Tag Archives: Haiti

Tradition is a thing of the past

Naomi Weiser | June 26, 2010
BLOGGER: JEFF BARAK Mobile money and mobile banking are seen by service providers in emerging markets as the top services they will be providing over the next half-decade, according to the recently published Connected World 2010: A survey of emerging markets. A classic example of the need for mobile money is Haiti, and not just because of the devastation of this year’s tragic earthquake, which destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure and financial systems, as well as most of the country’s copper network. Even before the earthquake, fewer than 10 percent of Haitians had ever used a commercial bank, according ... More >>

Helping the world in real time

Naomi Weiser | February 8, 2010
By: Jeff Barak The massive outpouring of aid to Haiti through text messages sent by US citizens for relief efforts provides yet another example of the power of the connected world. Over $25 million has so far been donated by text, far outpacing the charity’s previous record of $400,000 for emergency relief using similar technology. At one point, the Mobile Giving Foundation which organized the mobile donation network said it was receiving up to 10,000 text messages per second pledging $10 to the American Red Cross. Around one-fifth of all American Red Cross donations for Haiti have come from the ... More >>