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Mobile phones: A jaw-dropping decade of success (INFOGRAPHIC)

The mobile revolution has taken over the world: 75 percent of the population now has access to phones. The applications are seemingly endless, from health care to agriculture. Check out the World Bank’s new infographic to see mobile phones' progress—click on either image to enlarge.

Designing products that meet the needs of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid also requires a keen knowledge of how best to sell those products. Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps

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Doing less, better: The case for higher prices at the bottom of the pyramid

The only way to make money selling things to the very poor is with miniscule prices, microscopic margins and massive volume—right?

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Who makes up the global middle class? Economists aren’t sure

We know that economists don’t always agree on the best path to prosperity.

A new interactive map shows relative potential for wealth creation through cash transfers. Image: <a href="http://newamericafoundation.github.com/gssp/maps/payment.html#">New America Foundation</a>

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New map shows where cash transfers work - and where they don’t

Moving money is easier in some places than in others. This map shows where cash transfers work best as an antipoverty tool.

Informal trash collectors may gain "green" jobs in the formal sector with the closure of the world's largest trash dump. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/associationbasmati/2885924570/"> basmati - authentic help (flickr)</a>

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Diverting garbage to a recycling plant leaves out a key player: dump dwellers

Does your old lunch bag go in the garbage or the recycle bin? For hundreds of thousands of garbage scavengers worldwide who make a meager living by collecting, recycling and reselling trash, that decision is worth its weight in cash.

Critics say developed countries have broken promises for international aid. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dfid/5491899695/">UK Department for International Development (flickr)</a>

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As international aid patterns shift, microfinance picks up the slack

With cause for concern about the future of international aid amid the financial crisis faced by rich countries, some developing nations find microfinance playing an increasing role in fueling local growth.

PepsiCo and Cambridge University recently unveiled the i-crop, a web-based system that could reduce agricultural water waste by 50 percent. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spacesquirrel/83995462/">Photo:zekasaur (flickr)</a>

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PepsiCo’s I-Crop Refreshes Water Waste Systems

This article was republished in The Christian Science Monitor.

Men in traditional Maasai clothing using their mobile phones. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/markkelley/1022720488/">Mark Kelley (Flickr)</a>

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How technology is changing the world, and allowing you to change it too

An image of an endocervical gland taken during a pap smear. Simple vinegar turns out to be a lower-cost alternative to tests like this one. Photo:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/78147607@N00/3614070242/">Ed Uthman(flicker)</a>

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A cheap alternative to the pap smear: vinegar

A common household item can serve a double purpose: it gives flavor in your kitchen, and it saves your life.

A low-cost innovation—vinegar— can help detect cervical cancer and save thousands of lives in developing nations.

Developing countries are determined to foster stronger domestic science communities. Photo:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons/4857944215/">NASA (flickr)</a>

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Space: The economic development frontier

Developing countries are shooting for the moon.

A family looks north over the Mexican border near Tijuana. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/57954193@N00/3208182697/">Nathan Gibbs (flickr)</a>

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What's Keeping More Mexicans South of the Border? Maybe it's Mexico

Is Mexico on its way to becoming the new Land of Opportunity?

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Hangzhou, China Pedals to Number One in Bike Sharing

Washington, D.C.’s bike sharing program has 1,100 bikes. London’s system has 6,000. And Paris has more than 20,000.

Students in South Africa learn how to use smartphones. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22774534@N00/4308190927/in/photostream/">DI GameWorks (flickr)</a>

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Africa's Anticipated Mobile Internet Revolution

The internet revolution in Africa will not be televised, but it will most likely be tweeted from a mobile device.

Children scavenge for valuables in a garbage dump in Haiti less than one year before the devastating earthquake shook the Caribbean island. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/4687808301/in/photos">United Nations Photo (flickr)</a>

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Big Ideas in the Fight Against Global Poverty

Developed countries have been trying to help people in poor developing countries reach a higher standard of living for quite some time now.

Caption. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennfarr/3967961775/">Jenn Farr (Flickr)</a>

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Let's Rap About Oil

National outrage over this year’s BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has catalyzed comparisons to nothing short of the apocalypse.

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