The Value of Non-Real-Time IT Systems for Rural Communities
Rich Fletcher
MIT Media Lab
In discussing the deployment of ICT technologies in developing
countries, much of the discussion is dominated by the use of real-time
communications technologies such as mobile phones or Wi-Fi. In this
talk, I describe the value of NON-real-time ICT technologies and show
the merits of these technologies over the real-time counterparts. I
also discuss how we have applied these principles to create a
sustainable for-profit company (First-Mile Solutions and United Villages) which is
currently operating in rural India as well as Cambodia.
Rich Fletcher is a post-doc at the MIT Media Lab, specializing
in wireless communications and sensor technologies, many of these
motivated by the needs of developing countries. Rich is also an
active entrepreneur and is co-counder of several ventures including:
First-Mile Solutions, United Villages, and TagSense, Inc.
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