[May 23, 2013]

Inclusive Innovation & Decentralized Mobile Commodity Exchange Platforms Are Key to Economic Empowerment in Developing Economies

Mobile technology is growing rapidly worldwide with emerging markets outpacing developed economies in adoption rates. Julius O. Akinyemi, Entrepreneur-In-Residence at MIT's (News - Alert) Media Laboratory and keynote speaker for the upcoming innovation conference CLAB 2013 explains the need for innovation and technology to attain economic development.

"A nation that does not have innovation as an essential strategy cannot reinvent itself in an ever changing world," he says. "Such nations will be left behind and could die a slow death." Mobility has eliminated the isolation of rural communities and opened their doors to global trade participation.

Akinyemi will be speaking on the opportunities for businesses and institutions to leverage this low cost and highly efficient channel of contact in depth during CLAB 2013, the international innovation conference created by the Federation of Latin American banks (FELABAN) and organized by FIBA, the International Bankers Association of Florida to be held in Miami in Sept.

According to a report on trends for smartphones and mobile devices in Latin America:

• Smartphone sales in Latin America will grow at record levels in the next five years, both in terms of unit sales and as a percentage of total handset sales¹.
• By 2016, one out of every two mobile handsets sold in Latin America will be a smartphone².

While Latin America has seen a significant growth in innovation, the region needs to embrace inclusive innovation. "This will encourage local talents to build practical solutions to local challenges and find a way to incubate them for success," said Akinyemi.

However, the Global Innovation Index 2012 revealed no country in Latin American, with the exception of Chile, ranks among the world's 50 innovation leaders. Rankings in the world: United States: 10^th, Chile: 39^th, Brazil 58^th, Colombia 65^th, Uruguay 67^th, Argentina 70^th, Peru 75^th, Guyana 77^th, Paraguay 84^th, Bolivia 114^th & Venezuela 118^{th 3}.

"The challenge I see is high cost of access," Akinyemi points out. "We can do better on low cost smart phones and network access."

The FELABAN-FIBA CLAB event as a valuable platform to discuss challenges and explore industry solutions together.

^{1 & 2} Report: Key Trends for Smartphones and Mobile Devices in Latin America, LATAM Telecom

³ Global Innovation Index 2012, done jointly by the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the France-based INSEAD business school.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]