Effective Management of Elctric Supply In Pakistan

I was going through the website of US embassy on Facebook the other day and just saw two orange rickshaws ( a form of a local taxi in Pakistan)  parked near the electricity office in Peshawar, Pakistan with ladders on their top and some other equipment lying nearby. Its not a commercial Rickshaw as we might perceive  USAID Pakistan has donated these 8 modified rickshaws and other maintenance equipment to the Governments elerticty managment company.


Source : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151083831928621&set=a.177646208620.124211.160073033620&type=1&theater

The electric company's linemen can use this efficient mode of transportation which has a low cost and also because of its small size can easily maneuver in the narrow city streets.I think its another achievement of the social innovators who have come up with this idea of providing economical method of communication for the linemen to travel to various areas within the city for carrying out repair work and to remove illegal connections.
             Presently the country is facing a severe electricity shortage and at times the outages last for almost 20 hours a day even in some of the developed cities like Karachi. The present energy deficit is affecting not only the economy of the country but also the life of ordinary people  who can not work, study or have some relief in the sweltering heat.
             The government and the people do realize the need to overcome the energy deficit and  many efforts are underway to produce more electricity like the construction of a new hydroelectric dam on River Indus in the Northern Part of the country. That is a long term option and it will take some years for the dam to complete and supplement the national electricity grid. The need of the day is to focus on short term methods to conserve energy and improve the quality of life of the people. The introduction of these rickshaws will greatly help in effective management of electricity supply. One of the main reasons for the electricity shortage are the illegal connections or theft of electricity. Those who steal electricity do not pay any kind of electric bill and cause a huge loss to the national exchequer. The government has to ultimately offer subsidies to overcome this deficit. Small interventions like improving the management of  electric companies can go a long way in curbing theft of electricity. By provision of these rickshaws the performance of the linemen will improve and they will be able to cover most of the areas in a short time. Though there are only 8 rickshaws which have been donated so far but they can be manfucatured on large scale if proven to be effective.

Bio Gas: A realistic option in South Asia

While going through this week’s reading “Power to the People” I was particularly intrigued by the concepts of how Bio mass and Bio Energy were being used as alternates to conventional modes of energy production.  I was intrigued more so because I had first come across the term Bio Gas during my high school years as one of the alternates to producing energy rather than the conventional hydroelectric or thermal means that are commonly used in Pakistan. At the time it was at its nascent stages and was one of the less touted alternates in comparison to say solar or nuclear energy.

However after reading the article mentioned above I had another look at how the n the past few years, backed with a significant amount of government finance, a few NGO’s have banded together to help create significant gains in this realm of energy production under the banner of the Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) in Pakistan. Under the Domestic Bio Gas Program, over 2134 plants have been setup in over twelve districts of Punjab; Pakistan’s most populous province. The program is massive in its scope as not only does it deal with the prevailing energy crisis it also helps create trained individuals who oversee the maintenance and setting up of these plants wherever required. These “masons” are part of Bio Gas Construction Companies (BCC) that have been setup through trainings that are provided by the government funded Technical Colleges throughout the country.  Also to help attract potential customers the RSPN has hired other groups to help spread awareness regarding the need for this program and is specifically targeting women as an avenue into the household. Coupled with instant rebates and lower setup costs than before, this program is fast becoming a more than viable option in Pakistan’s energy dilemma. The exact scope of the project and how many people it has touched can be found here, http://rspn.org/our_projects/pdbp1.html.   

One drawback though right now is that the project is thriving based on government sponsored finances. Although, private sector investment has tried to be attracted through the setting up of BCC’s the amount of private sector investment is still lacking. So my question of the week is, how can we make an alternate source of energy production that is produced by processing animal dung, an attractive proposition in the mind of the private sector so as to increase the required investment?

Laptops and India’s Education System

            My biggest surprise (so far) in Social Innovation and Enterprise has been the impact of simple yet innovative solutions to big problems. Some of the inventions we had seen in class have been so simple I thought to myself “Why didn’t I think of that?” At the end of class last week, Professor Zak brought out a more complicated piece of technology that I was thoroughly impressed with, a low-cost laptop computer. The cost of this laptop was said to be about $35 and would be a great tool for education in developing countries. Of course, I thought this was great. I paid a lot more than $35 for my laptop and I use it everyday for my own education. I can see how better (and cheaper) computer access would benefit low-income educational needs. Students can have access to the Internet where there are more free information and educational tools than they could imagine. However, after reading one of this week’s readings, Frugal Innovation: India Plans to Distribute Low-Cost Handheld Computers to Students, I’m not sure that distributing computers is the best next step in improving education in developing countries.

            Sanjay Dhande, the director of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, points out that new technologies will not solve basic education needs and lack of resources including qualified teachers, educational housing, etc¹. According to an article by India in Education titled Illiteracy and Educational Problems in India, 30% of the population is illiterate, 50% of children in rural areas drop out before the 5^th grade, and most rural schools operate without electricity and running water. This article also states that the uses of high tech devices such as computers are extremely rare². These constraints and weaknesses in the Indian education system have led to poverty and unemployment with illiteracy percentages increasing. Would delivering laptop computers to low-income students be beneficial if many of these children can’t read or don’t attend school at all?

            I hope that the Indian government considers funding technologies/programs that teach reading and writing in addition to providing laptops. It is important for children to have the tools, but also the means for using them.

1.) “Frugal Innovation: India Plans to Distribute Low-Cost Handheld Computers to Students.” Scientific American. 28 Sept. 2010.

2.) "Illiteracy and Educational Problems in India." Socyberty. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2012. <http://socyberty.com/education/illiteracy-and-educational-problems-in-india/>.

Why $75 computers are priceless

Building upon one of this week's articles - The Prophet of Cheap - I would like to discuss how education is getting transformed not just by cheap devices, but also by cheap or free content. After all, what would the underprivileged kids in underprivileged regions do with cheap hardware if it weren't for the resources they can access using that hardware? With free content available on $75 computers, the value such products create surpasses every yardstick to measure social value. 

Among the foremost education content providers today is Khan Academy, which with its radical idea of video tutoring, has come to "provide a high quality education to anyone anywhere" - exactly as in its mission statement. The entire collection of 3300 lectures is available for free, making education - a basic human need - accessible. Has school education ever been better than this?

Over the previous decade, most elite universities have also embraced this idea of "education to anyone anywhere." The MIT OpenCourseWare was one of the first of its kind, which has since given rise to edX. While it may appear small in the western world where there is no scarcity of quality education across most fields, it is not the case in much of the eastern hemisphere. College education, which is expensive to both offer and receive, is not a pressing concern for governments in developing countries. For instance, India only has about 10 technical schools and 2 business schools comparable to global standards for a population of over 1 billion. Initiatives such as the OCW and edX are really beneficial for those who cannot otherwise afford world class content. 

Acknowledging this steeply growing need for educational content, numerous providers and initiatives have blossomed in the recent past. However, I believe that visionary institutions like Khan Academy and MIT are the ones who set out to actually spread education and thereby created a path for social good. 

Back to our topic question again: Is the $75 computer really worth just that? 

education innovation in underdeveloped areas

This is a TED Talk named "Education innovation in the slums" , given by Charles Leadbeater  link: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/charles_leadbeater_on_education.html

In this talk, Charles highlighted some major challenges and some innovative approaches on how to popularize education in far-flung and underdeveloped areas to disadvantaged groups.  Applying what we have learned in class on innovation “Context” and “trends” , I found some points in this talk thought provoking.

1.       Context.

Compulsory education system may not be a cure for education programs in underdeveloped countries.

As Charles says, research on the high drop-out rate reflects that students are just not “interest” and they feel “boring”. Thus the key of education in slum is to “Pull” not “push”, to give them “highly relevant” and productive knowledge.

this totally make sense. Children in extremely poor area need knowledge both to improve their intelligence, acumen but more important they need knowledge that they can make a living. Peers from Africa need knowledge that can protect them from HIV/AIDS. So we need to analyze the context. What are the most desperate needs of our targets to improve their life.  Start to make education that can truly make a difference to them. Or as the last blog indicates, “the way to hell is paved with well-intended innovations”.  

2.       Trends.

Charles mentioned some important trends which can be taken into account when considering initiating social innovations in developing countries.

The first is “girls married in an increasing older ages” they want to have more educational opportunities to fulfill they career dreams. They want to learn and grow. However, I know that in many places girls are expected to help their mothers to undertake lots of family workloads. So I was thinking is it possible to invent some devices that can help them learn while they work and develop some curriculums that fit their needs best?

The second is “urbanization”. Urbanization is taking place all over the developing countries. So many buildings are under construction and thousands of children will spend their school years in building sites. (I know in China there are new construction projects initiated every day and somehow many primary schools for children of migrant workers are being shut down, leaving thousands of children out of school) Migrant workers can be mobile and their children are hard to have constant access to education resources. So some social entrepreneurs use mobile buses to help children to learn.    

   

Ideas for the changing world

I believe this week's readings had little to say about social innovation for changing climates and the additional pressure of underprivileged nations.

The signs of a changing climate arouse interest from citizens around the world- but few as much as the Maldives. The small island nation is vacation home for many Europeans and Americans who loves the tranquil open ocean and endless beauty of being so far from bustling urban environments. Very few of those people are residents but for the 300,000 citizens it is troubling to be less than 2.5 meters above sea level at its highest point. Discussion around climate change to bring higher sea levels is a threat to the homes of Maldivians. Their resistance against mass migration to mainland India and the pressures of international development around carbon output are the rock and hard place which Maldivians struggle with. But these are not the only two solutions, Netherlands innovation company Waterstudio, has some input on future models of lifestyle.

 Not too different from the man made islands in the Emirates, Waterstudio proposes a model for floating water housing similar to something out of the movie Waterworld. Even this concept for a conference center in the Maldives is outside of our traditional views of architecture. This aquatecture hybrid works with water as a base and brings a possible solution for the problems faced by the island people. In a soft archipelago like the Maldives it would be a very long time until these types of designs are outdated by the height of the water between sea level and continental shelf. Because tourists love this location so much, these expensive buildings are a very realistic possibility for the nation's future. Climate change could bring some very drastic changes to the style of life, but innovation is the key for developing humanity through these challenges. While others stand to profit.

Change opens up a variety of opportunities. In Greenland, the gold exposed by the melting of the permafrost opens up many doors of possibilities for production and extraction. Some European nations are excited to begin extraction. Their are many untapped natural resources in the world's lands above 60 degrees of latitude. Hopefully these types of innovations bring enough benefit that we can wash out the losses brought on by serious climate change. My view on encouraging these types of innovations at the rate we would need to face drastic changes means creating a world economy which is extremely fluid, has very little switching costs and enormous benefits for those involved in the network of innovation and design. But there is so much more discussion to be had about that topic which is not been had and even more research to be done about the possible policy futures for a theoretical world of quick adaptation and low switching cost world economies.

Nature's Frugality

This post builds on the concept of frugal engineering discussed in two articles this week.  It applies the barriers to innovation that are explained in The Importance of Frugal Engineering to the American agriculture industry and suggests how "natural" farming strategies can be understood as a form of frugal engineering.  Joel Salatin, a nationally renowned farmer, is mentioned as an example.  Information about his farm can be found here: http://www.polyfacefarms.com.

"Constant expansion of features available to consumers in the developed world, frivolous or not, has provided many business with their riches profit margins.  Mature market customers continue to accept price premiums for new features, leading companies to over-engineer their product lines—at least from the point of view of the customer."

-The Importance of Frugal Engineering

Large capital investments in factories, specialized tools and reliable supply chains prevent large established producers and service providers from radically changing their products and services.  Consequently, they tend to compete with each other by adding extra features to their products and services.  Often, their innovations are targeted at increasing their firm's brand equity more than the core functionality of their product/service.  The point is that large capital investments entangle firms in a long term commitment to a product concept, a service delivery process or a market strategy.  New firms, which lack those commitments, can more easily innovate.

The trend over the last 60 years in American agriculture has been towards capital-intensive operations.  Tractors and combines have replaced draft animals and have grown larger and larger.  Industrially manufactured synthetic NPK fertilizers have replaced composted manure.  Computers and GPS systems facilitate more precise plowing, fertilizing, irrigation and harvesting.  These innovations have increased the division of labor, dramatically increased the productivity of a farmer and enable immense economies of scale.  However, increased fixed costs have lowered margins, necessitating massive production volumes to sustain profitability.  

Putting aside the fact that such intensive use of land is most likely environmentally unsustainable and potentially catastrophic, the trend in farming stifles innovation--the economies of scale create barriers to entry and the legacy investments in capital and regional agricultural infrastructure dissuade farmers from challenging the status quo.

Joel Salatin, an entrepreneurial and incredibly productive farmer in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, vehemently discourages new and small farmers from overcapitalizing their farm.  His model, which is argued to be the most productive by far in his county, uses pigs instead front-loaders in the spring to aerate the winter barn's 6 foot layer of compressed cow manure and bedding.  Instead of applying pesticides, he deploys an army of egg-laying chickens to eat the insect larvae that nest in 2-day old cow pies.  Instead of using a mechanical manure spreader common to large scale organic operations, he intensively manages the cows' migration through the fields and depends on the same chickens to spread the cow pies as they scratch them open looking for the larvae.

Yes, Salatin's margins are higher because he charges a premium for his "natural" meat products.  But they are also higher because his fixed costs are lower.  Leveraging the natural life cycle processes in agriculture is a form of frugal engineering that shows promise in the present and will be essential in a post-fossil fuel economy.  Currently, the legacy costs of large industrial farm operations stifle their incentive to radically innovate and create market entry barriers to new small farms.  As fossil fuel costs rise, leveraging nature's frugality will become more and more essential in farming. 

More than just a text message

Frontline SMS is a great example of how a low cost solution can deliver basic human needs—in this case, the need for communication that could be used to address any number of other issues—worldwide. 

 I initially read about Frontline SMS in the article “Dialing for Development” by David Lehr in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (Fall 2008), and was interested in learning more about the product’s applications. According to the product’s website, www.frontlinesms.com, Frontline SMS is a low-cost solution for overcoming barriers in communication worldwide. It is a software that allows users to send and receive mobile text messages with individuals or large groups. Because it operates via text message, Frontline SMS does not require an Internet connection, and all data associated with the program is stored on a computer rather than a server. Many NGO’s have used this technology to reach out to large groups of people at no cost. It was inexpensive to develop, it operates for free and—most importantly—allows people to easily communicate with each other regardless of their location. In developing countries that may lack a strong infrastructure for communication, ready access to a simple communication tool like this can make a huge impact.

It is when Frontline SMS is described in action that its benefits are truly demonstrated. A Case Study of the Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health’s use of the Frontline SMS technology is available here.

As discussed in the Case Study, the Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health used Frontline SMS to create a service called CycleTel, which gives women reproductive health information through easy-to-access text messages. CycleTel was implemented in India, providing this information and teaching women how to use it for family planning, so that they could avoid unprotected sex on the fertile days of their menstrual cycles. This birth control method (the Standard Days Method) is culturally acceptable in many developing countries, and “is directly addressing the global challenge of unmet need for family planning — a burden for 200 million women worldwide” (Frontline SMS Case Study, 2). To use CycleTel, women just have to complete a brief counseling session via SMS, and can then begin receive daily text messages with alerts of fertile days and other reproductive health information. Eventually, the IRH decided to build their own technology system to run CycleTel as they service grew, but the use of Frontline SMS was crucial to the program's development and success.

The CycleTel example highlights a key part of what makes Frontline SMS so accessible and innovative: it is easy enough to run and use that it appeals to people regardless of their familiarty with technology. Additionally, it can be customized to fit the values and needs of the communities where it is used.

This user map of Frontline SMS highlights the extremely wide geographic reach of the service.

What are some other applications for Frontline SMS to enhance communication and peoples' lives today?

Living in a Ground Plan

            After my post last week about Tata’s Nano, I was pleasantly surprised to see the company’s name appear once more: this time, in the housing development sector. However, when I started perusing Tata Housing’s website (http://www.tatahousing.in/index.php) I was left with more questions than answers. I wanted to learn more about Tata Housing’s low-income and sustainable housing options. What I saw on their website, instead, were professional renderings of architecturally-stunning houses and apartments that are being marketed to wealthier Indians. I naturally had to cross-reference the information, but it was difficult to get a clear picture of Tata Housing’s business plan.

            It appears that Tata Housing has focused primarily on luxury housing, instead of low-income housing. Even though some of its low-income projects are listed as “completed” on its website, there is very little proof or documentation of the projects’ successfulness. As noted in the 2010 article we were assigned in class, Tata Housing formed a partnership with Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC) in order to help Indians finance the purchase of these homes. On MHFC’s website (http://www.mhfcindia.com/index.html), there are links to the various “completed” housing projects that the company has financed. The links are either hit or miss – some show the facades of housing projects, others just reveal ground plans. Of course, MHFC states a disclaimer above the links: “MHFC is constantly screening projects which meet our parameters – essentially good quality, clear title, affordable housing, in urban areas (though please note that MHFC is not responsible for the quality and title of the properties - customers need to make their independent verifications of the properties).”

            Perhaps Tata Housing has encountered internal management issues that have delayed the construction of new projects. I am inclined to support this statement after viewing a LinkedIn group (“Tata Housing: New Haven Boisar – Flat owners Forum”) comprised of people who pre-purchased apartments. According to the owners, the project’s completion has been delayed by “labor shortages” and difficulties routing a water supply to the apartments. Many of the flat owners, who made the purchases in 2009 and 2010, have been told that they cannot move into their homes until the spring/summer of 2013. These flat owners most likely belong to India’s middle class, which, according to the article (http://www.fastcompany.com/1280149/tata-maker-2000-car-build-8000-apartments), makes between $6,000 and $10,000 each year. Even though I do not doubt that the tenants will be pleased with their new homes, once they are ready, Tata Housing has done a deplorable PR job (which not only affects their relationship with people who depend on their housing projects, but also affects their business with foreign investors that might want to support future projects).

            Regardless of the shortcomings of corporate housing developers, I am still interested in the innovative ideas that are being applied to make living in India more affordable and sustainable for the impoverished. While researching Tata Housing, I stumbled upon an idea by young architects Filipe Balestra & Sara Göransson. Balestra and Göransson have been developing a construction method that utilizes existing tenements in India’s slums. One of their renderings features an intriguing array of apartments created out of recycled materials and allow for kaccha houses (old temporary houses) to have additions built on top of them to make room for commercial, agricultural, and residential uses within a single unit. While this idea is extremely innovative, I struggled to find current kaccha houses that had undergone these changes. I suppose that, regardless of whether the innovators are wealthy housing developers or selfless architects, innovation requires consistent support and funding in order to make dreams realities.

Energy Solutions --> Let there be light!

As a follow-up to this week's The Economist article, "Power to the People", I would like to bring attention to a social enterprise that has achieved much in the way of providing affordable light sources in under-served communities.

Solar Sister eradicates energy poverty by empowering women with economic opportunity. Practically speaking, the organization sells light sources to women in rural Africa. When these women sell the energy efficient lamps in their community, they effectively become small-scale entrepreneurs and are empowered through the virtuous cycle of self-employment. To help with the learning process, Solar Sister also distributes 'start-up kits' which include inventory, training and marketing support for distributors. 

I came into contacs founder, Katherine Lucey. Katherine is very much an entrepreneur, and really believes in the empowerment of women in the international community through job creation as key to sustainable development.t with Solar Sister at the Harvard International Development conference, and was able to meet and talk to it

Solar Sister is all the more interesting because it overcomes the obstacle laid out in the article, namely that, unlike 'telephone ladies', the new-age 'lamp ladies' would have no immediate source of income with which to balance out the investment in the lamp. Solar Sister has found a way past this issue and is also seeing some great business returns from its social enterprise model.

My question for bloggers this week is: what other energy sources/generators can we harness and distribute in a small-scale entrepreneurial way? See here for the award-winning portable wind turbine.

"Business Needs A Citizen Sector"

I found myself thinking about the social effects that many innovations carry along with them. For example, I was especially interested in the Living Space: Housing Solutions For Developing Nations article because of my recent visit to India, where I was able to observe life in the slums. While many people live in structures that stand up and keep them dry, I agree with the concept of innovating these structures to make them more effective, especially in a way that contributes to social development. For example, the concept of building a wall to create 2 rooms makes the structure more modern while also providing the people who live there with potential social benefits. I saw many slums in which families of 7-10 people live in one shack. This slows down the social development of children significantly, as having their own personal/private space can be crucial for healthy development. 

It seems that one overall goal is to construct homes that not only allow the families to be healthy and safe in their homes, but also to help them escape poverty. Building homes that help develop children's individuality by giving them their own space is one aspect that will make them more successful in the workforce. I feel that this social aspect is understandably often brushed over when discussing solutions to basic human needs. However, as we progress towards creating sustainable solutions, I believe that any innovation that can make a person more well rounded and confident in the real world is an accomplishment in and of itself.

I am interested in hearing about more ideas/solutions that provide people with basic human needs while also socially and mentally preparing them to excel in their school/workplace.