Urgent Evoke

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I am following a person called Iqbal Quadir

With GrameenPhone, he brought the first commercial telecom services to poor areas of Bangladesh. His latest project will help rural entrepreneurs build power plants.

The good work that he does (with his team):

As a kid in rural Bangladesh in 1971, Iqbal Quadir had to walk half a day to another village to find the doctor -- who was not there. Twenty years later he felt the same frustration while working at a New York bank, using diskettes to share information during a computer network breakdown. His epiphany: In both cases, "connectivity is productivity." Had he been able to call the doctor, it would have saved him hours of walking for nothing.

Partnering with microcredit pioneer Grameen Bank, in 1997 Quadir established Grameen Phone, a wireless operator now offering phone services to 80 million rural Bangladeshi. It's become the model for a bottom-up, tech-empowered approach to development. "Phones have a triple impact," Quadir says. "They provide business opportunities; connect the village to the world; and generate over time a culture of entrepreneurship, which is crucial for any economic development."

"GrameenPhone has increased the country’s GDP by a far greater amount than repeated infusions of foreign aid. "
The New Nation
How i plan to keep up with him:
TED constantly post blogs updating what is happening such as the sight below, through this sight you are also able to comunicate and ask questions indirectly. I am also going to follow on both Twitter and Facebook. Also He does a number of talks about the work that he does, hopefully i will be able to attend when the next UK talk is.

Views: 28

Comment by Ilaria on March 5, 2010 at 2:03pm
Hi Hannah! In the real world I study foreign aid. They create me a little frustration because they seem not to work but I love to read about micro-projects that make the difference!
Comment by Reid Falconer on March 5, 2010 at 2:51pm
That is a very good choice for a hero. I look forward to reading more of your blogs. I will award you +1 Courage
Remember: 'connectivity is productivity'
Comment by John Tsangaris on March 5, 2010 at 4:16pm
Hannah, this is a great person to follow. I believe that outside help can only help for so long, but true change must come from inside. That includes both a person and a society. His actions show that it takes only one to make a difference.
Comment by Elizabeth Merritt on March 5, 2010 at 4:44pm
Thanks for profiling Iqbal, Peri! His work is a great example of scaling up solutions to have a large impact. I have awarded you +1 Entrepreneurship for sharing this great example of that power.
Comment by Anupama Sharma on March 5, 2010 at 5:09pm
Hannah!! I like your example of solar cooker and thats very true for any culture, its never been good idea to ask people to shift from the 'way of living'
Thanks for connecting us to Iqbal great ventures , its great to hear the sucess stories of social entrepreneurship models
Comment by David Perner on March 5, 2010 at 5:14pm
The Grameen Group is one of my favorite development models and I'm always amazed at what they're able to do in countries that the rest of the world has written off. It's also strong evidence to me that the developing world has great use for advanced tech, and Muhammad Yunus has made the same "leap frog" argument himself.

In any event, good post, I look forward to more of them!
Comment by Monica Toth on March 5, 2010 at 6:30pm
Hello Hannah! Thank you for sharing this example of entrepreneurship and local connectivity! I had never heard of Grameen Phone before, but I love collecting stories of inspired individuals making huge differences in their communities. I'll try to remember this one.
Comment by John D. Boyden on March 5, 2010 at 6:33pm
Intriguing :) and where does that lead you?
Comment by Marko Kolovrat on March 5, 2010 at 7:15pm
Hey Hannah, thats a great example that story that happened to him is really interesting!
Comment by Deborah Cazden on March 5, 2010 at 7:55pm
What a great way to help the community. Communication is crucial in any group, and providing a means of communication in the rural population can only increase the quality of life within that community!

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