Technology and the Internet

African communities are becoming increasingly mobile-centric. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70292973@N07/7192931934/">The Reboot (flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Windows to the world: Why Microsoft's $75 million mobile drop matters

Microsoft will spend $75 million to put tens of millions of smart devices into the hands of African youth by 2016, the company announced Monday.

Kenyan dairy farmers using iCow saw an increase in profits and milk production. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/6775839248/">Gates Foundation (flickr)</a>

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In Kenya, a mobile dairy app drives profits skyward

A relatively new mobile app has helped dairy farmers in Kenya increase their profits by 42 percent.

Indonesian farmers can benefit greatly from information on how to make their products thrive. Photo <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/8199313364/">WorldFish (Flickr)</a>

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Good show! How an NGO convinced commercial TV to serve the poor

Information is power, but only if people have access to it. In 2006, a Swiss NGO teamed with Indonesian media to bring that power to small businesses.

Kids teach themselves the alphabet using tablets. Photo: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/olpc/2884605787/in/set-72157608680464156”> One Laptop per Child (Flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

The power of play: Touchscreen apps teach kids their letters

Give a kid a tablet and they’ll teach themselves to read.

World Inequality Database on Education: Haiti Data <a href="http://www.education-inequalities.org/">visualized</a> helps program designers know who to target.

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Youth Skills

Who needs education most? A new data source visualizes it

In the race to be qualified for good jobs the starting line is jagged-some youth start further ahead than others. The best programs use data to smooth the line out.

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Soft power, Gangnam style

PSY's single could hit a billion YouTube views.

Crops resilient to climate change are especially important to farmers in developing countries. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/5210265334/">CIMMYT (Flickr)</a>.

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Value Chains

As climate becomes a moving target, 'virtual crops' aim for the future

Climate change is threatening crop survival. Some researchers believe the solution lies in "virtual crops."

Companies are working to empower in the tech sector. Photo: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/unwomenarabstates/7245942414/sizes/m/in/photostream/”> UN Women Arab States (Flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Geekery for all: Google chips $6m to youth tech empowerment

With the iLab educating in Liberia and the Switchboard mobilizing health across Africa, Google is working on global technology empowerment.

Mobile phones are one of the ways ADB says will increase microfinance availability among the poor. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/8048414699/">CIMMYT (flickr)</a>.

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Financial Inclusion

MFIs should offer more than just microfinance, study finds

Despite the surging popularity of microfinance in the last several decades, access among the poor in Asia and the Pacific remains low. A new report says technology and livelihood programs will put it in the hands of more people.

Carlos Sere, IFAD's chief development strategist. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilri/6331979668/sizes/m/in/photostream/">ILRI (Flickr)</a>.

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Mobile Technology

Memo from a small-farm expert: Not all farmers are the same

Different small farmers farm for different reasons.

Maendeleo installing solar panels on Uganda's libraries. Photo: EIFL

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Sustainable Energy

Solar panels meet Android tablets in Uganda, and farmers win

Basking on the equator, Uganda catches plenty of rays. A library database and solar power project is using them to connect rural farmers.

Youth Spark works to support youth education, especially in the tech sector. Photo: <a href=”http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/youthspark/youthsparkhub/”> Youth Spark (Microsoft)</a>

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Social Enterprise

Microsoft's new core philanthropy: Training kids to make software

Microsoft is rethinking its charity strategies to spread the spark of high-tech education—and maybe to train its own future employees.

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Mobile, solar schools literally bring power to the powerless

Beep beep! For some students, hopping on the school bus is hopping into the classroom. Four communities are using solar-powered mobile classrooms to overcome inaccessibility to the power grid.

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From Chitradurga, India: A magical, solar-powered school

A dearth of energy resources and skilled teachers in rural India means students lack access to modern computer technology. A traveling, e-learning school bus powered by the sun might roll its way to a better rural education solution.

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