Michael Riggs
| Organization | FAO |
|---|---|
| Organization type | International Organization |
| Organization role |
.
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| Country | Italy |
| Area of Expertise |
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An enthusiastic member of the e-Agriculture Community since its founding, and a former Team Leader (lead facilitator). Active in the field of information and communication technologies for development. Currently a programme officer at the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (unapcict.org), supporting ICTD capacity development intiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. A member of the ICTD Collective and of Orbicom.
This member participated in the following Forums
Forum Forum: "Strengthening Agricultural Marketing with ICT" December, 2011
Question 11: Public-private partnerships
Immediately before this discussion there was another forum on e-Agriculture that focused on partnerships for mobile agricultural information services. There was a very rich discussion about many issues and examples of different types of partnerships. If you did not participate in that forum, I would encourage you to take a look at it. You may want to carry some of the key points forward here, brining in your own experience and perspective.
The forum is archived HERE. In the next few weeks GMSA Fund and e-Agriculture Team will be preparing a blog and report that synthesize the discussion. This could make a good resource for future ICT in Agriculture Sourcebook forums!
Forum Forum: "Mobile Information Services" November, 2011
Question 1: In a partnership between a mobile network operator and agricultural partners...
Adrian, thank you for this comment. Can you share an example of an agricultural partner that is providing all three functions in a relationship with a mobile network operator?
Another point about the importance of content type and periodicity.
Merci!
Eddie, we look forward to hearing more from you on the other topics in this forum. It's great to have the perspective of an entrepreneur in our discussion!
Question 5: What are the methods for sourcing appropriate content to be delivered to farmers, what standards...
A very good point made by Benjamin.
Looking forward to others' thoughts on this.
Question 4: How can a partnership model between a mobile operator and agricultural partners increase...
Jack, I'm sure that others will join in this thread soon! I hope you have found the conversation useful so far, and best of luck with your proposal.
Michael
Question 3: Is there a business case for serving poor rural smallholders...
Thanks to csshabong for this reply (which I am reposting due to a technical problem):
Boo means Build, Own Operate and BOOT means build, own, operate, transfer.
Bangladesh case is the grameen phone network, which is even used by people residing across the border areas in neighbouring India.
Also, what is "BOOT" and "BOO"? I'm not familiar with these terms.
Thank you!
Dear Stephane,
In developing these guiding questions with the subject experts, it was intended by “business case” to refer to service models that meet specific needs (that of the customer/user) and are ultimately financially viable.
There is not an intention to differentiate between a for-profit commercial enterprise and a social enterprise, which while not dispersing profits, is expected to be self-sustaining. Neither is it intended to indicate the two are the same, but rather not to exclude either, since both could have relevance to this discussion. (We are, however, differentiating these from a pure development model, something that requires external support in order to continue.)
If anyone feels that it is necessary to distinguish between a commercial enterprise and social enterprise, please do so in the discussion. The differentiation could be most enlightening.
Many thanks to all for their contributions to date.
Question 2: What are the barriers to reaching scale with mobile agriculture information services and...
Not wanting to be overly simplistic, but could we then say - all other issues held fixed - that this human desire to be independent in information access bodes well for these information services reaching a sustainable scale?