Feb 5, 2015 | Businesses, IVR (interactive Voice Response), Market Research, SMS, Surveys, Uncategorized
For an updated discussion, read this recent comparison between SMS and Voice for data gathering in Indonesia. We live and work in the Philippines, which has been dubbed the “Text messaging capital of the world.” So we are very familiar with the power of 160...
Jan 29, 2015 | Announcements, Businesses, Social Impact, Uncategorized
If you’re reading this, you’re one of the 40% of people in the world with access to the Internet. Humanitarian groups, online businesses, and tech loving individuals are all vying to bring the Internet to the 60% currently offline. But meanwhile, a conversation about...
Dec 17, 2014 | Announcements, Social Impact
Barely one year after Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) devastated the Philippines, another Super Typhoon – named Hagupit but known in the Philippines as Ruby – was headed down the same path. The storm did slow down and was categorized as a category 3 typhoon, but it retained...
Dec 3, 2014 | Social Impact, Technology
If you’re reading this, you’re part of the 40% of the world’s online population. While it may be hard for you to remember a time before you answered all unknown questions with, “Just google it,” 4.4 billion people have never used a search engine. In depth studies on...
Nov 12, 2014 | Social Impact
Last November (2013), Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) ravaged the province of Leyte and other nearby parts of the Philippines, killing thousands. Many more were displaced, lost all of their possessions, and were stricken even further into poverty. As part of the recovery...
Nov 6, 2014 | Social Impact, Technology
In 2014, when mobile phones globally outnumber toilets, it seems pretty obvious that technology will have a major impact on an international public health crisis like Ebola. But obviously, not all approaches are equal. A recent amusing example was when a United...
Oct 23, 2014 | Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Impact
According to UNESCO, “Literacy is universally linked with poverty reduction, economic growth and wealth creation.” If you’re interested in development, poverty reduction, healthcare, and essentially any global social justice issue, you’re sure to agree that improving...
Sep 10, 2014 | Social Impact, Technology
In late August, brilliant minds and passionate hearts from around the globe gathered in Cebu, Philippines for the second annual “Geeks on a Beach” conference. engageSPARK founder and CEO, Ravi Agarwal, hosted a panel on social enterprises. Instead of the standard...
Aug 21, 2014 | Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Impact, Uncategorized
A couple of years ago, I was chatting with a college friend who, like me, is passionate about entrepreneurship, tech, and combating social injustice. “Microfinance is the key,” he said. “You help women, you end poverty.” I think most of us have moved past that...
Aug 14, 2014 | engageSPARK Platform, Monitoring and Evaluation, SMS, Social Impact, Uncategorized
When I tell people about engageSPARK’s cool ability to “personalize” SMS messages – for example, automatically inserting each recipient’s first name at the beginning of each message when sending out 1,000 text messages – they generally respond with, “That’s awesome!...
