Designing for the Informal Economy… and Beyond | The Informal Economy. Posted by Abby on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 · Leave a Comment NOS, a design consultancy based in Mexico City, won a Red Dot Award for its design concept TUME, or Top-up Mobile Electricity. It is a system that creates an accessible electricity grid. It was designed with developing countries in mind. It enables the user to obtain electricity by acquiring credit through top-up scratch cards, mobile phone SMS, or credit cards in local shops. From their perspective “The governments of developing countries with emerging economies are struggling to find ways to incorporate ‘informal businesses’ into their bureaucratic schemes. Often, governments take extreme measures to ‘solve’ problems such as street markets. Their concept is to make an electricity grid that is accessible to people on the streets for their everyday needs.
We think it is an interesting example of how an informal economy approach can change how we think about providing products and services. Thanks to Ben Lyon from Kopo Kopo for the inspiring conversation on mobile money in Kenya | The Informal Economy. Posted by Gunes on Thursday, July 26, 2012 · Leave a Comment Kopo Kopo is a company based in Kenya, where Safari has successfully introduced M-pesa (mobile payments). Mobile money is used by 70% of the adult population today in Kenya and 20% of the country´s GDP comes through mobile payments. Kopo Kopo acts as an ISO for mobile money systems and allows small merchants to accept mobile payments. It´s an equivalent of a pos terminal for mobile money. In countries like Kenya where a considerable amount of the population has no access to formal financial services, mobile money provides a safe and convenient way to manage finances. Ben Lyon talked to us about how he sees the future of mobile payments and about the convergence of mobile money and the informal economy.
Kopo Kopo will be presenting their work and joining the discussion at The Informal Economy Symposium in October. The Rise in the Informal Economy (The Engaging Brand ) The informal economy is growing and that is why The Engaging Brand podcast is looking wider than traditional business models, such as crowdfunding and 3D printing - the future will see many of these informal economies replace or enhance the traditional business model.
Makeshift point to an estimated informal economy of $10 trillion, employing 80% of people in emerging markets and fastest growing economy in the world! In fact if a country then it would have the 2nd highest GDP in the world. The informal economy is like a sandbox for the future...think of iTunes looking at how people were file sharing their digital music..an informal economy...and then turned it into a formal economy. The informal economy is intriguing because it a networked economy based on values not value to specific shareholders. The informal economy is often ignored by companies because "it will never take off" - no doubt Encyclopedia Britannica thought that on the launch of Wikipedia.... Still don't think so? Developing Open Data for Informal Transit Systems.
Collecting data and putting it in the hands of the citizens will change the power dynamics of transport decisions in Nairobi. The implications of this project will go beyond Kenya as many developing cities have these types of semi-formal bus systems, we have already made connections in Dahka, Manila, and Mexico City. We believe Digital Matatus can become a platform for developing and disseminating transit data across the world where citizens depend on informal buses to move through the city. How do you know there is demand for this project and from whom? Citizens and governments everywhere want more information to make better decisions about how people move through cities. A 2007-2008 Gallup poll found that in sub-Saharan Africa a vast majority of citizens were dissatisfied with their transportation systems.
Our team has been working in the transport sector both in Nairobi and globally for years. How is your project different from what already exists? Who is working on the project? AfriGadget | Solving everyday problems with African ingenuity. The Prepaid Economy Blog | Exploring business models for irregular income streams. The Misfit Economy. Les NTIC compatibles avec l’économie informelle en Afrique ?