October 2, 2014, ARMTechCon, Santa Clara, CA—Erica Kochi, director of innovation at UNICEF, talked about the need for new technologies that will change lives. The challenges are to have the technologies be appropriate to the locale, a dimension of the problem that was not understood until many failures. One postulate is that doing good is good for your business. Technology is a driver for good, and doesn't have to be at the same level as in the developed world. Unfortunately, where you are born dictates your potential opportunities.
UNICEF, formerly the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, is now a permanent part of the UN and is focused on helping children around the world. All but 9 nations are members and the 190 member nations agree on the organization's four key elements: to have a safe environment, to be able to work and be proud of your work, have the capability for good public health, and access to education for all.
UNICEF supports many programs to support their key elements, including vaccinations, schools, child labor laws, and shelters for refugees. The innovation program has 14 development facilities around the world and 80 full time staff members. Each lab has a separate focus. For example, In Senegal, they promoted the use of cell phones to make social changes and encourage participation in the vaccination programs. Zambia has a HIV positive population of over 1 M, about 12 percent of the total population, so the country has issues with many orphans. Kosovo has developed programs to encourage youth employment and entrepreneurship.
One lesson they learned the hard way is that the technology has to be developed and implemented locally, or it will not be adopted. Developed world technologies tend to break in undeveloped countries, and the repair technologies don't exist. The opportunities for technology and growth areas include identity functions, financial services, wearables, and transport and logistics.
In many places, one third of the young people have no official ID sue to missing documents, illiteracy, and remot locations. This lack of identity means the child is not eligible to get any government services or education. In Uganda, they developed a weekly poll to the youth called UReport that asks a single question and feeds the responses to the educational establishment, labor laws, and markets to track young peoples trends and issues.
The identity follows people into adulthood, and means that very few people have access to a formal bank account. In Kenya, the mpesa, a financial service run by the phone carriers, now accounts for 43 percent of all gross domestic product. The carriers take a cut of all transactions, most of which are very small.
Transportation is the key to getting goods to markets and also helps gets people safely to schools and to work. The needs for better coordination and management have to be balanced with the availability of infrastructure. Many areas do not have electricity, so the solutions have to be self-powered or amenable to manual methods. Wearables and small diagnostic instruments can improve health. The lack of medical facilities and trained medical personnel can be ameliorated with remote diagnostics and treatments.
These examples show how technology can lift people out of poverty. The demographics for the next 30 years indicate that a majority of growth will come in Asia and Africa. A number of countries will join the 100 M population club by that time. People under the age of 24 account for over 200 M people in China and India. Comparing average ages, in Germany is it is 46, in China it is 36, and in Nigeria it is 18.
The economics in the fast growing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, and China will continue to grow and a middle class will emerge that will comprise two-thirds of the populations in those countries. By '20, over half of the households in Africa will have some discretionary income.
Mobile devices have a disparate impact. The Asia-Pacific area has 1.7 B people and will grow to 1.9 B by '17. yet only 3/2 of the population is connected. Africa will grow from 254 M to 346 M people in the same time, but only a third of those people will have a phone. Nevertheless, there are more phones than toilets in the continent. Although the data capabilities of 4G are good, the costs and lack of power for recharging are major stumbling blocks.
Despite the problems, people want communications. In sub-Sahara Africa, people spend 15 percent of their incomes for communications. In comparison, in most developed markets the average is between 3-5 percent of the income, and falls to under 1 percent in the US and Europe. The desire for mobile phones is due to the enabling functions that the phones offer for jobs, inventory, transportation, and finances. World-wide, nine out of ten mobile users use 2G technologies for data.
One issue for new technologies in the undeveloped countries, is that people buy most things in single-use quantities, because this amount is affordable. Larger quantities are cheaper, but the cost drives an inefficient distribution system and exacerbates the logistics complexity. As a result, many solutions for local problems have to be created with the reality of the local economics in mind.
The public sectors in these countries also need more and better technological services. One possible good issue is that there is no legacy system to displace. Mobile health care can benefit from more modern technologies. Fro example, a lab could text a patient that results are ready, eliminating the need to wait at the lab for the results. Agencies could move to use fingerprints as ID for portable health records. Talking books can span the literacy gaps and bridge the literacy gaps.
The agricultural sector could benefit from modern farming methods. Not all of the technology has to be electronic. Adding data to the other methods will just enhance the prospects for growing enough food to enable exports rather than just subsistence. The private sector needs help with payments, organizing payments, and transport of goods.
The opportunities for development are big outside the developed countries, but are different. The three keys to success are to work with the end user, design within the existing ecosystems, and most importantly, don’t try to do it all. You have to build and work with local inputs and services to be successful in these countries.
