Closing the Digital Divide

All Good Things Must End…Farewell to the mSTAR Project

mstarproject — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 14:15:32 +0000

By Erica Bustinza Throughout mSTAR’s farewell blog series, the team recalled the progress and achievements from seven years of implementation highlighting some of our most informative work. We began with the birth of mSTAR and a year-on-year retrospective of achievements including how mSTAR’s work has transformed the digital landscape. The progress of DFS in three … Continue reading

We tested mobile money in three similar contexts in India and found surprising differences, but why?

mstarproject — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 12:00:31 +0000

By Carrie Nichols With India’s recent goal to become a “less-cash” society, digital payment methods have become increasingly important. This is especially true for rural populations, which have less access to banks and have been slower to adopt mobile and digital tools. Internet penetration in urban India, for example, was 64.84 percent in December 2017. … Continue reading

DFS in Ag Can Help Raise Incomes, But Not in the Way You May Think

mstarproject — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 16:16:59 +0000

By Howard Miller Howard Miller has just published the case study, What Works for Digital Financial Services in Agricultural Development? He writes on his findings here: When Tavneet Suri and William Jack published their landmark study on the impact of mobile money in Kenya in 2016, there was great enthusiasm amongst the financial inclusion community. Here … Continue reading

Social Norms Are the Biggest Barrier to Equitable ICT Use, But What Does This Mean for Women?

mstarproject — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 15:32:11 +0000

This past September, Revi Sterling, Director of USAID’s WomenConnect Challenge, and Tom Koutsky, USAID Senior Connectivity Policy Advisor, presented their paper, “Understanding the Gender Digital Divide: Social Norms and the USAID WomenConnect Challenge,” at TPRC47: Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy. The paper has insights and lessons that every development professional will find … Continue reading

Are women being left out of tech? The challenges and successes of including women in digital financial services in Myanmar

mstarproject — Thu, 30 May 2019 11:00:25 +0000

By Ellen Galdava On average, women make up 43% of the agriculture labor in developing countries, ranging from 20% in Latin America to 50% in East and Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Similar to other markets, women and girls in agriculture encounter challenges related to managing income, land, productive resources and accessing education, financial, and … Continue reading

Digitized Conditional Cash Transfers are Helping Cambodian Babies Grow Up Healthy

mstarproject — Tue, 28 May 2019 18:03:54 +0000

mSTAR comes to a close this June after 7 years of implementation. During the successful run of the project, mSTAR helped usher in the era of digital development, working closely with USAID’s Global Development Lab, USAID Missions, implementing partners, civil society, local governments and the private sector. mSTAR has produced over 650 learning documents, hosted over … Continue reading

3 countries, 6 years, and 5 lessons on the DFS Space from Josh Woodard

mstarproject — Thu, 23 May 2019 10:27:50 +0000

Engaging Youth In Agriculture Through Information and Communication Technology – New Case Study

mstarproject — Tue, 21 May 2019 10:42:06 +0000

By Nikki Brand Around the world, youth in developing countries are leaving their family farms and seeking out other professional opportunities. Born in a remote village in Nepal, Sibjan Chaulagai knows this personally. Though most families in his village rely on agriculture for survival, Sibjan, like many of his peers, sought out a different career … Continue reading

Transforming the digital landscape: mSTAR’s 7 years of success

mstarproject — Thu, 02 May 2019 08:10:22 +0000

mSTAR comes to a close this June after 7 years of implementation. During the successful run of the project, mSTAR helped usher in the era of digital development, working closely with USAID’s Global Development Lab, USAID Missions, implementing partners, civil society, local governments and the private sector. In this closeout blog series, staff share their perspectives on the … Continue reading

Tapping into Myanmar’s ICT Growth to Increase Access to Finance

mstarproject — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 20:26:45 +0000

Check out the just-released infographic on our work in Burma here! By Conor Farrell All around Yangon, Myanmar, signs for mobile money top-offs hang from stores lining the road. Kids and adults alike are buried in their phones, watching videos, browsing Facebook or communicating with friends on Viber. At restaurants, signs for Wifi are posted … Continue reading Tapping into Myanmar’s ICT Growth to Increase Access to Finance