"Poverty is not inevitable...Change for the better is within our grasp."
John Browne, chief executive of the energy giant BP
During the past few years, corporate investment in developing countries
has increased markedly, both from multinational corporations (MNCs) and
from large local companies -- the latter often investing to serve
low-income communities. These firms are responding to relatively rapid
economic growth rates in many developing countries and, for MNCs,
reduction of legal limits on foreign investments. Companies offering ICT
products and services have particularly active. This investment is
hailed by many as a powerful lever in generating economic growth that
will provide new jobs as well as valuable products and services. There
are notable examples, such as Smart Communications' innovations with
text-messaging in the Philippines, or ITC's e-choupal network bringing
market information and higher crop prices to farmers, or Voxiva's health
alert software that offers a low-cost solution to the widespread problem
of monitoring health indices in rural areas.
Yet others warn that corporate investment will exacerbate existing
economic and "digital divide" disparities between rich and poor. They
argue that corporations will target only the wealthy and ignore the
needs of the poor. They fear that powerful international companies will
put local companies out of business.
Key questions:
1) What are the successful models of companies providing
technology-based products/services that promote development and serve
the poor, and doing so profitably?
2) Can large companies and entrepreneurs use ICT to serve poor
communities in ways that cannot be done by NGOs, donors and governments?
3) Do multinational companies add any value that cannot be provided by
local entrepreneurs? If so, what role does ICT play?
4) Can ICT products and services created for industrialized country
contexts be modified to solve problems in underserved, poor and rural
communities, especially the need for low-cost solutions? Who must do
what to make it happen?
5) What new kinds of ICT tools are needed to serve poor and rural
communities? How can we best encourage companies to create and invest in
such tools and in the business models that can profitably deploy them?
6) Women often face special challenges in becoming ICT entrepreneurs
(e.g., lack of capital, education, family responsibilities). What
approaches can and should be used to support women entrepreneurs who
want to create profitable businesses that offer ICT solutions to poor
communities?
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