Technology in the fight against poverty

17

October

2019

5/5 (1)

On Monday 14 October the winners of the Nobel price in Economics were announced. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer received the prize for their research on fighting poverty. Their efforts have transformed development economics. Their approach introduces a new way to get answers to fighting poverty on a global scale. What it boils down to is that the issue has to be divided into smaller, more manageable segments, such as child health and improvements in educations. The researchers showed that by asking more precise questions, better and more specific experiments among those affected can be designed (The Nobel Prize, 2019).

This research got me thinking: “what technologies are currently out there fighting poverty?”. Around the world, there are still billions of people living in poverty, and ending poverty is one of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. Luckily, there are emerging technologies that can help achieve this goal (Kranz, 2019).

A large majority of people living in poverty live in rural areas and rely on farming to make a living. New IoT technologies can help farmers optimize operations with the data they generate. A startup in Nigeria called Zenvus is doing just this. They are equipping farmers around sub-Sharan Africa with small sensors in the soil that collect data on for example temperature, humidity, and nutrient levels. Based on this information a mobile app shows farmers advice on what, when and how to plant and connects them to electronic market places where they can sell their harvests. This helps the decision-making process of the farmers and reduces crop failure, provides market access and decreases production costs (Zenvus, 2019).

Furthermore, many people (especially those living in poverty) do not have access to the internet. With the rise of the 5G network this could soon change. 5G together with low earth-orbiting satellite constellations can provide high-speed internet access to the more remote corners of the globe. With this, education can be brought to people in more rural areas that currently do not have access to it, for example by setting up live streams of online classrooms. Research has shown that education is one of the most effective tools when fighting poverty (Kranz, 2019).

Moreover, in many countries, the lack of land ownership is a big source of poverty. If people are not able to verify a title or deed to a piece of land, they cannot, for example, buy/sell their property, access loans or other financial aids or establish creditworthiness. New initiatives are blockchain-based digital registries of land ownership. These use GPS data and satellite photos together with transaction information to help people guarantee property rights. With these new property rights, the landowners can, for example, open bank accounts and establish credit (Kranz, 2019).

The abovementioned and many other initiatives are rising that are helping in the fight to end poverty. Do you think they will work or is it not enough to get us there?

Bibliography

Kranz, M. (2019). Retrieved from Real Leaders: https://real-leaders.com/3-ways-to-combat-poverty-with-transformational-technology/

The Nobel Prize. (2019). The Prize in Economic Sciences 2019. Retrieved from The Nobel Prize: nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2019/press-release

Zenvus. (2019). Retrieved from Zenvus: https://www.zenvus.com/insights/

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The rise of 5G: what will it bring?

23

September

2019

5/5 (1)

Since the invention of smartphones, the demand for a better and faster connection has rapidly increased. After the first generation (cell phone) and second-generation (digital phone) of mobile technology consumer needs for this faster and better connection started increasing. In 2003 the third generation (3G) came along and with it opportunities to browse the web, watch videos and listen to music anywhere from your smartphone (United Consumers, n.d.). Technology kept advancing and in 2009 the next generation (4G) was introduced. 4G was a big upgrade from 3G since it brought faster access speed (up to 21 Mbps), higher capacity, reduced latency, and HD streaming amongst other things (Broadband Compared, 2016).

Now it’s 2019 and the introduction of the fifth-generation (5G) is right around the corner. Just like 4G was an improvement on the existing 3G, 5G will be an improvement on 4G. It will bring faster download and upload speed; the connection speed will increase to over 10Gbps. This means that the download time for a movie on your mobile device will decrease from 7 minutes to just 6 seconds (Moscaritolo, 2018). Latency will also be further reduced from 50 milliseconds to 1 millisecond, and the information transfer rate will increase. 5G will allow millions of devices to be connected at the same time (Imnovation, 2018).

These improvements will not just let you download your movies faster, there are many other opportunities that it will bring. One of the most talked-about opportunities is smart cities. 5G will allow a vast number of devices, mobile and not mobile, to be connected in densely populated areas and allow for communication between these devices. For example, you can connect your coffee maker to your alarm clock, making sure you wake up to a nice cup of coffee in the morning (Imnovation, 2018).

Furthermore, 5G technology is crucial for the advancement of autonomous vehicles. It will allow cars to be connected to each other and to sensors around the city, providing real-time information regarding congestion and accidents. The current 4G network is not fast enough to support safer and smarter autonomous cars, but the 5G network is. The reduced latency will allow messages between sensors to be transmitted and forwarded to the car faster than the average time it takes humans to make decisions (which is 2 milliseconds) (Llanasas, 2019).

Another application lies in the healthcare industry. Currently, there are companies working on a robot arm, operated by a special glove and VR headset, that can perform surgery. A surgeon would not need to be in the same room anymore as the patient. This will be made possible by the decreased latency associated with the 5G network (Cheng, 2017).

Besides these applications, there are many more opportunities that 5G will bring in areas like virtual reality, drones and many more. The possible applications seem endless and will likely transform our day-to-day activities. The introduction of 5G is seen by many as a great opportunity and is said to completely change the way we live.

References:

Broadband Compared. (2016). What is 4G? Everything about 4G Explained. Retrieved from https://www.broadbandcompared.co.uk/guides/what-is-4g-everything-about-4g-explained#targetText=4G%20works%20much%20in%20the,%2C%20however%2C%20affected%20by%20location.

Cheng, R. (2017, March 2). Cnet. Retrieved from Not just speed: 7 incredible things you can do with 5G: https://www.cnet.com/news/5g-not-just-speed-fifth-generation-wireless-tech-lets-you-do-vr-self-driving-cars-drones-remote/

Imnovation. (2018). What is 5G technology and what will its impact be like in our everyday life? Retrieved from Imnovation hub: Hours of Download Time Per Month

Llanasas, R. (2019, March 11). Machine Design. Retrieved from 5G’s Important Role in Autonomous Car Technology: ) https://www.machinedesign.com/motion-control/5g-s-important-role-autonomous-car-technology#targetText=Why%205G%20is%20Crucial%20for%20Autonomous%20Cars&targetText=Self%2Ddriving%20cars%20use%20hundreds,make%20vehicles%20faster%20and%20smarter.&targetTex

Moscaritolo, A. (2018, October 16). Hours of Download Time Per Month. Retrieved from PCmag: https://www.pcmag.com/news/364392/5g-will-save-you-almost-24-hours-of-download-time-per-month

United Consumers. (n.d.). 3G internet op elke mobiele telefoon. Retrieved from https://www.unitedconsumers.com/gsm/mobiel-internet/3g.jsp

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