Internship with UN

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www.PosterPresentations.com
FINTECH RECOMMENDATIONS
• Updated statistics of key Mobile Finance
Service provider not available
• Research lacks focus on women and SME
• Internet penetration is a big problem
• Need more comprehensive FinTech policy
• Need clarity on digital currency
E-mail: shubhi_thakuria@berkeley.edu
Phone: +1-330-310-0789
Navigating FinTech and EdTech in the Asia Pacific: A Case of Bangladesh
By Shubhi Thakuria
The internship project was initially intended to explore the
interaction between women, small medium enterprises, and green
growth in the Asia Pacific. Once the project started, due to the lack
of data and interest of member nations, the scope of work was
modified to look into FinTech in the Asia Pacific with a focus on
Bangladesh. I also got the opportunity to work on another project
in EdTech in Bangladesh in collaboration with UNESCO.
CONTEXT
FinTech enables consumers to fulfill their financial needs online by digitally facilitating
financial services. Some of the common services includes: lending, saving, payment, and
remittance. Bangladesh had a population of approximately 166 million in 2018, and nearly
half of the people aged 15 or above lacked a bank account [1]. Globally, 3% of the 1.7 billion
unbanked people live in Bangladesh [2]. The rapid increase in the number of people with
mobile phones and internet subscription in Bangladesh as shown in Figure 2 has provided
new avenues for the country to bank its unbanked people and hence promote financial
inclusion [3,4]. The trends of account ownership are shown in Figure 1 [5]. There is a
significant rise in the people with accounts and mobile money accounts but the gender
differences are strikingly prominent in both the cases. The difference between males and
females with a bank account is 29 percentage points, and the difference between males and
females with mobile money accounts is 22 percentage points.
PROJECT 1: FINTECH - AN OPPORTUNITY TO BANK THE UNBANKED
Elements Brief tasks
Identify scope Prepare statement of work , Learn the work of
UNESCAP, Understand project goals, and
constraints, Arrange travel logistics
Identify
definitions
Literature review to identify the definitions,
Interview stakeholder, Identify theory of change
Focus areas Narrow the sub-regional focus in the Asia Pacific,
Prioritize from: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka)
Research
Question
Identify the key questions and areas of focus by
consulting various stakeholders
Qualitative
Research
Narrow the stakeholders, Interview them; Identify
and document cases
Partnerships Assess potential resource/data partners, Partner
with UNESCAP departments-Macroeconomic Policy
& Social Development department, Partner with
UNESCO for EdTech project
Quantitative
Research
Identify available datasets- JSTOR, World Bank
Data, IMF Data, Wiley Online, UN iLibrary,
ProQuest, Identify indicators of interest
Future work Phase 2 or not, Capstone or not
Out of Scope Actual data collection and data entry, Legal work,
Implementation or testing of any intervention,
Establishing formal partnerships with the project
stakeholders
SCOPE OF WORK
METHODOLOGY
Literature Review, Stakeholder Interviews, Database search, Trend
and market analysis, Data Visualization
INTERNSHIP
Bangladesh is a country in Southern Asia with a moderate literacy
rate of 72.76% [6] and low internet penetration rate of 13.2% [7] (as
of 2016). The increase in the number of internet subscribers as
shown in Figure 2 clearly demonstrates the demand for internet, but
it is not in conjunction with the supply of internet [8,9].
LINKING ICT AND EDUCATION- DATA GAPS FOR SDG 4
UN’S SDG 4 ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Bangladesh is one of
the early starter countries in the implementation of the SDGs. With
the support of UNDP, Bangladesh’s planning commission prepared
the 7th Five Year Plan (2016-2020) in coordination with the targets
of SDGs [10]. SDG 4 has a total of 10 targets with 11 indicators. The
planning commission study claims the partial availability of six
indicators, but, it does not point to the resource where it can be
found [11].
• Measurement SDG 4 indicators: The data pertaining to internet
and mobile phone subscribers was readily available but there is
still a dearth of data on quality education as listed in SDG 4. This
needs to be tracked and measured more concretely.
• Impact Evaluation: The evaluation of the key implemented
programs will help the government decide what worked and
what did not and hence achieve the SDG 4.
• Improvement in Internet Development Index and Inclusive
Internet Index: These internationally recognized indices could
help the country get an idea of its progress compared to other
nations in the region and march towards achieving SDGs.
PROJECT 2: EDTECH – PATHWAY TO BOOST LITERACY
Figure 1: Account ownership trends by gender and year in Bangladesh
Data Source: Findex 2017 by World Bank, Graph- Shubhi Thakuria
References:
[1] ww.worldometers.info/world-population/bangladesh-population/
[2]globalfindex.worldbank.org/sites/globalfindex/files/chapters/2017%20Findex%20full%20report_chapter2.pdf
Figure 2: Mobile Phone and Internet Subscriptions
Data Source: Bangladesh Government, Graph- Shubhi Thakuria
EDTECH RECOMMENDATIONS
CONTACT
About UNESCAP:
• Regional development arm of UN, established in 1947
• Covers 53 countries of Asia-Pacific
• Largest UN body in the region with over 600 staff
Department: ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction (IDD)
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Duration: May - July 2018
Key Deliverables: Policy Brief & Case Study for Research
[9]http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/internet-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2018
[10]https://info.undp.org/docs/pdc/Documents/BGD/SSIP_Annual_Report_2016-17.pdf
[3]www.btrc.gov.bd/content/mobile-phone-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2017
[4]www.btrc.gov.bd/content/internet-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2018
[5]www.worldbank.org/en/programs/globalfindex
[6]http://uis.unesco.org/country/B
[7]http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/
[8]http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/mobile-phone-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2017
[11]http://www.plancomm.gov.bd/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/SDG-DATA-
Gap-Final-Draft.pdf
• FinTech and EdTech are keys ways to
promote sustainable development in
developing nations
• Insights on work culture of United Nations
LEARNINGS