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During one of the lectures, Prof. Ting Li presented us with the following quote: ”Banking is necessary, but banks are not” by Bill Gates. This quote reminded me of a story about a company that was able to revolutionize banking in Kenya.

Back in 2006, Kenya was one of the poorest countries in the world. At that time, only one in seven people had a bank account, and for those who did, it was often too expensive to use it frequently. Less than a decade later, more than 84 percent of Kenyans, owning a simple mobile phone, are able to use their device to transfer money, pay at stores, pay their bills, and even save and loan money. All of this was made possible by a company that figured out how to ignite a multisided platform to massively reduce market frictions and to provide financial services to millions. The company is called Safaricom (telecom company) and it named its mobile platform M-Pesa (M for mobile and pesa is Swahili for money).

How does this platform work?

A Safaricom subscriber has to go to a CICO (Cash-in, cash-out) agent to set up an M-Pesa account. These agents are typically found in gas stations, post offices, small shops, and bank branches. The agent registers the subscriber, replaces the SIM card in the subscriber’s phone, and provides him with a PIN. To obtain money the subscriber hands cash over to the agent and then the agent uses the M-Pesa system to deposit e-money on the account of the subscriber. To send e-money, the subscriber needs to type in the number of the recipient, the amount, and his own PIN. Afterwhich the recipient can go to a local agent to withdraw the money in cash. That person enters the agent’s number, the amount of the withdrawal and her PIN. The agent will use the M-Pesa system once again, this time to reduce the balance in the recipient’s e-money account and give her the withdrawal amount in cash. Meanwhile, the sender’s e-money account is debited. The sender and receiver then receive SMS receipts for these transactions. M-Pesa receives and pays various fees during this process. The company does not charge senders a fee to put money in their account, but it charges a fee to send and receive money. On top of that, CICO agents get a commission for each newly signed up customer, as well as cash-in and cash-out transactions.

Despite the fact that this plan sounded good initially, it was rather challenging to get anyone to sign up to the platform. The need for cash-in and cash-out outlets compounded the M-Pesa start-up problem. CICO agents won’t register without senders and receivers moving money. Similarly, senders won’t sign up without receivers and agents. Eventually, M-Pesa was able to crack the code and figured out how to solve this problem.

M-Pesa was able to leverage the stores for its new service, as many stores in Kenya already partnered with Safaricom to sell airtime. It is important to have enough agents, but too much would result in a direct negative externality. Senders and recipients would of course appreciate having more agents around. This argued for attracting more agents and increasing the density of stores across the country. But if there were too many agents in a given area, they would compete for the same clients, which would reduce the agency’s profits and make it less attractive to provide the service. To ensure that stores had sufficient incentives to join and stay on the CICO network, M-Pesa chose to increase the number of agents based on the growth of senders and recipients. The company has also adopted a pricing model that encourages senders to recruit recipients, by dramatically increasing the fee of sending money to unregistered registries.

After its launch in 2007, M-Pesa became a success. The number of registered users in March 2015 reached 25.7 million (99% of adults), and the annual transaction volume reached 45 percent of GDP in 2014. M-Pesa expanded it services and as of late 2015, it consisted of four intersecting two-sided platforms: a sender-receiver money-transfer platform, a registered-CICO agent platform, a registered merchant-registered user platform (Lipa Na M-Pesa) and a financial services-to-registered-user platform (M-Shwari).

The M-Pesa platform also has its cons, for example, the reliance on internet connectivity, vulnerability to fraud, and the potential siphoning of money out of Africa into the West, since Safaricom is 40% owned by the UK multinational Vodafone. But at least the platform was able to do something that bank branches were not able to, it brought financial inclusion to the country. Current technologies like blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies may have the potential to improve this system and reduce costs.

Evans, D. S., & Schmalensee, R. (2016). Matchmakers: The new economics of multisided platforms. Harvard Business Review Press.

Johnson, L (2020). The Pros and Cons of M-Pesa. The Three es Africa. Retrieved from **https://thethree-e.com/articles/the-pros-and-cons-of-m-pesa

Runde, D. (2015). M-Pesa And The Rise Of The Global Mobile Money Market. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/08/12/m-pesa-and-the-rise-of-the-global-mobile-money-market/?sh=667fbe835aec

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As a student yourself, you know how hard it can be to retain all the knowledge from books, papers and your lectures. The same applies to medical students, who learn complex structures and anatomy based on those teaching materials. This way of learning which is mainly focused on paper-based learning might cause misunderstandings as it is hard to imagine the 3D relationship between components based on 2D materials. If you’re one of the few lucky ones and attend an educational institution with more resources, you will probably get the chance to dissect actual cadavers. Unfortunately, teaching resources such as real-life cadavers have strict storage restrictions based on health and safety rules and more importantly, they are limited.

Nowadays medical procedures and responsibilities are becoming increasingly complex and time constraints are placed on trainee work. For those reasons, there’s an even bigger need for tools that are able to accelerate learning and enhance the realism of training. And this is exactly where VR and AR applications are adding value to medical education.

First of all, it’s useful to shortly explain and differentiate VR and AR.

Virtual Reality (VR) makes use of computer technology to create a simulated environment, where users are immersed in an environment and can interact in this 3D world. Technological advances in motion detection, haptics and display systems have allowed users to have a realistic and interactive experience, enabling this technology to be ideal for training in hands-on procedures. Augmented Reality (AR) in contrary provides the ability to project virtual information and structures over physical objects, thus enhancing or altering the real environment. A good example of this is the super popular app Pokémon Go, where Pokémon’s appear anchored to your real-world environment right in front of you.

Although both technologies do share many technical aspects, VR differs from AR as its target is to construct a fully artificial environment instead of overlay computer-generated images onto images of the real world.

So, how do these technologies improve medical education?

Students are able to perform surgical or medical procedures on a digital patient that seems very real thanks to virtual reality. The student is making motions and important decisions, while wearing goggles, holding a controller in each hand and a headset connected to a computer program A student is making motions. Although all of this is happening in real time and real life, the procedure is only occurring in virtual reality. The learning opportunity can extend to an entire class: Other students can also wear goggles and join in to watch their colleague’s progress.

Another use case is the use of augmented reality for off-site training. As a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, universities and hospitals have been exploring novel methods of training students and employees that reduce the need for on-site training. Using AR for off-site training allows for familiarization with equipment so that when on-site training does occur, the time necessary is significantly collapsed to only the essentials of technique and protocols. On top of that, medical devices often cost thousands of dollars and therefore, it can be impractical to provide access to every trainee. An AR asset, the so-called “Digital-Twin,” mirrors the functionality of real equipment and can be deployed to anyone with a smartphone, and through simple, guided click and tap interactivity, digital muscle memory can be built up that translates directly to skills in the field.

These are just a few of the use cases made possible by VR and AR technology. At the moment researchers are working on finding new ways to apply these technologies further and on improving the quality.

Although nothing can beat the real-world experience, the goods news is that learning through virtual reality and augmented reality will have unlimited possibilities. Students will never get enough practice, and these tools are great for this purpose. Just as the flight industry improves safety by allowing novices and experienced pilots to train on a flight simulator, the medical industry can also do the same by allowing trainees and doctors to hone their skills through VR and AR.

References

forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/11/10/virtual-reality-provides-lifelike-training-for-doctors/?sh=1f305dc85067

https://www.cgsinc.com/blog/four-use-cases-augmented-reality-medical-education

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-augmented-reality?international=true&r=US&IR=T

https://www.med-technews.com/medtech-insights/vr-in-healthcare-insights/virtual-reality-a-medical-training-revolution-during-covid-1/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/07/02/how-augmented-and-virtual-reality-are-shaping-a-variety-of-industries/?sh=576617ce2061