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Technology for Emerging Markets
Kentaro Toyama, PhDAssistant Managing
DirectorMicrosoft Research India
Outline
Introduction
Three Projects from MSR India
– Microfinance and Technology
– Warana Unwired
– Simultaneous Shared Access
Outline
Introduction
Three Projects from MSR India
– Microfinance and Technology
– Warana Unwired
– Simultaneous Shared Access
MSR India• Established January, 2005
• Goals– World-class academic research– Contributions to Microsoft products and
businesses– Support growth of research programs
in India and elsewhere
• Six research areas– Cryptography– Digital Geographics– Hardware, Communications, and
Systems– Multilingual Systems– Rigorous Software Engineering– Technology for Emerging Markets
• Currently ~50 full-time staff, growing
• Collaborations with government, academia, industry, and NGOs
Microsoft Research IndiaSadashivnagar, Bangalore
http://research.microsoft.com/india
Technology for Emerging Markets
Understand potential technology users in economically poor communities
Adapt, invent, or design applications that contribute to socio-economic development of poor communities worldwide
Computer-skills camp in Nakalabande, Bangalore(MSR India, Stree Jagruti Samiti, St. Joseph’s College)
Research Goals
Interdisciplinary ResearchAishwarya Lakshmi Ratan
–Public Administration and International Development
Jonathan Donner– Communications
Nimmi Rangaswamy– Social Anthropology
Rajesh Veeraraghavan– Computer Science and
Economics
Archana Prasad– Animation and Design
Kentaro Toyama– Computer Science
Randy Wang
Udai Singh Pawar
–
–
Computer Science
Physics
Society
Group
Technology
Individual
Society
Group
Technology
Individual
Innovation
Understanding
Impa
ct
Innovation
Understanding
Impa
ct
Rikin Gandhi– Astrophysics
Indrani MedhiDesign –
Warana Unwired
Rural Microfinance and IT Rural Kiosk Entrepreneurs
Simultaneous Shared Access
Digital Study Hall
IT and MicroentrepreneursGovernment and Kiosks
Udai Singh PawarAssociate Researcher
Randy WangResearcher
Jonathan DonnerResearcher
Aishwarya Lakshmi RatanAssociate Researcher
Nimmi RangaswamyAssociate Researcher
Rajesh VeeraraghavanAssociate Researcher
Renee KuriyanResearch Intern
Information ecology of small businesses in developing markets
Multiplying the value of PCs by allowing many users to access.
DVD exchange over postal service and TVs as display for rural education
Study on the challenges and uniqueness of rural kiosk entrepreneurs
Experiments with computing and communication systems in agriculture
The state’s role in rural kiosk projects, with a focus on Kerala and Andhra
Text-Free UI
Indrani MedhiAssistant Researcher
UIs without text for users who are illliterate and may never have seen a computer before
Can computers help existing structures for rural microfinance?
Sample ProjectsMSR India: TEM
Outline
Introduction
Three Projects from MSR India
– Microfinance and Technology
– Warana Unwired
– Simultaneous Shared Access
Microfinance and Technology
Aishwarya Ratan
Exploratory Studies Site visits:• Interviews with…
– Institution heads– MFI agents– Clients
• Participant observation• Accounts and records
Microfinance Institutions• Pradan• Ujjivan• Sanghamitra• CCD Mahakalasam• BASIX
Uses of Microfinance
• Sustenance (40%)– Fulfil basic consumption– Protect against shocks– Access lumpsums for
lifecycle needs
• Growth (60%)– Enterprise (30%)– Buildup assets: education,
home (30%)
5members
12-20members
24-36% APR
NGO facilitator
Cooperative
RS.@ 9-12% APR
The group is the MFIInterest accrues to member-borrowers~33 mn outreach in IndiaLess profitableMore welfare focused – flexible paymentsMost common model in India
Commercial
RS.
RS.
@ 9-12% APR
@ 24-36% APR
External provider is the MFIInterest accrues to 3rd party intermediary~8 mn outreach in IndiaMore profitableMore commercially focused – EMI paymentsMost common model worldwide
MFI
Models of Microfinance
Case: PRADAN’s Computer Munshi experiment
Problem area• Poor quality of financial data• No aggregate record
Issues• Costs associated with:
• Time spent on accounting each week• Mistakes discovered at annual audit
Experiment• Goals
• Improve SHG data quality & aggregate data• Outsource weekly accounting function – create sustainable business model
•Methods•Have an Accountant with a PC serve a Federation of SHGs•Charge nominal fee for data processing service•Use manual transport to ferry data back and forth
•Results•Weekly meeting time cut by half•Instant evaluation of financial performance of large group of SHGs possible
Original workflow
Improved workflow
(90,000 rural clients, EAST/CENTRAL India)
Weekly collections
Book-keeping done locally Annual auditing by NGO
Weekly collections
Copy of transaction record put in drop-box
CM updates records & prints balances & dues
Annual auditing by NGO
Can technology assist microfinance?
Front-end IS1. Account creation (loan,
savings & insurance)1. Collecting client data2. Screening/ verification
2. Transaction data3. Processing claims (savings,
transfers & insurance)
E-paymentsEnabling e-cash transactions
1. Disbursal of amount (loan)2. Collection of dues/ payments (loan, savings & insurance)
Back-end IS1. Aggregation of client
data1. Actuarial analysis2. Target offerings YES!
MAYBE!
TOUGH!
Outline
Introduction
Three Projects from MSR India
– Microfinance and Technology
– Warana Unwired
– Simultaneous Shared Access
Warana Unwired
Rajesh Veeraraghavan
• Over 60% of population in agriculture
• Mostly small and marginal farmers with 1-3 acres of land
• Average income of $1-2 per day
Agriculture in India
Sugarcane Sugar
70 villages, 70000 farmers
Asia’s first “Bridging Digital Divide” pilot ! (1998)
Started with ethnographic studies…
“Warana Wired Village Project”
FactoryFactoryFTP
FTP
FTP
PC
Warana Farmer DB
Standard PC network
Weigh stations
Landline phone
PC enabledKiosks
54 kiosks in 54 villagesCost: Rs.2.5 crores (US$500,000)
“Warana Wired Village Project”
• Internet access to farmers
• Check market price information
• Agricultural expert system
• Automate land records
• Other crazy dreams!
Original Goals
Internal account MIS:
• Register land• Issues harvesting permit• Buy fertilizer through credit• Get paystub
• Query quantity of sugarcane
harvested
Actual Use
High maintenance cost
Intermittent power
Network flaky
PC not optimally used!
Mounting Challenges
Can we preserve the functionality of the existing PC based system while making the entire system cheaper and more effective?
The Problem
The Solution: Warana Unwired!
SMS-enabledmobile phones
PC-basedkiosks
FactoryFactoryFTP
FTP
FTP
PC
Warana Farmer DB
Standard PC network
Weigh stations
Landline phone
PC-enabledkiosks
Original PC-Based Set-Up
GSM/CDMA
SMS network
FactoryFactoryPC
Warana Farmer DB
Standard PC network
Weigh stations
SMS-enabledphones
New Mobile-Based Set-Up
Windows
Mobile Remote APIs
SMS
SMS
SMS
24-hour access to services – 6000 SMS processed
80% of requests for getting sugarcane output
1238 unique farmer requests
Response time on harvesting data.– Original: 15 days PC: 2 days
Mobile: immediate
Telcos’ interest has perked up.
Neighboring cooperatives have expressed interest.
Warana Unwired – Results
System Cost/Farmer/Year
New PC System
394
Existing PC System
177
SMS Mobile (kiosks)
159
GPRS(kiosks) 139
SMS Mobile(without kiosks)
111
GPRS ( no kiosks)
91
Units: Rs
Savings over PCs 1 million Rupees /54 villages/1 year($22,000)
Costs
Disbelief to Joy:Farmer from Satve village: Initial Disbelief!
Once he sees it on the phone! he gets excited and says: “Barabar hai, eh tho bahuth accha hai.”
“The information is exact and it is very good.”
Demands from other nearby villages:
Farmer from Angali village: Demands access!
We were trying to tell them we need to really test to see whether this works successfully, the farmer replied:
“I saw messages are coming on the mobile phone. There is no problem. So where is the question of success?”
Farmer Response
So far:• Successful replacement of
kiosks in seven villages. System in operation since October 2006.
• Expansion to other villages in cooperative
To do:• Analysis of feedback and
surveys for concrete impact• Pilots with other cooperatives
Status
Outline
Introduction
Three Projects from MSR India
– Microfinance and Technology
– Warana Unwired
– Simultaneous Shared Access
Simultaneous Shared Access PCs
Udai Singh Pawar
Kentaro Toyama
At school after school…
One PC, many children.
Solution: MultiPoint
Provide a mouse for every student
– One cursor for each mouse, with different colours or shapes
– USB mice• Have tried up to 20
– Content modified • Game-like environment
Early research work by Bier (1991), Inkpen (1995), and others.
MultiPoint
MultiPoint: StatusExperimental results:
– Children understand and enjoy multiple mice
– On rote memorization tasks, games can be designed to allow as much learning as with one-PC-per-child
– Strong gender differences w.r.t. sharing
Publications in ICTD2006, CHI2007
Microsoft SDK shipped June 2007!
“Mouse on Each Desk” project in Education Technologies group
Ongoing work with Azim Premji Foundation
Before
After
Split Screen
Multi-Monitor
Continuum of SharingContinuum of Sharing
Shared PC
Nothingpersonal
Personalmouse
(MultiPoint)
Sharedprocessor,monitor &keyboard
Sharedprocessor &
monitor
Sharedprocessor
Nothingshared
Personalmouse & keyboard
(Split Screen)
Personalmouse,
keyboard& monitor
(Thin client/Multi-Monitor)
Truepersonalcomputer
Summary
Introduction
Three Projects from MSR India
– Microfinance and Technology
– Warana Unwired
– Simultaneous Shared Access
Increasing use oftechnology
Technology’s relevance
not always clear
ICTD Conference
Co-organized by MSR India, UC Berkeley, IIIT-Bangalore, MIT, CMU
First: May 25-26, 2006, Berkeley, CA
Focus on rigorous academic work, with all papers double-blind peer-reviewed
Establishing a community of academic researchers in technology for development
Next one in December 15-16, 2007 Bangalore, India
UC Berkeley, site of ICTD 2006
IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development
