Thursday, July 19, 2007

Triple Value's Economic Impact Assessment Model

Multinational Companies are sometimes perceived as neo-imperialists, who extract profits out of the countries in which they operate and give very little in return. MNCs do use their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to argue against such allegations but what can be a better argument is the extent of impact that the MNC has had on the local economy.

Triple Value Strategy Consulting, a well-known BoP Strategy Consulting firm, which is based in The Hague, The Netherlands, has devised an Economic Impact Assessment (EIA) model, which quantifies the economic impact of an MNC on the society in which it operates. This model was used to assess the economic impact that Heiniken, a Dutch brewing company, has had in the Sub-Saharan country of Sierra Leone, where the company operates through a controlling stake in the Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (SLBL). The assessment report, which begins with an interesting analogy of comparing the effects of an earthworm and an egg-plant on the soil to that of an MNC in an emerging economy, uses data points such as industrial production, incomes/taxes generated, jobs created and also takes into account the direct and indirect benefits, to arrive at the total economic impact.

The EIA, according to Triple Value, enables managements of MNCs to tune their decisions more towards enhancing the local economic impact. It also enables the local Government to understand the wider impact that the MNC has on the economy and tune policies to enhance the impact. It can also help NGOs to maximize development impact in cooperation with companies.

More information about the EIA and Triple Value can be found at:

http://www.triple-value.com/en/economic_impact_assessment

The complete presentation of the Heiniken EIA in Sierra Leone can be found at:

http://www.bidnetwork.org/download.php?id=42201.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

DakNet: Providing Internet Connectivity to rural areas

DakNet is an initiative from FirstMile Solutions (FMS) which is based on an idea that won the MIT Entrepreneurship Competition in 2002. DakNet, which is a service offered by FMS's sister company, United Villages in India (which had to be created due to the various regulatory obligations in India), uses a store and forward technique through Wi-Fi, which the company describes as "Cached Wi-Fi Intelligence".

Here is how the service operates: United Villages has installed Mobile Access Points (MAPs) on existing vehicles such as buses and motorcycles which ply in rural areas. There are kiosks which have been installed in villages, which typically have a computer with a real-time wireless internet connection. United Villages sells pre-paid cards to village kiosk operators who in turn resell them to the villagers, who can use it to avail services such as sending e-mails, voicemails, SMSs, purchase railway tickets online, access matrimonial sites etc. Whenever an MAP is within the range of the wireless network, it picks up the stored data from the kiost computer and forwards it to the internet in cities.

FMS's service now covers more than 40,000 villages in five countries, including India and Cambodia. This is definitely an innovative and inspiring initiative but I believe it has to overcome some of its shortcomings such as usage of petrol/diesel-driven vehicles for MAPs, charging the villagers for services as simple as e-mail etc. The company has ambitious plans to connect all the 220,000 villages in India and it would be interesting to know about the strategies that it adopts. The company plans tie-ups with major telecom companies and ISPs in India in order to achieve profitability and I wish them All the best!

A few links which give more info about DakNet, United Villages and FMS are given here:

http://www.firstmilesolutions.com/index.php

http://www.unitedvillages.com/

Sunday, July 1, 2007

E-Parisara: Managing e-waste in the IT hub

Bangalore, the city where I live and work, is an IT hub and has hundreds of technology companies operating from here. Some even call Bangalore as the "Silicon Valley of the East". While the IT boom has tremendously boosted the city's economy, it has also brought the hazards of e-waste (from discarded computers and other electronic equipment) with it. But wait, there is help available. It is from E-Parisara (Parisara is Kannada means "Environment"), a project to manage e-waste without causing ecological damage.

E-Parisara has been setup near Bangalore by Mr. P Parthasarathy, who is a post-graduate from IIT-Madras. The initiative not only manages e-waste but also attempts to convert it into raw materials that can be re-used, trying to achieve environmental and economic sustainability at the same time, which is why this post finds a place in this blog.

E-Parisara already has some of the big IT companies in Bangalore, such as IBM, Tata Elxsi, ABB and Philips, as its clients. Recently, on World Environment Day, my employer, Robert Bosch India, also joined this list (which is how I came to know about E-Parisara). Here is a link to an article about E-Parisara:

http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/03/stories/2006040321540400.htm