iuMAP pools poverty projects
Image via iuMAP
There are thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of projects in the works across the world that help alleviate poverty, but finding them so they can be utilized can be problematic. A new project called iuMAP, however, is fixing the issue by tracking and mapping all the market-based solutions projects around the globe. Already, 300 are listed and the organization hopes to triple that number by year's end.
World Changing writes that Ayllu is an organization that collects data from BOP ("bottom of the pyramid" or the 2.5 billion people who live on less than $2.50 per day) social enterprises worldwide, analyzes it, and distributes it via iuMAP. They're hoping iuMAP will be the world's largest directory of BOP social enterprizes around, centralizing information so that the social enterprise community can learn from one another's successes and failures.
But even more importantly, Ayllu is hoping iuMAP can help social enterprises scale up to spread their assistance to millions more people than otherwise possible.
Within just a few months, Ayllu plans for iuMAP to "feature more data and analysis tools. We will map geographies and industries, and topic-specific maps. The first two will focus on microenergy (analyzing data from 20 leading enterprises) and the market ecosystem in Brazil (scope and opportunity). Over time, you will be able to use iuMAP to filter data and best practices of social enterprise with tools similar to Hans Rosling's Gapminder."
Ayllu points out that the solutions to solve major problems revolving around poverty already exist -- it's just a matter of pooling efforts, rather than everyone struggling individually.
Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this
