Browsing articles in "Blog"

Forces for Good

Feb 19, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Book review  //  Comments Off

One of the emerging trends in philanthropy is the concept of “giving while living”–with donors taking an active role in their philanthropy during their lifetimes. Actually, this concept is not new, it was pioneered by Andrew Carnegie and outlined in his article “Wealth”, published in 1889. Carnegie encouraged “the rich man to attend to the administration of wealth during his life.”

Of every $1,000 dollars spent in so called charity today, it is probable that $950 is unwisely spent; so spent, indeed as to produce the very evils which it proposes to mitigate or cure.

Carnegie proposed that the skills & talents that were used to create the wealth in the first place, were the same skills & talents required to give away the wealth during a person’s lifetime. The Wealth article has influenced both Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.

In fact, these social entrepreneurs want to change the world and have the means to do it. However, “countless entrepreneurs are reinventing the wheel, starting new nonprofits without understanding what has been tried before or what really works,” says Steve Case in the book’s preface.

The book’s big idea is for social entrepreneurs to partner with other actors (government, business, civil society) to create extraordinary impact. Great nonprofits are catalysts; they transform the system around them to achieve the greater good. In order to create systemic change, nonprofits need to partner with government, business, individuals, and other nonprofits to achieve more than they could alone. They constantly need to adapt to their environment to stay relevant. They share leadership and power within and beyond their organizations, empowering others to become forces for good.

Greatness has more to do with how nonprofits work outside the boundaries of their organizations than how they manage their own internal operations. At its core, social entrepreneurship is an externally focused act. It’s all about results, not processes. And that’s why it sometimes looks so messy and chaotic from the outside. The solutions to society’s most pressing problems lie in the collective, not in any single institution.

This partnership idea (non-profit, business, and government)  is similar to the concept of Megacommunities, which I reviewed earlier.

After years of research, the Forces authors have come up with six practices of high-impact nonprofits which they believe benefit both philanthropists and nonprofits:

  1. Work with government and advocate for policy change
  2. Harness market forces and see business as a powerful partner
  3. Convert individual supporters into evangelists for the cause
  4. Build and nurture nonprofit networks, treating other groups as allies
  5. Adapt to the changing environment
  6. Share leadership, empowering others to be forces for good

On pages 214-223, the authors provide checklists for each of the 6 areas above, to encourage readers to put the ideas into practice. The Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI) that Univicity participated in, is a practical example of these 6 ideas:

  1. Advocate and Serve. The Gates Foundation (non-profit) partnered with the USAID & HIFIVE (government) and Mobile Network Operators (Business) to increase the impact of the HMMI contest.
  2. Make Markets Work. The HMMI contest rewarded a sustainable business model from the Mobile Network Operators.
  3. Inspire Evangelists. The HMMI contest inspired several evangelists, including Univicity itself, the Central Banker of Haiti, and several non-profits.
  4. Nurture nonprofit networks. Many non-profits in Haiti are looking at mobile money as the next logical step in their cash-for-work programs. Over time, many non-profits will be part of the mobile money network. Univicity’s partners are working on a mobile money payroll services as a way to nurture the network of non-profits in Haiti.
  5. Master the Art of Adaptation. The HMMI contest opened up huge opportunities for technology companies. Univicity had to adapt to the needs of the contest, putting some very lucrative contracts on hold. We believe the long-term benefit will outweigh the short-term loss.
  6. Share Leadership. The leadership of the HMMI project is shared amongst Gates (non-profit), the mobile network operations, banks (business), USAID/HIFIVE, and the central bank of Haiti (government).

The Gates Foundation and it’s HMMI contest acted as a catalyst to get all of the players to move quickly. This chart illustrates the power of a high-impact non-profit that can tip the scales toward their goals (see figure 1.1)

High impact nonprofits

Bottom line:  A high-impact non-profit can be forces for good by forming cross-sector partnerships to transform entire markets.

Microfranchising

Feb 12, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Haiti  //  Comments Off

Entrepreneurship is the largest creator of wealth. In the developing world, financial, education, healthcare and other services are provided by private entrepreneurs. In Haiti for example, 90% of the schools are private, 90% of children are delivered by midwives, and 90% of the finances will be done by independent agents.

These entrepreneurs are job creators. According to the U.N. Office of Special Envoy for Haiti, at least 80% of the jobs in Haiti are provided by “informal” businesses, 10% by formal small-t0-medium enterprises (SME’s) and 10% by large enterprise & government.

If entrepreneurship is critical to sustainable economic development and job creation, what can we do to increase business success?

Microcredit

I recently wrote an article about the challenges of doing business in Haiti. Among the top challenges is access to capital for small businesses. Microcredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty to spur entrepreneurship. Many organizations, including Kiva.org, Opportunity International and World Vision Micro, market microcredit loans by promoting the concept that a microcredit loan will be used to start or continue a business.  However, that is an exception, not the rule.

According to CGAP, less than half of the microcredit loans are actually used to run a business. In Hyderbad, India, that number is just 30%, which means 70% of microcredit loans are being used to payoff non-business debt. Borrowers simply use a new unsecured loan to payoff an old loan, not to build a business.

The 30% that do start a business have no formal business training, no business systems, and often create businesses that won’t scale. In other words, many businesses fail to make enough or barely make enough money to get out of poverty. Many of these borrowers try anything to get ahead, including playing the Haiti lottery, looking for ways to get enough money to make a significant different in their lives.

Microfranchise

One of the ways to improve the odds of success is to apply the franchise business model to building a small business in the developing world. A good example is Digicel Haiti’s Pap Padap service that allows independent business people to buy minutes wholesale and resell (top up) minutes to Digicel’s 2.5 million customers. With just a $10 phone, an hour of training, a Digicel red jersey, and about $50 worth of top-up cards, someone can start reselling Digicel pre-paid phone minutes.  In just 18 months, over 40,000 people became Pap Padap agents, most earning more than Haiti minimum wage ($4.60/day). Most agent/franchisees get started without a microcredit loan.

What does a Pap Padap franchisee get from the franchisor, Digicel?

  • Branding. Digicel has the strongest brand in Haiti. In fact, Digicel is the largest company in Haiti and represents 10% of Haiti’s GDP.
  • Customers. With 2.5 million customers, Digicel commands a 65% market share amongst Haiti’s mobile network operators.
  • Training. Most Pap Padap agents already know how to top up their phone. A typical top-up transaction is completed in 30 seconds, allowing the agent to make a quick 8% commission. With additional technical training, an agent can earn the Pap Padap “Tech” designation, allowing him to provide technical service to his customers. This includes fixing phones, providing replacement SIM cards, replacement batteries, and other handset hardware services. Being a Pap Padap Tech provides additional opportunity to generate revenue.
  • Scalability. There are three groups of Pap Padap agents depending on the amount of wholesale minutes they can buy. Agents that can buy $5,000 (US)/day sell to agents that can buy $500 (US)/day who in turn, sell to agents that can handle $50/day. So, if you are good at building an agent network, there is no limit to your upside. In addition, Digicel’s coverage is nationwide, providing an opportunity to support agents throughout Haiti, not just urban locations.
  • Support. The entire technology platform runs at Digicel’s data center with carrier-class, high-uptime servers. If an agent runs into trouble, they can call the Digicel agent support line.
  • Financial accounting. All transactions are digital.  All transactions are taxed at the appropriate rate. If an agent uses the system, their accounting is done and commissions are paid immediately. No paper work to fill out. No tax returns.
  • Marketing. Digicel’s marketing is everywhere in Haiti. You can’t drive or walk a single block of Port au Prince without seeing the Digicel logo. More importantly, any Digicel customer with a pre-paid phone plan must top-up their phone every 30 days. This top-up requirement drives over 2 million customers to their nearest Pap Padap agent at least once a month. Often, customers see their agent at least weekly as they get a few HTG (Haitian Gourdes) to spare.

All of these franchise systems are available to the Pap Padap agent for a minimal investment.  These systems make the difference between business success and business failure. In fact, if you use the systems as designed and are efficient at servicing your customers, you can make a living. If you can hustle and sell, you will be rewarded for your effort. If you can replicate yourself, you can create a sales network.

As indicated above, there are three levels of Pap Padap agent:

  1. Level 1: Resellers who can buy $5,000 (US) worth of airtime at a time. These are typically physical retail locations both in Haiti and in the U.S. where Haitian diaspora are located.
  2. Level 2: Group reseller who can buy around $500 (US) worth of airtime and have recruited around 5-10 individual resellers.
  3. Level 3: Individual reseller who can purchase and resell around $50 (US) worth of airtime at a time.

Microfranchise + Microcredit

In Haiti, the typical microcredit loan is around $250-500.  The loan is short-term (6 months), unsecured and carries a 25-35% interest rate. Using the above 3-level system as an example, a Level 3 Individual airtime reseller does NOT need a microcredit loan. An individual airtime reseller can probably borrow some money from family to get started for less than $50. An average individual reseller could probably could purchase $100 worth of airtime a day, giving him an income of around $8/day.  Given the average Haiti wage of $4.60/day, this wage keep the reseller slightly above the average, but not enough to feed a family.

With a microcredit loan of $500, a Level 3 reseller could become a Level 2 group reseller by recruiting and training Level 3 resellers, thus creating a nice business for himself. If a group reseller can buy/sell $1,000 of airtime per day @ 8% commission, the Group reseller could make $80/day, which is good enough to take care of a family. A Level 2 Group airtime reseller is an easy business model to understand and should be rewarded with a lower microcredit loan interest rate.

Franchise Systems..the Key

As we’ve seen above, one of the keys to success are the franchise systems. This is true in any business environment, not just developing world. Microcredit without any microfranchise systems, rarely creates a sustainable or scalable business model. Combining microcredit with a microfranchise is a powerful combination for the developing world.

Mobile Financial Services

Microfinance is the collection of financial services including micro credit, micro insurance, micro savings, and mobile money services. Each of these mobile financial services also provides a microfranchise opportunity, especially mobile money. Haiti’s two leading carriers, Digicel and Voila are launching their respective mobile money services–Tcho Tcho Money and T-Cash. The Haiti Mobile Money Initiative, provided the catalyst to jump start these services and their agent networks–another opportunity for franchisee to take advantage of this new franchise opportunity.

While the mobile money franchise requirements are tougher than an airtime reseller, a mobile money agent can make significantly more money and gets most of the franchise systems as the top-up agent. According to CGAP’s M-PESA agent report, an M-PESA mobile money agent can make around 3.2 times more profit than selling airtime alone. A mobile money agent has several requirements that a airtime top-up agent does not need. These include a physical location, a valid business license, and increased liquidity. The mobile money super-agent can help an agent each of these requirements, allowing a top-up agent to upgrade his way up to a mobile money agent.

In future articles, I will explore how microfranchising and microcredit can work together to build a mobile financial services franchise in developing markets.

Megacommunities

Jan 24, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Book review  //  Comments Off

Megacommunities, by Mark Gerencser, et al. (a book review with key points posted by Mark Smith)

The problems facing the world are so large that no one sector–business, government or non-profit–can solve the problems by themselves. According to the authors, what is needed is a megacommunity.

A megacommunity is a public sphere in which organizations from three sectors–business, government and non-profits–deliberately join together around compelling issues of mutual importance, following a set of practices and principles that make it easier for them to achieve results without sacrificing their individual goals. The megacommunity is an alliance of organizations, not individuals. In a healthy megacommunity, the three sectors maintain balance by “pushing” and “pulling” at each other according to their respective forms of influence. Order comes out of balancing this dynamic tension. In contrast to public-private partnerships, megacommunities bring civil society (NGO, church, non-profit, etc.) into the equation.

The megacommunity recognizes the kind of legitimacy that civil society represents. The civil sector brings accountability, insight into how to get things done locally, sensitivity to how the issues at play might affect individuals and the environment, and credibility in arenas in which business and government fall short.

Megacommunities do not thrive on chaos with no clear leadership. They thrive on alignment and optimization. In the initial stages in particular, the network needs some person, group or sector to precipitate alignment and catalyze latent energies. This will generally take the form of some “initiator” (or group of initiators) doing something explicit to put the elements in place. But the initiator must be prepared to cede this central/initial leadership role as the megacommunity coalesces and grows, or they may be seen as co-opting local and other interests. No one possesses the title of “CEO of the megacommunity.” The initiators need to believe that the alliance of organizations is the best way to solve the problem. Initiators should come from organizations that value innovation.

To achieve a successful megacommunity, on of the most fundamental habits to change is the habit of “maximizing” benefits. Megacommunity members must learn to “optimize” instead. Maximizing refers to a primary focus on the immediate benefits to your own local domain–either your own organization, our own geographic region, or your own function–whether or not that leads to benefits for the whole. Optimizing refers to the recognition and actualization of benefits to the larger system as a whole.

Those involved in the megacommunity must appreciate the importance of building network capital (that is, the value of investment in relationships and connections). An overlapping vital interest makes the features of convergence all the more real. Convergence is the commitment to mutual action that all members must work toward.

The purpose of megacommunity meetings is two-fold. First, to move toward a common goal (action). The megacommunity will have to demonstrate quick wins for its stakeholders. The second purpose of meetings is to educate the participants, to demonstrate continued and increasing competence and skills. The core group’s task at hand is design; the the design of a solution per se, but the design of forums, practices, prototypes, and experiments through which a solution will emerge. In every one of the participating organizations, there will be many sub-teams with multiple professional background; teams working on marketing, logistics, production, training, communication, legal, medical, engineering, financial, IT, etc.

Megacommunities don’t exist to admire a problem. They are there to take action.

Roles in a megacommunity include:

  • Initiator. As a navigator, you keep the group on track, moving forward on an emerging path.
  • Program managers who oversee particular projects;
  • Media directors, who design, write, and manage the web site through which the megacommunity communicates with others;
  • Media liasons, who maintain connection with journalists, editors, broadcasters, and other media professionals
  • Subject matter experts, responsible for keeping the other participants informed about technical, scientific, or other specialized areas of interest.
  • Megacommunity leadership. The big shift is from “command and control” to “coaching and persuading.” In a megacommunity, the touch is lighter. It is a guiding touch, on that lets constituents self-discover. Along with communication skills–and not unconnected to them–megacommunity leadership requires a certain amount of technological competence.
  • Enablers. Some call them coaches, counselors, advisors. they are exceptionally unusual characters that are often invisible. You never read about them. You never see them in th organization chart. They’re very crucial facilitators of leadership effectiveness in new complex, cohesive communities.

In no way should involvement in the megacommunity be perceived as pro bono work, since megacommunity actions directly affect the success of each member organization. In fact, given the importance of any megacommunity’s central issue, it is likely that a participating organization has already committed time and resources to solving that issue. Megacommunity involvement may simply represent a reorienting of this effort, to better effect.

Four approaches that the authors have found highly effective:

  1. Develop a Meeting schedule. Frequent contact is key to the operation of the megacommunity.
  2. Employ Strategic Simulations. Strategic simulations can be spectacularly effective in uncovering complementing capabilities.
  3. Develop targeted forums. Large, cross-sector meetings and conferences can also be an effective means of relationship-building in the early stages.
  4. Prototype teams. A megacommunity may involve dozens, even hundreds of people working toward a mutual goal. It may be easier to divide them into cross-sector, cross-organization teams where they can identify and focus on nested projects and subtasks. Regard each of these subtasks as an experiment, or if you prefer, a prototype.

Utilize IT systems to foster communication. Consider using a social networking utility to post all sorts of information relevant to the megacommunity’s purpose. Contents could include contact information, dashboard tools, regularly updated progress reports, and strategic plans. Reporting, in fact, is a key element of monitoring in the megacommunity. The systems could also include shared databases, shared workspaces, and media plans. A good networking tool can provide an accurate picture of how a specific hub is functioning in a megacommunity. New media tools such as websites, wikis, blogs, video blogs, texting, etc. should be utilized.

Some megacommunities have even launched their own magazine.

The bywords of a megacommunity are: communicate, negotiate, act, and learn (then begin the learning cycle again).

Leadership. Each member organization must offer someone who has the authority to commit resources. Leaders can involve the megacommunity in an effort to co-create solutions. To be sure, it takes more skill and time to develop a solution this way; it involves genuine interest in the ideas and approaches that other people have to suggest. It probably involves synthesizing or combining those solutions in novel ways, making the final result more valuable than the sum of the parts. Megacommunity leaders know that pre-set answers are not going to cut it. They are accustomed to thoughtful trial-and-error. And they embrace the pragmatic and new solutions that few others can see.

Bottom line: The authors believe that the concept of megacommunity will have a profound effect on the way we see, and function in, the new world. As part of a megacommunity, all three sectors–government, business and the civil society–are in excellent position to have a real and lasting effect on large and complex problems.

Univicity, Harvard, and Haiti

Jan 23, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Consulting, Haiti, Mobile money  //  Comments Off

Harvard team on top of Digicel's roof

Univicity wishes to thank Harvard Business School MBA candidates for working with Univicity/Transversal on the Digicel mobile money agent training & audit planning.  The team spent 10 days in January 2011 visiting Haiti to volunteer their time & talent on the project as part of their 1st year MBA program.

We wanted to say thank you for all of your help and time over the past few months. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed getting to know you and learning about the mobile banking sector in Haiti. You and Max’s work in this field is truly exciting. We are all looking forward to watching it unfold over the coming months – we think that with Transversal’s help it will be a success. We also hope that our work over the past week has helped contribute to that success.

From the Harvard team: Justin Lambert, Julie Filion, Justus Meyer, Anya Klots.

Univicity & Transversal again say “thank you” to the Harvard team for all of their work and their final report. We look forward to working with Harvard in the future.

More reading: Harvard MBA teams blog about their Haiti experience.

Doing business in Haiti

Jan 22, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Haiti  //  Comments Off

I just finished by 9th trip to Haiti since May 2010. People ask me all the time, “are things getting any better in Haiti?”  Well, the roads are still crappy, but some of the rubble is being removed.  There are still a LOT of people living in tents. People are dying of Cholera. And the political climate is unsettled with former Haitian dictators coming to Haiti to try to fill the leadership void.

But, in spite of all that, there are some good things happening in Haiti–at least on the projects I’m working on. Let me explain.

When the earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, I knew that I was “called” to Haiti.  I had no idea what that calling would entail or what I would be doing.  I must also admit, that prior to January 12th, I had no desire or reason to visit Haiti.

My first visit to Haiti, I was given an assignment by World Vision to figure out how to get birth certificates for 1 million Haitian children. This is a huge problem in Haiti and leads to all kinds of problems, including illiteracy. Click here to read more about the birth certificate project. While working on that project, I met up with Digicel, the largest mobile phone company in Haiti. Digicel persuaded me to get involved in the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative. Less than 2% of Haitians have a bank account. The Haiti Mobile Money Initiative’s goal is to enable any Haitian with a mobile phone to to access basic banking services via their mobile phone.

Doing business in Haiti has its challenges. Traveling is difficult because the roads are poor and there are constant traffic jams. Lately, Haiti has suffered from political instabilities. During December, the election riots shut down the country, causing us to lose several days of productivity. The video below shows some of the riot activity taking place right outside of the apartment building where I stay.

The World Bank ranks Haiti  162 out of 183 in the “Doing Business Ranking.”   Haiti ranks 176 out of 183 in Starting a Business and 164th out of 183 in Protecting Investors. So, why would Univicity want to start or invest in a business in Haiti?

During my first visit to Haiti, I met several very smart Haitian technology entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in their country. Any one of them could get a good job in the U.S. or Canada at any time. Yet, they want to build an IT company in Haiti. I have always loved information technology and in my past, I founded Windows NT Magazine that was read by over a million IT people around the world in print, in person and online. Today, Haiti’s largest export is mangoes. But I asked myself, why can’t Haiti be known for exporting software and other IT services?  What can I do to help these Haitian technology entrepreneurs fulfill that vision?

In short, I have chosen to invest in some smart business people who happen to be Haitian. We are working together to try to make a difference, in spite of earthquakes, hurricanes, political instability, poor infrastructure, and weak governance.

Bottom line: If we can make it here, we can make it anywhere.

So, if you are looking for an adventure and you want to make a real difference in a country that needs just about everything, Haiti is open for business.

Haiti Mobile Money Initiative

Jan 16, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Consulting, Haiti, Mobile money  //  Comments Off

In July 2010, Univicity got involved with the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), a USAID/HIFIVE grant initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  The HMMI was designed to motivate Haiti’s carriers to implement a Kenya Safaricom MPESA-style mobile money platform. M-PESA allows Safaricom’s customers to make mobile payments (cash-in, cash-out, P2P transfers, etc.) using their mobile phones.

The Haiti Mobile Money Initiative contest is in two phases:

  • First-to-market. Haiti’s first mobile carrier to achieve 10,000 transactions (100 agents, in 100 locations doing 100 cash-in/cash-out transaction each).
  • Scale-up phase.  An 18-month contest that rewards mobile payment transactions. The scale-up phase begins after the first-to-market prize has been awarded.

Univicity partnered with a location Haitian IT company, Transversal, to assist Digicel Haiti in competing for the first to market prize. On January 10, 2011, the first-to-market prize was awarded to Digicel. Tranversal was officially recognized by Digicel’s CEO, Maarten Boute, as helping Digicel achieve the first-to-market goal.

HIFIVE awards Digicel with the HMMI first-to-market award from Mark Smith on Vimeo.

The other Haiti mobile carriers, Voila and Haitel, are still in competition for the second-to-market award of $1.5M.

Digicel has now entered the scale-up phase of the contest. The scale-up phase rewards all forms of mobile money transactions. During this scale-up phase, Univicity will help World Vision Haiti implement mobile money in their cash-for-work programs, which provides temporary jobs for people living in the camps.

Univicity & Transversal will continue to play a major role in Haiti’s mobile money initiative in 2011 and will be instrumental in development and implementing several key mobile money services.

Further reading:

Haiti Birth Certificates & Illiteracy

Jan 16, 2011   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Consulting, Haiti  //  Comments Off

The Problem

According to UNICEF, over 1 million Haitian children do not have birth certificates and only 71% of parent’s ever register their children.

A parent first discovers this problem when they try to register their 5-year old child for school. Schools will not allow children to register without a valid birth certificate. Haitian law allows parent to obtain a birth certificate free up to two years of age. However, after a child is over 2 years old, the cost of obtaining a birth certificate can cost as much as $500 USD. Since the average Haitian family earns $4.60 USD/day, a family would need to work over 500 days to pay for a birth certificate. Most parents cannot afford to pay, so they can’t register their child for school.

Over time, the lack of birth certificates has resulted in a 55% illiteracy rate in Haiti. No birth certificate. No school. No literacy.

In the developed world, most children are born in a hospital. As agents of the civil registry, Hospital administrators can register a live birth in the official government civil registry and apply for a government ID. This is all done digitally on web-based systems.

In contrast, most Haitians are born outside of Hospitals with the help of a midwife. A parent must register their child separately through a local province, in a paper-based civil registry that is not standardized between Haitian provinces and has no tie with the Haiti National ID system for adults. In addition, the Office of National ID (ONI) has one location in Port au Prince where Haitians can get a new or updated National ID card, which is required to vote. Prior to the November 28, 2010 election, Haitians waited for days outside at ONI to get a replacement National ID card that was lost during the January 2010 earthquake. ONI had to enlist the help of OAS to get 50 temporary mobile registration systems. Even with OAS’s help, ONI resources were overwhelmed and ONI has become part of the election controversy.

Solution

In Haiti, for example, 90% of the health care, education, and financial services are provided by independent entrepreneurs–midwifes, school owners, and financial service agents. These entrepreneurs provide services during the life of the child. If these service providers had the technology-enabled tools that integrated with Haiti’s civil registry, these entrepreneurs could increase access to Haiti’s civil registry by 1000%.

During the life of a child, there are logical points where a parent can get assistance in getting their child registered or a child needs a valid birth certificate and National ID. If we can enable services providers the opportunity to easily interface with the serve the family and integrate with Haiti’s civial registry, we can dramatically decrease the lack of birth certificates and subsequently, reduce the illiteracy rate.

The following timeline shows some of the key events in a person’s life where we can provide assistance in obtaining a valid birth certificate and National ID.



Key events where an ID is required

Key Events

  • Birth - Equipped with Health Pro, a mid-wife can record a live birth and apply for an ID on behalf of the child. In addition, Health Pro can record a treatment plan and reward patients for following that plan through its mobile messaging platform.
  • Education - Equipped with Educator Pro, a private school owner can register a child for school. If the child does not have a birth certificate, Educator Pro can help the parent apply for one. Educator Pro provides software & services for the administration of a private school.
  • Buy a phone - to purchase a phone in Haiti, you need to show a government issued photo ID–driver’s license, national ID, passport, military ID, etc.  In order to obtain one of these ID’s, you need to first supply a valid birth certificate.

Mobile banking - Mobile money agents are required to fill out a KYC form for their clients. The KYC form includes name, address, date of birth, citizenship, phone number and 15 more required fields. Most importantly, the Mobile Money agent MUST take a photo of his client’s government issued photo ID as “proof” that the client actually has an ID. Unfortunately, thousands of Haitians lost their National ID in the earthquake. People may wait for days at the National ID Office to get a reprint of their National ID card and much longer to apply for a new National ID card. There is only ONE location in all of Haiti where National ID’s can be printed and a very small staff to maintain the ID card system.

Carriers are going to be adding hundreds of mobile money agents in the next several months. Most of the information required to KYC a customer is the same information needed to obtain a replacement or new National ID card.  Our Financial Pro agent software could interface with Haiti’s Civil Registry, verify the correct information, and let the customer know that a National ID card will be delivered to their nearest Mobile Money location, within a few weeks. The customer would be notified by SMS when and where they can pick up their card.  This agent network would increase the reach of the National ID office significantly, providing a great benefit to Haiti’s citizens. The Agent’s would charge a reasonable fee from their clients for the service. Carrier’s benefit by adding a valuable service.

Windows IT Pro: A 15-year perspective

Dec 18, 2010   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog  //  Comments Off

I was given the opportunity to write an article for the September 2010 issue of Windows IT Pro, a magazine I founded in 1995. In my 15-year perspective article, I talk about the launch of the magazine and provide a few stories along the way. I wrap up the article with where I think the industry is going.

I find it rewarding that the magazine is still going after 15 years. Many technology magazines have ceased publishing, so its amazing that our “formula” still works today.

Creative Capitalism

Mar 6, 2008   //   by markhsmith   //   Blog, Video  //  Comments Off

Bill Gates at WEF 2008

Bill Gates talks about Halftime, the pause between his Life 1.0 (Microsoft) and Life 2.0 (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). He starts full time at Gates Foundation in July 2008.

His talk is the role of the Corporation in the World.

Some points:
The world is getting better, but it’s not getting better fast enough and it’s not getting better for everyone. There are a billion people that live on less than $1 day. Why do people benefit in inverse proportion to their need. Capitalism needs to be refined so that it benefits everyone. Capitalism harnesses self-interest in a for those that can pay, philanthropy benefits the poor who cannot pay.

Recognition is an added incentive to for-profit companies in lieu of payment–the market will reward companies that are recognized for doing good. This is creative capitalism. Profit for self-interest + recognition for corporate philanthropy = creative capitalism.

Examples:

- President Bush signed the Priority Review. For those drug companies that come up with a solution for a “forgotten” disease, will get a priority review. Getting their state-of-the-art drug first priority in the FDA approval process. This could be a $100M

- Get African coffee farmers the right market for their product.

- Bono’s Red campaign was born in Davos, which has generated $50M for Aids in Africa.

Bill Gates encouraged all corporation to use Creative Capitalism–give their top thinkers a percentage of their time & talent. He says this is better than cash, because it taps into the brain power. Glaxo-Smith Klien & Sumocomo are example. If companies in a sector simply matched what the leader in that

NGO’s can create measurable s to measure & recognize non-profit organizations. By recognizing non-profits, we can encourage the creative capitalism movement.

The largest companies can have the biggest impact. It’s engineering your product so that the product can reach the lowest 1/3 of the population. It has to be promoted by the CEO and become part of the DNA. When it becomes part of the DNA, it will drive itself within a company. “A computer for everyone.” Microsoft’s slogan drives innovation.

A company should stick to what it knows well. The company’s mission and philanthropy should be tied together.

The idea of NGO’s getting cash directly from corporations is not the best solution. NGO’s need to ask for innovation, something that goes with their core products & services. Also, NGO’s have traditionally suspected that for-profit companies need to do everything for free, when in fact, it’s OK for them to make money somehow in the process.

Bill Gates would like to see his legacy be: Within 15 years, I would like to see 15 diseases wiped out. Huge changes in the mortality rates, which changes the birth rate and makes education possible. We’re spending $3B/year.