Poverty as a hierarchy of constraints – and the problem of access
Poverty is best understood as a cumulative failure of systems rather than a single shortage of income. Empirical research shows that households fall into poverty when multiple constraints...
Super-apps have long been described as powerful commercial tools - massive platforms capable of blending communication, payments, transport, commerce, and social services into a single interface. Yet this description understates their true significance. In many parts of the world,...
Unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation remain among the most persistent drivers of illness in low-income regions. Global monitoring shows that more than 1.7 billion people rely on drinking water sources contaminated with faeces, and unsafe water and sanitation...
The rapid expansion of internet connectivity and modern digital technologies has become one of the most influential forces reshaping economic development, public-service delivery, and social opportunity worldwide. As countries work toward the first eight UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—poverty,...
ICT and Internet Access IS Helping Reduce Poverty!
The twenty-first century has seen connectivity evolve from a luxury into a core component of human development. For billions across the developing world, access to the internet and digital technologies is now...
Across the world’s poorest regions, a quiet revolution is underway in the way health is managed, financed, and delivered. What began as scattered experiments—SMS reminders for HIV patients, electronic registers in rural clinics, or teleconsultations in remote villages—has matured...
Across India’s hospitals and public spaces, the arrival of self-service Health ATM kiosks signals a turning point in digital healthcare delivery. In Lucknow, the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) has deployed a Health ATM capable of...
Trust lies at the heart of every financial system. Whether implicit in traditional banking relationships or encoded in decentralized networks, it determines how individuals, institutions, and societies manage value and risk. A recent study published on SpringerLink proposes a...
The global financial system is undergoing one of its most profound transformations since the advent of mobile banking. Embedded finance—the seamless integration of financial services into non-financial platforms—has moved from a technological novelty to a structural force redefining access,...
In the language of the digital age, the “cloud” suggests weightlessness, a seamless virtual space where information floats freely across borders and into daily life. The metaphor is elegant, but it obscures a harsh reality. The cloud is not...
