About FDC
The Foundation for Development Cooperation is an independent, not-for-profit international development organisation. Through alliances and partnerships, FDC undertakes a range of initiatives which seek to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries.
Subscribe
Subscribe to FDC’s mailing list to receive the FDC Briefing Note, and regular updates on events, publications and news.
Donate Now
Help us continue vital work in sustainable development and poverty reduction
FDC RSS Feed
The FDC website now supports RSS Feeds, broadcasting news headlines to all readers. To add the FDC RSS Feed to your reader, please press on the RSS button (orange) next to ‘FDC Headlines’ on the homepage (above).
Information and Communication for Development
New and improved technology is increasingly seen as a key strategy in growing financial inclusion in developing countries. Innovations such as smart card services, biometric technology and mobile phone banking have become as well established in some contexts. The future of e-banking will most likely continue to see a roll-out of ICT-enabled systems with the aim of improving operational efficiencies, decreasing transaction costs and increasing outreach to rural and secluded areas.
- Ongoing involvement in regional and global networks:
-
Providing ongoing support to the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), serving as the East Asia Coordinator.
-
Working to progress E-banking opportunites via Banking with the Poor Network (BWTP), Microfinance Pasifika Network (MFPN) and the Oceania Regional Window, as part of the Global Development Network (GDN)
- Maximising the development impact of broadband internet access in rural areas (i.e. Porgera, Enga Province, PNG) with the aims to provide assistance to community organisations, to evaluate development impact, and, ultimately, to replicate the Shared Communications Facility model in other locations in PNG.
- Promoting wider and more effective use of multi-stakeholder partnerships, as part of the GKP Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Program, to harness the potential of ICT and address development challenges. This was done by conducting wide analysis of model case studies and documenting effective partnerships and practices.
- Developing a sustainable telecentre model for PNG and the Pacific contexts. FDC worked with HELP Resources to enhance their efforts to exploit online income-earning opportunities through its community telecentre.
- Establishing an online resource centre (Pacific Telecentre Online Community (PacTOC)) in collaboration with IDRC and UNESCO. The PacTOC is a regional online knowledge-sharing website for grassroots telecentre projects, aiming to support the establishment and replication of development-oriented, community telecentres in the Pacific.
- Preparation of a ICT4D global databse for GKP wit 750 organisations and companies from around the world working on ICT4D.
- Publication of ICT4D research on key topics relevant to thte Asia-Pacific Region. Themes include: ICT for poverty reduction in Asia; electronic banking with the poor; and, increased outreach and sustainablity of microfinance through ICT innovation.
- Supporting Mobile Phone Banking, by mapping mobile phone banking initiatives globally, including M-Banking in all microfinance-related initiatives and conferences, and ensuring M-Banking is an important part of APEC's financial inclusion initiative.