Reflection by HANNAH W.
Original TED page w/ speaker bio, links, comments, etc
Iqbal Quadir: Mobiles Fight Poverty
In this TED talk, Iqbal Quadir talks about how he conquered poverty in his hometown of Bangladesh. He conquered this battle by creating phones for the community. GrameenPhone became the first commercial communication services for poor areas of his community.
When I first saw this video, I was confused and I was trying to grasp all of the terms and the things that can lead to economical poverty. I had to keep watching it to get a grasp of what he means.
He stated “the best way to improve these countries is to recognize that economic development is of the people, by the people, for the people.” I agree with this because, if their needs are not met or focused on, then the development will not grow. He also stated that “If citizens can network and make themselves more organized and productive, so that their voices are heard, so then things would improve.” I think that they could but some don’t have the technology to do so. Another factor is that some countries governments do not care about the citizens of their country or their needs.
An example he uses is the Internet and the United States. He says that the United States. He says that the Internet was successful because Americans owned computers. I believe that is true and that it can produce more economic growth in other countries because its a need. If a country doesn’t need it than there is no improvement. Mobiles are the need in Bangladesh. However, they are not in America because majority of the citizens own a phone. I think that countries that already have the technology can grow economically by helping other countries that have less technology. An item that has been on the market in a country, lets say America for example. The item may not be popular anymore because everyone owns it and the price goes down. However, in other countries it will sell productively, because it is harder to get that particular item. Altogether the price goes up, increase in demand, economic growth rate improves and poverty is shortened.
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