance their own sustainability goals. Furthermore, they play a crucial role in improving water access and sanitation for millions of people worldwide.

These collaborations are a testament to the power of cross-sector partnerships in addressing pressing global challenges. As water scarcity continues to affect communities around the world, the efforts of these corporations working with WaterAid offer a beacon of hope.

– Christian Core

Christian is based in Princeville, HI, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

August 28, 2024

Charity, Global Poverty, Technology

Tech Firms Take On Poverty

Over the last three decades, technology has profoundly influenced our lives, with a handful of tech firms, notably Alphabet and Meta, attaining substantial profitability. These companies play a pivotal role in shaping the future through technological advancements. However, their philanthropic endeavors, aimed at contributing to a better future for all, often go underappreciated. These are examples of how the cornerstones of modern-age technology firms are alleviating poverty.

Alphabet (Google)

As the leading powerhouse in the search engine industry, according to Forbes, Google has established itself as the second-largest brand in the world while turning in $279 billion in revenue as of 2023. Google has been actively involved in philanthropic initiatives through Google.org, its charitable arm established in 2005. The organization has engaged in various poverty alleviation projects across the globe. Google.org has invested more than $250 million into closing educational gaps worldwide, especially in impoverished areas. This includes supplying technological resources to facilitate learning, a collaboration that extends to partnerships with entities like Khan Academy.

Furthermore, the organization has contributed to economic empowerment across countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa by supporting those who suffer from systematic barriers as small to medium-sized business owners. One of Google’s more recent contributions is a $5 million grant provided to underserved businesses worldwide during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Google.org is an example of how technology firms are alleviating poverty by supporting various communities. This support includes ensuring access to education and fostering financial stability, which helps to lift households out of poverty.

Tackling Technology Poverty: Placing Internet in India

Internet in India India is one of the most populous countries, with an estimated population of 1.4 billion. Yet, the internet adoption rate is approximately 50%, meaning about 700 million Indian citizens are not privy to the Internet’s modern benefits.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi champions the utility of equitable internet access in what he dubs “the war against poverty,” celebrating the increase in the opportunity afforded to children (providing low-data costs for online lessons when the 2020 pandemic shut down physical education for two years) and vaccination campaigns which were run online that helped to curtail the spread of the virus; both examples demonstrate the importance of expanding internet adoption as far as possible. Fortunately, a handful of initiatives and organizations are already making ground in their efforts to bring the internet to India.

Establishing Infrastructure

Of the 700 million still offline, a large portion comprises 64% of India’s population designated as “rural.” In such areas, barriers to internet adoption lie not just in affordability for lower-income households but in inadequate infrastructure for the Indian power sector, which is often incapable of maintaining a consistent power supply to the various villages outside the reach of the main grids. This situation is why the efforts of companies such as Sterlite Technologies Ltd. (STL) can be so transformative. As specialists in optical networking, STL endeavors to expand high-speed internet to over 300,000 villages by 2024. STL has made strides with MIT to study methods of increasing internet coverage and is helping to develop 5G infrastructure that should strengthen connectivity in even the most remote corners.

The Digital India Campaign

Sometimes, the barrier to technological adoption is familiarity and utility, which requires convincing prospective users of the viability of new technologies and their potential “use cases” in daily life. To this end, the government-led “Digital India Campaign” was devised to bridge the digital literacy and adoption gap through various initiatives. The platform “e-Pathshala” is one such initiative launched as an app-based learning resource for schools. Another is the digitation service “Digilocker,” which provides a digital version of official documents such as Driver’s Licenses and Car Registration certificates. This distinct convenience measure alleviates some of the stresses of document maintenance.

Teaching Internet Literacy

Bringing rural complications and digital literacy deficits together is “Internet Saathi,” a program that Google and Tata Trust run in partnership. Focused on teaching tech literacy to women living in rural parts of India, environments where women are often discouraged from engaging with technology, “Internet Saathi” trains up women as “Saathis,” the Hindu word for “Friend,” who are then paid a stipend to travel to nearby villages with smart devices and lessons on internet literacy. These Saathis instruct local women on how such tools can benefit their daily lives and why the types of opportunities they provide, be that educational opportunities or even just simple nutritional advice, all while economically supporting the tutors with a revenue stream. Today, “Internet Saathi” reported helping more than 20 million women with resources and education provided by more than 60,000 Saathis.

Bringing the internet to India has been an expansive and multifaceted project juggling the interests of private companies and government programs, all collaborating to improve public infrastructure, and it is starting to pay dividends. Since 2007, the Internet adoption rate across India has shot up 44% from the relatively modest 4%. Still, there is a long way to go and many difficult branches of the country left to reach, both societally and geometrically, before India can consider itself sufficiently digitally saturated. Then, Prime Minister Modi’s plan to “Democratize technology” as a “Weapon in the war against poverty” can start to make a seismic and course-changing impact.

– Brandon Murphy
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

December 16, 2023

Global Poverty

Globalization and Trade In Vietnam: A Success Story

Globalization and Trade in Vietnam
At the end of the Vietnam War, Vietnam had one of the poorest economies in the world. But this began to change after 1986 when economic reforms triggered the reconstruction of the country. Now it has become a strong manufacturing player engaged in global trade and displaying impressive domestic and globalization improvements.

What Has Happened?

Similar to China, Vietnam’s growth came from economic reforms which opened its economy to foreign investors and opportunities for global trade. Globalization and trade in Vietnam saw exponential growth and made their economy the fastest-growing economy in Asia last year at a rate of 8%.

There are three key factors contributing to this rise. First is its embrace of trade liberalization. Second, they have supported this with domestic reforms. Finally, an increase in public investments in human and physical capital. The impact has been incredible. Vietnam’s trade in 2017 accounted for 190% of its GDP compared to 70% in 2007, progress which has had knock-on benefits for all of its economy. Between 2014 and 2016, for example, 1.5 million new manufacturing jobs were created. It has also been estimated that these open borders have allowed for more than 10,000 companies to move and operate within Vietnam.

In particular, electronics manufacturing has expanded, creating high-value goods and better-paid jobs. Companies like Samsung, Google and Microsoft have moved their production into Vietnam and therefore created economic development in the country.

What Does This Mean for Poverty in Vietnam?

Not surprisingly, globalization and trade in Vietnam have had many positive impacts on the Vietnamese people and poverty. In fact, between 2010 and 2020 poverty in Vietnam decreased from 16.8% to 5%.

A 2014 survey saw that 95% of Vietnamese say “trade is good.” As part of the steps to open and maintain their economy, Vietnam invested in human capital, and this was focused on primary education.

In 2015, the OECD Program for International Student Assessment ranked Vietnam at 8 out of 72 countries, an important figure when thinking about how education is so important in helping people raise their income and move out of poverty.

In the workplace, Vietnam continues to prove itself to be a progressive model where women’s employment has stayed within 10% of men’s and, according to the World Economic Forum’s Inclusive Development Index, it has done a good job at creating inclusive and sustainable growth.

Looking Ahead

Globalization and trade in Vietnam and how it has been conducted is a model for healthy growth and has shown how a country can develop without leaving people behind. Due to a young working demographic and a growing middle class, Vietnam is likely to see this growth continue and the Vietnamese people will reap these benefits.

– Daisy How
Photo: Flickr

September 8, 2023

Global Poverty

How AI in Indian Agriculture Is Revolutionizing Its Poorest Regions

AI in Indian agriculture India is a nation with immense economic potential. In 2021, the World Bank ranked the nation first among the world’s seven largest emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). India boasts an economy expected to grow by 7% in 2023. Despite this, its agricultural sector has struggled to keep up with the productivity levels in other comparable nations. A host of persistent structural issues inhibit irrigation, communication and a general understanding of crops.

AI, however, is increasingly helping innovate India’s agricultural economy. With the promise of abundant near-future investment, it could hold the key to a breakthrough in Indian agriculture. This, in turn, could yield a breakthrough in the battle against poverty.

The Importance of Agriculture to India’s Economy

For India, agriculture is key to its socioeconomic welfare. It is crucial to both its economy and food security, employing some 200 million people. The industry makes up 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 40% of the total rural net domestic product.

General poverty rates in India have halved between 2006 and 2016, but India’s agricultural system suffers from acute structural issues. It is markedly behind the worldwide average in key areas, such as yield productivity in essential crops, water availability and market access.

These issues depreciate farm incomes and significantly worsen livelihoods, ultimately increasing indigence. India, however, finds itself at an inflection point, at which new technologies are showing the potential to galvanize productivity and alleviate poverty.

How AI is Causing Positive Change

In recent years, breakthroughs in artificial intelligence have allowed farmers to better understand their land, soil and crop health as well as neighboring environments. Two teams at Google are leveraging AI in Indian agriculture in order to develop a “unified ‘landscape understanding.” The AI works by employing satellite imagery and machine learning to draw boundaries between fields, crucial to forming meaningful calculations. Following this, the AI can determine the acreage of farm fields, as well as irrigation structures like farm wells which can help create tools for drought preparedness. This can also help calculate previous water availability over the past month, three months or year, all critical in establishing water security and drought management strategies.

Another promising advance for AI in Indian agriculture has come from the World Economic Forum’s Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture Innovation (AI4AI). This is led by the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) India. By promoting the use of artificial intelligence, the AI4AI aims to “bring… together government, academia and business representatives” to develop innovative solutions for the agricultural sector. As of January 2023, 7,000 farmers, primarily chili producers, have been using the technology to monitor their crops. They also use it to perform quality control and test soil, which helps them access new customers in different regions.

An Even Brighter Future

The positive effects of AI in Indian agriculture have two dimensions. For farmers today, the accurate understanding of field performance and environmental conditions it provides allows them to reduce land and water waste while increasing crop yield. Yet, even more promising is the potential benefits it could bring to future farmers. As more information is gathered on farm performance, agricultural loans will become more available. This will allow state governments to provide increasing support for farming districts at scale. AI in Indian agriculture, led by companies such as Google, will support its rapidly growing technology industry. New artificial machinery is also increasingly undergoing development to make farming practices more efficient and sustainable.

Domestic investment indicates a positive future. At present, there are more than 1,000 agri-tech startups in India. They offer a range of services, including digital finance, quality testing and market connect platforms. As agri-tech develops, these businesses should exponentially increase agriculture productivity and sustainability, improving food security for some of India’s poorest people.

Some Challenges AI May Face in Agriculture

Though AI presents a very exciting prospect for Indian agriculture, it is not free of potential challenges. Foremost among these is the fact that AI systems require a great deal of data to train machines and make accurate predictions. For large agricultural areas, learning models would take time to mature. Though solutions are emerging, there may be a significant delay until farmers can reap their full benefits.

Nonetheless, recent developments of AI in Indian agriculture herald a fundamental change in productivity that should continue revolutionizing the yield, communication and water access of farmers over the coming years, and perhaps even decades. This will provide vital economic assistance to India’s farmers, many of which live below the extreme poverty line, and crucially stabilize food security to help feed the country’s 1.4 billion people.

– Gabriel Gathercole
Photo: Flickr

April 24, 2023

Global Poverty, Technology

4 Ways High Tech Investments in India Improved the US Economy

Investments in India
Foreign direct investments in the only unpenetrated highly populace market have proven effective in improving the U.S. economy. With Microsoft and Google investments, India curtailed poverty and encouraged economic growth.

Microsoft and Google Investments

Since 1990, Microsoft has invested in various operations in India, including Intelligent Cloud and Artificial Intelligence to facilitate the quick delivery of digital transformation. More recent operations in 2021 entail Microsoft’s collaboration with Invest India to support the build-up of 11 technological start-ups. In 2022, Microsoft led the largest India data center region investment worth Rs 15,000 crore across a 15-year period.

Since 2004, Google has also invested in India to enhance the country’s digital economy. The tech giant’s most contemporary investment announced is a $10 billion investment in 2020, known as the “Google for India Digitization Fund” to fuel the digitization of India. In 2022, Google also publicized support to Airtel, India’s second major telecommunications operator, in a $1 billion investment, according to the Economic Times.

Impact on Reducing Poverty in India

Today, Microsoft operates in 11 different Indian cities with around 16,000 employees. The International Data Corporation estimates that Microsoft’s data center region contributed to economic gains worth $9.5 billion from 2016-2020 and unlocked 1.5 million employment opportunities, The Times of India reported.

Tech start-up companies generated around $6.5 billion in the second quarter of 2021, according to Business Today. This is indicating improved economic growth and poverty reduction, especially as start-ups represent a significant aspect of economic development.

Following Google’s $10 billion investment in 2020, the number of employees it holds doubled from early 2020 to late 2021, and over the following two years, projections show that the workforce is likely to double. This underlines Google’s impact on promoting economic growth through the reduction of unemployment on the national level, declining by 4.2% from 2020-2021.

Human Development Index (HDI) value in India rose from 0.429 in 1990 to 0.645 in 2019. GDP growth improved from 3.8% in 2000 to 8.9% in 2021 and extreme poverty declined by 12.3 percentage points between 2011-2019. This illustrated the overall impact digital technology has on encouraging equality and financial inclusion across India.

Imports

In 2019, estimates have stated that Indian trade accounted for 2.3% of total U.S. imported goods, standing at a worth of $57.7 billion. A U.S. government report confirms that service products such as telecommunication and research and development accounted for a large proportion of such imports and in 2019 it stood at $29.7 billion.

Acknowledging the role of imports in relieving U.S. households from increased good prices, this highlights how high-tech investments in India Improved the U.S. economy. As evidence of the latter, a 2021 U.S. Chamber of Commerce report has highlighted that with imports, the typical American household uplifted its purchasing power by $18,000 per year, thereby equating to greater value for money.

Exports

In 2019, exports from the U.S. to India accounted for transactions valued at $34.3 billion, corresponding to 2% of total U.S. exports in that same year, and 2020 World Bank data shows that exports contributed to 10.16% of U.S. GDP. Agricultural products captured a considerable share of exports, totaling $1.8 billion in 2019, and each $1 billion from agricultural exports in 2019 required around 7,784 full-time U.S. employees. This illustrates eminent economic activity in terms of productivity, efficiency and employment domestically.

Importance of Microsoft and Google to the US Economy

The 2021-20 fiscal year illustrated economic gains for Microsoft (India) in terms of revenue growth valued at 7%. For the 2021 financial year, it is also estimated that Google’s revenue from India improved by 38% in terms of profit.

Such financial profits equate to greater corporate security and enhanced growth prospects and considering the impact both tech giants have on the U.S. economy this illustrates an unprecedented gain for improved economic growth via repatriated profits. For instance, Microsoft paid $13 billion in tax to the U.S. economy from its overall overseas operations. Similarly, Google in a 2018 announcement publicized its $38 billion payment in tax on its foreign cash and confirmed its intentions to offer 20,000 new employment opportunities. Knowing that India accounts for a large sum of both corporations’ overseas operations, this signifies the importance of investments in India to the U.S. economy.

In an era of globalization, economic gains in one country would demonstrate financial benefits in another. Efforts such as those of Microsoft and Google show how India can build a stronger infrastructure that strengthens its position in tackling poverty, while also highlighting how high-tech investments in India improved the U.S. economy.

– Noor Al-Zubi
Photo: Flickr

September 7, 2022

Children, Education, Global Poverty, Health

How Google is Helping Africa’s Small Businesses

Africa’s Small Businesses In June 2022, Google announced a new initiative that targeted small businesses in Africa. The initiative was part of the company’s month-long celebration of International Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Business Day. Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, make up a large portion of the global economy, “[accounting] for 90% of businesses, 60 to 70% of employment and 50% of GDP worldwide.” The significant role that micro, small and medium-sized businesses play internationally as the backbone of economies holds true, especially in Africa. Consumers “buy more than 70% of their food, beverages and personal care products” from Africa’s small businesses.

Loyalty to Small Businesses

This loyalty to small businesses has continued despite the insurgence of corporate supermarkets and retail chain stores. Transitioning this loyalty to e-commerce holds incredible promise for economic development throughout the continent. South Africa posted online sales of $1.8 billion in 2020 and countries like Nigeria and Kenya where the retail sector is a major component of GDP posted 30% and 40% growth rates respectively in 2021.

The framework for e-commerce in Africa has been laid out. Internet coverage, access to credit cards and bank accounts and mobile phone usage have all increased substantially in Africa in the last decade. Google has noted this opportunity for growth in Africa, with Google’s country director for West Africa Juliet Ehimuan noting that “E-commerce presents an opportunity for small businesses in Africa to reach new customers and grow.”

However, the online market has remained untapped for many small and medium businesses in Africa. Technical know-how, as well as concerns over cybercrime, has impeded online market penetration by small and medium businesses in Africa, according to a report by World Trade Organization (WTO). Fortunately, Google’s new initiative is helping build online retail presences for Africa’s small businesses, aiming to “…assist small businesses in Africa to gain the expertise to connect online, expand their customer base and scale-up,” according to Ehimuan.

Google is accomplishing this strategy through a three-pronged plan. It includes the Shopping Small Business Summit, an online career certificate course, and the Local Opportunity Finder.

Shopping Small Business Summit

In late June 2022, Google hosted a Shopping Small Business Summit. According to The Guardian, this event was a one-hour virtual training session to help small and medium business owners develop the skills they need to compete in the online marketplace. This training session covered both e-commerce trends as well as digital marketing tools and skills.

Online Career Certificate Course

The second portion of Google’s plan to help build online retail presences for Africa’s small businesses is an online career certificate course, as The Guardian reported. Unlike the Shopping Small Business Summit, this course has limited availability and is not free. However, Google has offered 1,000 scholarships to Africans who wish to participate in the course. This course will cover digital marketing and e-commerce trends in a deeper capacity than the Small Business Summit, and it aims to prepare Africans for entry level-jobs in e-commerce.

Local Opportunity Finder

Google also launched the Local Opportunity Finder in June 2022. The Local Opportunity Finder is a free online tool for small and medium business owners that aims to improve their online presences. This new tool can analyze a Google Business Profile and then give personalized recommendations for improvement. These improvements are geared towards making e-commerce sites more appealing to consumers and overall more consumer-friendly.

Google’s commitment to growing small businesses is helping build online retail presences for Africa’s small businesses. The large African retail sector is dependent on small businesses. However, the continent has lagged behind in terms of digital market space until now. If African businesses can take advantage of Google’s initiatives and work through the impediments holding back e-commerce in the continent, they could scale their businesses up and expand their consumer bases.

– Benjamin Brown
Photo: Flickr

August 8, 2022

COVID-19, Global Poverty

Addressing the Indonesian Oxygen Crisis

Addressing the Indonesian Oxygen Crisis Indonesia is currently a major COVID-19 hotspot. In light of the Delta variant’s arrival, Indonesia’s total number of coronavirus cases significantly increased in June 2021 and continued to grow in July 2021. The outbreak is one of the worst in the region. As a result of the outbreak, oxygen is in short supply in Indonesia. With many Indonesian hospitals at full capacity, it is difficult for Indonesia’s COVID-19 patients to access adequate medical treatment, including oxygen. The provinces of Java and Bali are particularly impacted by the Indonesian oxygen crisis.

The Indonesian Government’s Response to the Oxygen Shortage

The Indonesian oxygen crisis is causing oxygen prices to rise due to scarcity. With oxygen cylinders now costing approximately $120, oxygen is becoming inaccessible for people with low incomes. As coronavirus cases increase, the discrepancy between the number of oxygen tanks available and the oxygen tanks needed is growing.

The Indonesian national government sought to alleviate the oxygen crisis by seeking foreign aid. The Indonesian government requested aid from many countries to help with the oxygen shortage, which it received. The government also instructed oxygen producers to prioritize making medical oxygen and extended emergency COVID-19 procedures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Local officials are also working to minimize the shortage by preventing unnecessary oxygen acquisition. Seeking to prevent panicked stockpiling, officials in Jakarta asked residents not to hoard oxygen in order to prevent civilians from exacerbating the crisis by preemptively buying oxygen and artificially increasing the demand for oxygen.

Organizations and Businesses Step in

Private initiatives are also helping combat the Indonesian oxygen crisis. Action Our Indonesia Movement (GITA) is a volunteer-run group in Indonesia working to provide oxygen at a lower cost than hospitals. The organization allows Indonesians in need of oxygen to rent cylinders at a lower cost than what hospitals can provide. GITA owns 400 oxygen cylinders that it received through donations. Its work does not solve the problem of the shortage of oxygen to fill cylinders with, but it does help make oxygen accessible to Indonesians of all income levels.

Indonesian businesses are contributing to oxygen relief efforts in a variety of ways. Ranging from oxygen donations to assistance with oxygen transportation logistics, Indonesian companies and state-owned enterprises are providing vital relief during the Indonesian oxygen crisis.

Responses From Outside of Indonesia

Governments and organizations across the world are working to help resolve the Indonesian oxygen crisis. Several governments responded to Indonesia’s request for oxygen support, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and the United States. The aid came in the form of much-needed medical supplies, including medical oxygen.

Corporations are donating to relief efforts in Indonesia. Google made a $1 million donation to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Indonesia for COVID-19 relief efforts. Singapore-based companies, such as DBS Bank, Singtel and CapitaLand Hope Foundation, provided the Indonesian state with oxygen concentrators.

Nonstate actors are also providing vital support to Indonesia. UNICEF sent medical oxygen as well as vaccines to Indonesia to mitigate the current crisis and prevent it from worsening. The Red Cross is assisting with oxygen distribution efforts in Indonesia.

These collective efforts will ensure that the nation can overcome the Indonesian oxygen crisis, providing an inspiring example of a united international community amid a global health pandemic.

– Caroline Kuntzman
Photo: Unsplash

August 15, 2021

COVID-19, Global Poverty, Technology

AI Fights Against COVID-19 and Global Poverty

AI fights against COVID-19 COVID-19 has endangered the lives of millions of people around the world. Worse, the disease incites greater implications beyond itself. Its impact is threatening to turn back the World Poverty Clock for the first time this century. This would backtrack on the progress made in the past 20 years toward eliminating global poverty. However, artificial intelligence (AI) fights against COVID-19 in two very important ways.

A Basic Overview of AI

Originating in the 1950s, the field of artificial intelligence has become ubiquitous in our everyday lives: from determining our shopping habits to facial recognition to helping doctors diagnose patients before symptoms manifest. The computer performing tasks that we thought needed human intelligence is a very broad understanding of AI. Using a combination of programming, training and data, researchers who work with AI teach computers how to solve complex problems more quickly and efficiently than humans. In a similar process, AI fights against COVID-19.

The World Poverty Clock

The World Poverty Clock is a real-time estimate of the number of people living in poverty across the globe. Its interactive website provides a variety of statistics and demographics about those who are living in extreme poverty, including geographic locations and age ranges. Calculations are made using publicly available data to estimate the number of people living in extreme poverty and the rate at which that number is changing.

According to the World Bank, in a worst-case scenario, COVID-19 could push 100 million people into poverty. However, scientists are working hard to contain and eliminate the virus, AI being one of their strategies. AI fights against COVID-19 by predicting, detecting and eliminating the coronavirus in many parts of the world. In turn, protection from COVID-19 impacts lessens global poverty.

How AI Fights Against COVID-19

AI fights against COVID-19 in a two-pronged approach. It focuses on both detection of the virus and the development of vaccine options.

In late December 2019, the program BlueDot detected a cluster of pneumonia-like illnesses in Wuhan, China. This was the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. The program detected the virus nine days before the World Health Organization announced the emergence of a novel coronavirus. BlueDot software has the ability to sift through massive amounts of data to find patterns in the location and movement of a virus. Further developments in virus detection have been made by Alibaba Cloud with the creation of analytical software for computerized tomography (CT) scans. The software can detect coronavirus pneumonia in seconds with approximately 96% accuracy.

AI systems, like Google’s AlphaFold, are aiding researchers by creating predictive models of the protein structure of coronavirus. Models like these can then be used by researchers to design novel vaccine prospects. Overall, these systems enable scientists to reduce the time needed to begin clinical trials and find viable vaccines.

Under human oversight, AI systems can potentially control the spread of the coronavirus. The longer it takes to control and eradicate coronavirus the greater the number of people pushed into poverty. The use of swift and efficient AI applications could not only help curb the spread of COVID-19 but, in turn, fight global poverty as well.

– Hannah Daniel
Photo: Flickr

December 23, 2020

Global Poverty, Technology

Project Loon: 4G Balloons Provide Internet Access

Innovative 21st-century technologies have motivated NGOs and tech companies around the world to develop apps and other online ways for people in developing areas to stay connected. Information provided on the internet or transmitted through SMS assists people worldwide with acquiring resources and employing techniques to advance education, healthcare and agriculture. Unfortunately, some areas remain untouched by the benefits of staying connected because their remoteness prevents internet availability — at least until now. Google’s sister company, Loon, is rising to the challenge of providing internet to remote populations in Africa and recovering populations affected by natural disasters using solar-powered 4G balloons with Project Loon.

Project Loon

Project Loon, which became one of Google’s “moonshot projects” in 2011, began launching balloons by 2013 and partnered with Telkom Kenya in 2018. Following this deal, the solar-powered balloons were tested on 35,000 customers covering over 50,000 square kilometers. The goal was to provide adequate connectivity to underserved and disadvantaged communities, beginning with Kenya. Loon executives stress that providing creative, low-cost solutions is the greatest way to help people, particularly those in rural areas where connectivity could be life-changing. Their passion stems from an intense desire to “challenge the status quo” by “[relying] on knowledge and empathy to make wise decisions.” Initial findings suggest that Loon balloons cover up to 100 times more area than typical cell towers and deliver wifi strong enough for video callings, surfing the web, watching YouTube videos, downloading apps and messaging other users.

How it Works

Loon 4G balloons are essentially flying cell phone towers but they are much lighter and more durable. They have the ability to withstand temperatures below -90°C and to remain steady amid violent winds. After being launched in the United States and traveling through wind currents across the world, the balloons begin their 100-day stays in Kenyan airspace, providing internet download speeds up to 18.9 megabits per second in partnership with AT&T.

Although the balloons heavily depend on wind currents as guides, they also have specially designed, state of the art Flight Systems that consist of three main parts: the balloon envelope, bus and payload. The envelope, made of polyethylene plastic, forms what people typically recognize as a balloon. The bus holds solar panels where the battery is charged, the altitude control system that navigates winds using GPS and the safety gear (parachute) for landing. The payload is the internet provider that houses the LTE antenna and the gimbals which liaise between the balloon and the ground. The balloons also depend on lift gas to loft them 20 kilometers into the air and to assist during the descent alongside local air traffic controllers. Loon specifically designates predetermined landing zones where the balloons are either recycled or prepared for reuse by on-site recovery teams.

After the balloons are collected, they are closely analyzed for holes and tears, allowing examiners to alter their designs and make the balloons stronger if necessary.

Disaster Preparedness

Resilient balloons can go a long way in addressing disaster preparedness and this also presents a significant opportunity for Project Loon to make a difference. Natural disasters often wipe out infrastructure, leaving populations disconnected when communication is more vital than ever. Because Loon balloons fly at such high altitudes and do not require activation within close proximity, there is greater potential for connectivity.

For example, Loon’s balloons were deployed during an earthquake in Peru where they covered nearly 40,000 square miles and were used following a devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico. The company’s role in connecting families in the wake of disaster “is a lifeline” for those affected and can have a life-changing global impact.

Loon Chief Executive Alastair Westgarth has expressed concern about the effects of COVID-19 on disconnected populations. Because the virus has obstructed normalcy, connectivity could be the only way to continue education in developing nations. There are numerous agriculture, healthcare and education resources that, with internet connection, can preserve progression, one of Loon’s immediate goals.

Future Flights

To date, Loon has launched 1,750 4G balloons that have spent more than 1 million hours in the stratosphere and connected over 35,000 users, with the most successful balloon remaining aloft for 300 days and counting. The ultimate goal is to maintain a permanent 35-member fleet over eastern Africa in the hope of connecting and empowering developing nations.

– Natalie Clark
Photo: Flickr

September 24, 2020