Counting the Uncounted: Reaching New Markets
Mobile Metrix employs youth in underserved communities of developing countries to collect demographic data door-to-door using handheld technology while distributing critical products.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
Your idea
Year initiative/program began:
2005
Field of work
Other
If Field of Work is "Other" please define in 1-2 words below (and explain in detail in the entry form):
Across multiple fields
Service / Activity focus (If "other" please explain in entry form)
Delivery Method
Year organization founded (yyyy)
2007
YouTube Upload
Project URL
Positioning of your initiative on the Mosaic of Solutions™ diagram:
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Lack of access to markets or products
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Aggregate demand or supply to influence market
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
This field has not been completed. (333 words or less)
Name Your Project
Counting the Uncounted: Reaching New Markets
Describe Your Idea
Mobile Metrix employs youth in underserved communities of developing countries to collect demographic data door-to-door using handheld technology while distributing critical products.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Mobile Metrix employs youth in underserved communities of developing countries to collect demographic data door-to-door using handheld technology while distributing critical products.
Describe what makes your idea unique—different from all others in the field.
* Assuring accurate, fast, secure & economical bottom-up approach to identifying community needs
* Employing local, community youth-at-risk which provides quick and easy access to hard-to-reach (and often dangerous to reach) consumers
* Deploying handheld technology to expedite and centralize data collection
* Offering on-the-doorstep education and product delivery (community-based product distribution network)
* Engaging the entire 'eco-system' of private sector, community, NGOs, academia and governments
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
Implementation is best demonstrated by example since Mobile Metrix addresses multiple social issues (e.g.: lack of healthcare, credit, information/education). For instance, one Mobile Metrix project is eradicating dengue in the inner-city ‘favelas’ of Rio de Janeiro where the 2008 epidemic infected over 250,000 people, killing more than 100. As there is no cure or vaccination for this fatal mosquito-carrying virus, Mobile Metrix launched “Project Dengue: Education & Prevention.” Local youth (“Mobile Agents”) were selected, hired and trained to collect demographic data door-to-door using handheld technology in their communities. Information gathered identified what residents knew and did not know about dengue and its prevention. They were then invited to a seminar in their community to learn more from the City’s dengue specialist which included videos and much Q&A. Residents were then given anti-mosquito repellent, offered by Johnson & Johnson. This same model can be implemented across multiple social issues (e.g.: distribution of diabetes monitoring devices, micro-loans to small community businesses).
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how did you create them?
Partners:
*IBM
*Palm
*Stanford University
*Pontifícia Universidade Católica
Operating Partners:
* Johnson & Johnson
* City Government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Supporting Partners:
* Echoing Green
* W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Mobile Metrix first identified ‘best of breed’ partners to assist in fulfilling its mission: A market research organization partnering with governments, NGOs and private companies to gather demographic information and improve the distribution of critical products and services to ‘base of the pyramid’ populations. Most important, was developing partnerships that delivered upon this promise while creating a win-win for all of our public-private partners.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (nonprofits, NGOs) , Private sector , Public sector (government).
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
The impact of Mobile Metrix is multi-faceted:
* Increased Health, Information Access, Credit Access
* Increased Employment
* Increased Visibility about Community Needs
* Increased Product Delivery/Distribution
* Increased Transparency
* Increased Positive Role Models
* Increased Job Transition from Drug-Trafficking to "Mobile Agents"
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation.
* Identifies the greatest needs per community and household
* Gives community's a voice
* Creates jobs by employing community youth-at-risk ("Mobile Agents")
* Delivers vital, often life-saving, information and products to the heads of households (decisiomakers)
* Data collected provides a community profile that is used in funding applications for community projects
* Develops technology skills and employment experience among youth
* Raises self-esteem of youth "Mobile Agents"
* Builds community awareness
Does your innovation address and/or change banking regulations?
The Mobile Metrix community-based method of information collection about small community businesses can have an impact/influence on standard banking practices - in particular, credit assessment/evaluation, access and even delivery.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit from your innovation?
The 4 billion living at the "base of the [economic] pyramid" will benefit. These people are spread across more than 120 developing countries.
Note: There is an estimated 7 billion people in the world across 150 countries.
For example, in "Project Dengue" mentioned under 'implementation' above, more than 1200 community residents (or 300 families) were impacted within 2 months (with in-depth dengue education & access to anti-mosquito product).
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Financing source
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Mobile Metrix projects are financed through foundation grants ("seed" funding) and private sector contracts. We expect government contracts to supplement our financing in the near future.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization:
This field has not been completed. (166 words or less)
What are the main financial barriers and how do you plan to address them?
This field has not been completed. (83 words or less)
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative?
Building and executing a social franchise model in order to scale/replicate more rapidly into other developing countries.
The Story
Please select one
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to the creation of this innovation? Tell us the story.
What sparked my drive to make a difference in this world first came alive for me while I was a 20-something Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa. Seeing that not everyone in the world had access to basic human needs (food, water, shelter, healthcare) filled me with resolve to do what I could to change that. In subsequent work/travels in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, I realized the world was full of such people, uncounted people. And though they were on the beneficiaries or targets of foundation grants, NGO service or private sector products, they were still a big unknown....from their levels of education, their income, employment, health conditions or even their numbers. How can you serve a population if you don't know who they are? How can you reach them if you don't have access? Accurate information is the fundamental 1st step to solving ANY social problem. Today, this moment of discovery fuels our Mobile Metrix work. Bringing visibility to the uncounted and their realities, giving a voice and connecting those who have resources/products with those that need them the most.
Please provide a personal bio of the social innovator behind this initiative.
Melanie Edwards has had significant experience in both the private and public sectors, having worked at J.P. Morgan, AT&T and the International Data Group as well as the United Nations Information Technology Service. She received her BA from Washington University and MA in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Melanie is a former Peace Corps volunteer and Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University, where she is currently an affiliate professor of Social Entrepreneurship.
a) Please identify the individuals that your innovation benefits (Please check all that apply)
Producers , Consumers , Holders of assets.
b) Do you help the people you serve to buy goods or services using financial innovation? If so, how?
This field has not been completed. (166 words or less)
c) Do you help the people you serve to sell goods or services using financial innovation? If so, how?
This field has not been completed. (166 words or less)
 | 184 weeks agoThais Barros said: Melaine, First, I´d like to congratulate you for the innovation of your project and thank you for your participation in this ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 184 weeks agoThais Barros said: Melaine, Primeiramente, gostaria de parabenizá-la pela inovação de seu projeto e também agradecer pela participação nessa competição. ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
