sensors to track household energy usage, in order to understand how
energy use changes over time and how it contributes to higher standards
of living.
While all of the presenters were enthusiastic about the potential of
innovative data collection to improve development interventions, they
cautioned that obstacles still remain. One frequent comment was that
the cost of obtaining accurate and reliable data remains a point of
contention. As Mitra Ardon, CEO of Lumeter, mentioned, there may be
a tradeoff between investing in data collection and investing in other
aspects of product development or service delivery.
Yashraj Kahitan discusses GramPower and their work
on energy efficiency in India.
In bringing together these perspectives, the conference provided a space for experts to discuss how to reveal
demand, understand data, and better serve beneficiaries. The hope is that these discussions will enable new
technologies to rapidly evolve to meet the demand of consumers at the base of the economic pyramid.
DIL Explore Travel Grants:
Small Grants With a Large Impact
By Andrea Guzman, Blum Center Student Writer, and DIL Staff
This past year, the Development Impact Lab (DIL) at UC Berkeley launched a grant program, DIL Explore, to
jump-start new projects for international development. The Lab’s researchers and scholars can apply for
grants up to $5,000 to travel internationally for early-stage problem finding, to perform preliminary research,
and to establish on-location partnerships. Some awards have brought Indian
researchers to the U.S. to explore a new collaboration; others have brought U.S.
researchers to countries in Africa and Asia, or have supported domestic travel for
developing country researchers.
Will Tarpeh traveled to Nairobi,
Kenya to explore sanitation
business models.
Increasingly, faculty and students at leading universities are channeling their
energy and talents to tackle large-scale global challenges. For this commitment to
generate solutions, however, academics need to work closely with affected
communities and with external partner organizations to gain contextual insights
and expertise. A common challenge is that travel funds are typically available only
at later-stages of the solution design process. Yet products and services that have
been designed within the academic laboratory—without external input or testing—
risk wasting technical resources and theoretical expertise on non-existing needs, or
on solutions that are not sustainable. The DIL Explore Travel Grants act as a catalyst
for researchers to make these vital external connections and insights at the early
stages of ideation.
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