Globalization

Globalization has become a large part of the world especially in present day. Things like the economy, communication, medicine, and much more are affected by globalization both positively and sometimes negatively as well. More recently technology has spread across the world like wildfire. There are many negative aspects to how technology has been spread globally but there are positives that will shock you. In an article called Ubiquitous Across Globe, Cellphones Have Become Tool for Doing Good, by Esha Chhabra, a writer for New York Times writes about how the spread of the use of cellphones globally is actually saving, and changing lives. The article includes information about a company that was created by college students that allows people in third world countries to find fresh water. Chhabra states, “The World Health Organization estimates that more than 700 million people do not have access to clean drinking water and over 2.5 billion have no access to toilets. Yet according to the International Telecommunications Union, 96 percent of the world is connected via cellphone — which is why it has become a means of doing good” (nytimes.com). With this knowledge, students have created a system, like an application on an iPhone, with very cheap cellphones, where people can find fresh water within walking distant from them. Chhabra writes, “..graduate students at Stanford University developed software, M-Maji, to map clean water stations in Kibera, Kenya, a dense urban slum in Nairobi” (nytimes.com). She relates the system to the Gas Buddy App which helps people find the closest, and cheapest gas by using their phones. This is just the first positive outcome of the globalization of cellphones. It does not end here. The next positive outcome Chhabra speaks about is a credit score company for the poor. Chhabra writes, “Shivani Siroya, an advocate and entrepreneur who splits her time between Los Angeles and Mumbai, is using mobiles to create “credit scores” for the poor. Ms. Siroya took inspiration from the free personal finance management site Mint.com to create a tool for customers in southern India without bank accounts or financial histories” (nytimes.com). Siroya sells her product to different companies who want to promote the 400 million unbanked citizens in India. The person uses the cell phone to log in their daily expenses through a text message, which creates a financial record. Chhabra writes, “Since starting the enterprise in 2010, she has collected 614,426 financial records and expanded to South Africa and Kenya. Her “company” is a hybrid model: a mix of private capital and grants, including $100,000 each from the Vodafone Americas Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the telecom giant Vodafone, and the United States Agency for International Development” (nytimes.com).