Technology at the Margins: How IT Meets the Needs of Emerging Markets

by Sailesh Chutani, Jessica Rothenberg Aalami, Akhtar Badshah, M. Yunus (Foreword by)

Overview

Remain competitive by offering more accessible, affordable, and relevant information technologies that meet mass-market needs

Technology at the Margins demonstrates that by making IT more accessible, affordable, and relevant, new mass markets can be opened. Based on solid insights generated in key areas of health, education, finance and the environment, the book offers practical recommendations and insights from world leaders, innovators, practitioners and new users of emergent technologies.

• Offers recommendations on how companies can ensure their own competitiveness by offering more accessible, affordable, and relevant information technologies to support mass market needs
• Suggests practical recommendations and insights from world leaders, innovators, practitioners and new users of emergent technologies
• Challenges businesses to rethink their uses of existing technologies

Technology at the Margins will be of interest to decision makers in the private, public and nonprofit sectors who are interested in opportunities offered by IT in meeting the needs of those at the base of the worlds economic pyramid.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470920657
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	10/26/2010
Series:	Microsoft Executive Leadership Series , #22
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

SAILESH CHUTANI is the cofounder and CEO of Mobisante, Inc. where his goal is to democratize access to healthcare by making diagnostics affordable and accessible. He was formerly a senior director for external research at Microsoft where he pioneered open innovation and funded seminal work in mHealth and technology for the emerging markets. Chutani has also held leadership roles in growing new businesses and products within companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Microsoft, and Transarc Corporation.

JESSICA ROTHENBERG AALAMI is the Managing Director of the Gobee Group. Her teams provide research insights and field expertise to global businesses, governments, practitioners and their partners. As a research scholar affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE), she works extensively in social and economic development and global corporate social responsibility (GlobalCSR). She holds degrees in economic geography and international political economy.

AKHTAR BADSHAH is a Senior Director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft, where he administers the company's global community investment and employee programs. He also manages the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills Program, a global initiative designed to help narrow the technology skills gap; and Technology for Social Good that supports nonprofits with their technology needs. Badshah has been in the field of community development for over twenty-five years in various capacities in academia, nonprofits, and business.

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Table of Contents

Microsoft Series Foreword.

Preface.

Chapter 1 Information and Communication Technologies For Everyone: What Will This Mean?

Innovative Ways to Reach the Majority of the World.

What Are the Barriers to Success?

Where Are We Today?

Summary Points.

Notes.

Chapter 2 Healthcare: Where It Is Needed and When It Is Needed.

World Health.

Health Education.

Health Administration and Management.

Diagnosis and Prevention.

Disease Surveillance and Information Gathering.

Taking Stock.

Steps to Take to Move into the Future.

Summary Points.

Notes.

Chapter 3 Outside the “Education Box”.

Who’s Getting an Education?

Breaking Down the Problem.

Classroom ICT: A History of Unmet Expectations.

Curriculum within Reach.

Corporations Invest in ICT for Education.

New Delivery Methods.

Effective Mediation.

What Is Known?

New Directions and Challenges Ahead.

Summary Points.

Notes.

Chapter 4 Microfinance: The Next Phase.

Who Are the “Unbanked”?

Microfinance: Meeting Financial Needs of Poor Households.

Microfinance Goes Beyond the “Lending Circle” Approach.

Barriers to Microfinance.

ICT Is Helping.

Management Information Systems Now at the Core of Microfinance.

Where Does Microfinance Go From Here?

Challenges.

Summary Points.

Notes.

Chapter 5 Feeding and Supporting the World in a Changing Environment.

World of Limited Resources.

Moving Science from Labs to the Field.

Minimizing the Impact of Natural Disasters.

Information Networks at the Disaster Site.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Summary Points.

Notes.

Chapter 6 Conclusion: Harnessing Disruption.

Re-Imagining the Role of Experts.

Re-Imagining the Role of Institutions.

Re-Imagining Partnerships.

Re-Imagining Business Models.

Re-Imagining Research.

Re-Imagining Our Biases.

Re-Imagining Public Infrastructure.

Looking Ahead.

Notes.

References.

Index.