Drew Cogbill | Thesis Blog

Amida Simputer is a simple handheld computer for use in developing regions.  It has multiple UI options, takes handwriting input, and is multilingual.

Lab-on-a-card is diagnostic device for use by health care workers with little training.  It quickly tests for enteric infection.  They’re also working on cards to test for sexually transmitted diseases and fever illnesses.

Text free user interfaces aims to make computer usage accessible for those who are non-literate (from Microsoft India, see previous post).

Need to spend some time looking at Microsoft’s Research team in India, specifically their Technology for Emerging Markets, even more specifically:

• Financial service delivery to the poor and technology - which is looking into how those who live in poverty access financial services
• Warana unwired - which replaced PCs with phones using an SMS gateway for a rural sugarcane coop
• The use of ICTs by small and informal businesses - which looking into information and communication habits of micro-businesses (businesses with less than 5 people)
  
• The digital studyhall - which is “Netflix + YouTube + Kazaa”