Bottom of the Pyramid

TAVOS Media Network is a trail-blazing venture based in Palo Alto, California, that empowers people in underserved communities around the world through local media services. Our vision is to build a global network of local media microfranchises to give voice and promote the life and prosperity of every community.

Why business models are critical to innovation in emerging economies – From social entrepreneurship to building an idea or a business – Part 1

Emerging economies represent new challenges for ideas and businesses, which is why new social entrepreneurship opportunities are now the Petri-dish for what is emerging. Some examples exist of great reference;

From a recent Fortune magazine that I read that most companies in S&P have been rated as risky. This represents a huge challenge for companies as new emerging economies such as India, China or other countries mean new business models which have to be sustainable and scalable and I do not think that there are in most text books or case studies of today.

There is much to be learned about creating interfaces for non-literate populations. Since this is not a group that most companies target, very little hands-on research has been done with non-literate user groups. Most of what I have learned is theoretical, based on user research on sight-impaired users, or is from very limited case studies. Some of the best information has come from other the projects of RDVP fellows and the work they have done. (Thanks, Aman.)

Coming from a country where poverty is nothing you have to search for, I have read very interesting proposals on how poverty can be brought to an end - for once and for all. 2015 for my country, Kenya. My country is certainly very rich of such proposals in it is national archives, government departments, ministries and and countless civil societies offices. I had wished they sold for money.

After Google's testing site "Google Base" was launched and quickly taken off last month, there are many speculations about Google's intention to get into online classified advertising business.

Today, Google Base (http://base.google.com) is officially live! This marks another step of Google’s ambition to organize the world information on the web.

Here's a terrific blog entry by Ethan Zuckerman of the Harvard Berkman Center on the MIT $100 laptop project. Zuckerman reviews the hardware specs and the distribution and support elements of MIT's plan. Includes interesting comments from Harvard's Colin MaClay, whom came to our barbeque at the start of the year.