01.
Beam me up, Scotty!
By Alan Upstone | October 1, 2012
We can think of the model of mobile-enabled micro-actions for social impact like this:…
bottom-upmicro-actionsparticipationresources
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Articles
02.
Mobile phones in Africa
By Alan Upstone | October 4, 2012
Whilst the Western world is moving from desktops and laptops to mobiles, much of the developing world is going straight to mobile. As SayaMobile pointed out, 4.6 billion jumped to mobile without using PCs first. The prol…
Africamobile
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03.
Where's the money going?
By Alan Upstone | October 12, 2012
One estimate has two cents in every aid dollar reaching the beneficiary (source: Jeffrey Sachs).…
complexitycostintermediariesrisk
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04.
Bottom-up vs top-down
By Alan Upstone | October 15, 2012
Top-down is when some outsider at the top of the pyramid decides my life would be better if something changed in my world, like micro-finance debt available to me as a woman to buy my healthcare and participate as a free…
participationpyramid
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Funders demanding payment by results
By Alan Upstone | October 25, 2012
Increasingly, development project funds from the UK's DFID require demonstration of value for money and at least some element of RBCOD (results-based cash on delivery). Not only are these elements increasing in frequency…
DFIDECRBCOD
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Micro-actions in UK education
By Alan Upstone | November 7, 2012
The point is often made that traditional teaching strategies become increasingly ineffective for the mobile phone generation in the UK. Can we make a difference for young people here?…
learningmicro-actionsmobileUK
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Verifying micro-actions – how precise do we need to be?
By Alan Upstone | November 13, 2012
When I am in an area of relative poverty compared to my home country, I am sometimes aware that I am paying over the local market price or being in some way 'fiddled'. I have a souvenir from Koi Chang hanging in my kitch…
corruptionriskvalidationwastage
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The Trouble with Aid
By Alan Upstone | December 10, 2012
I watched the BBC's The Trouble with Aid with my wife, who does not work in development or humanitarian aid. She was very troubled by the issues. So was I, of course, all over again. I was impressed by the honesty of Dr …
beneficiariesengagementneed
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Unintended consequences. Thank you, Professor Hirschman.
By Alan Upstone | December 17, 2012
I was touched to learn that Albert Hirschman died on December 10th. He warned us about unintended consequences of development actions, for which I'm grateful. He also taught us how three mechanisms – exit, voice and loya…
micro-actions
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