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Telecommunications Cisco, Qualcomm and ITU team with micro-credit pioneer to 'connect the world'
Telecommunications Cisco, Qualcomm and ITU team with micro-credit pioneer to 'connect the world' | Cisco, Qualcomm and ITU team with micro-credit pioneer to 'connect the world' |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Monday, 04 December 2006 | |
  
Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning microcredit pioneer, and managing director of Grameen Bank has teamed up with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Cisco Systems, Qualcomm and others to launch Enclusion a virtual, global 'ICT empowerment network',
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To help make this initiative a success, Grameen Bank says it will "reach out to more than 3000 microfinance organisations and 100 million borrowers worldwide." The ITU, meanwhile, hopes to be able to leverage the support and participation of its 191 member states and some 650 private sector members from around the world. The ICT Empowerment Network will consist of "numerous independent, self-financed groups of partners that collaborate either in physical centres or virtually." Each group will focus on at least one of three work streams ICT solutions, sustainable business models, and capacity-building. It is the first concrete collaboration flowing from a broader agreement signed by Professor Yunus and ITU secretary-general, Yoshio Utsumi to combine Grameen's micro-credit expertise with ITU's experience in implementing ICT development programmes and partnerships. Cisco has also worked with Grameen Foundation and others to launch Mifos last month. It is an open source information management platform that microfinance institutions can access and adapt to their needs. It was developed after a survey found that 46 percent of microfinance institutions were still using spreadsheets or manual systems to manage their portfolio and client information, severely hindering their efficiency and capacity to scale into the hundreds of thousands.{moscomment} |
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