[ba-unrev-talk] DevelopmentSpace
No doubt, you can tell I think the web pages listed below might be of great
interest to those two whom I am shipping this post. I have lots more
research to do here, but what follows might be a link into the future of
support for the kinds of projects we entertain. (01)
Jack (02)
http://developmentspace.com/
"DevelopmentSpace is a global social capital marketplace -- a radical new
platform for global development where all qualified Social Entrepreneurs,
Service Providers, and Social Investors in the world can design, finance,
and implement projects together. It is a web-based marketplace that will be
supplemented by physical events where participants meet face-to-face.
Foundations, corporations, official agencies and individuals can have their
own customized Spaces to solicit, evaluate, and support projects that fit
their objectives. " (03)
I got that link from the following link found at slashdot.org:
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/02/fallows.htm (04)
"Whittle and Kuraishi next persuaded the Bank to hold a two-day fair, with
applications accepted from anyone who wanted to come and present an idea.
More than 1,100 groups, from eighty countries, sent proposals. The heart of
the program was letting people who knew firsthand about a local need or
dream—a well, a road, a small business—explain what the money could do. A
group of war widows in Bosnia, for example, offered a plan for a small,
high-end knitting operation. The World Bank brought more than 300 finalists
to Washington; and the forty-four winners got grants averaging just over
$100,000 and totaling about $5 million. (The war widows won, and now they
are prosperous, selling their output mainly to fashion houses in Europe and
the United States.) (05)
Electronic publicity explains the tenfold increase in applications. "Once
this idea gets into e-mail circulation, it is amazing how fast it gets
around the world," Whittle told me. "People who didn't have Internet access
were contacted by those who did and encouraged to try. One Turkish guy was
strutting around like a proud father at a Phi Beta Kappa ceremony—five of
the finalists had found out about the program from him." (06)
Whittle and Kuraishi thought that if the concept worked despite the
real-world impediments of getting applicants to one place at one time, it
would work all the better if it were also implemented electronically. In
2000 they resigned from the Bank, and just as the Internet economy was
beginning to falter, they created an online company, Development Space,
which began operation last month. Like eBay, it is meant to let the
"market"—in this case for development aid—clear at minimum cost and with
little or no bureaucratic interference. People who want money—for vaccines,
for an orphanage, for a small factory—can prepare online descriptions of
their projects, with help from advisers, if necessary, in drawing up
business plans. Foundations and government aid agencies that intend to give
money—but also individuals who will give, say, $250 if they think it will
help—survey the projects and decide which to support. Various inspection
and feedback systems will establish a track record, as on eBay, and follow
up to see how the money was used. (07)
A number of environmental foundations have approached Development Space to
explore using this platform to find projects to support. If America's past
wars are any guide, huge amounts of recovery assistance will soon be headed
to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and who knows where else. This model could be a
lower-cost, better-targeted way of getting it there." (08)