This is an excellent article that discusses a very unique solution to a problem that we are dealing with in the war zones and other places throughout the world. When companies subcontract with local guard companies for security, you often hear about how the managers screw over their guard force by skimming off the top of their pay. They do all sorts crappy things to their people, and it can do a lot of damage to the morale of the guard force.
The idea of mobile cash is about how the customer that pays for this guard service, can ensure that their contracted guard force is getting paid on time and in full via cell phone/text messaging.(read the article below for details) This is especially pertinent in war zones where telecom might be up and running, but not much else. Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq all have thriving telecom markets, and everyone has cell phones, and this is one more way to tap into this technology for the good of the company and mission.
In order to maintain the edge in this market of force, and not lose folks to the enemy or a competitor, you need to make sure every last penny you are spending on these guard contracts is accounted for. It also makes it very hard for your subcontracted field managers to take from the guards, which will also help in your market of force optimization. Anything you can do to minimize the potential for corruptive activities is a good thing.
Now on to some ideas with this ‘mobile cash’ concept that the authors could have expanded on. I have talked before about COIN and SMS, and this kind of cell phone payment system will make it easier to crowd source and spread messages. Some of the ideas I was thinking of is to offer bounties through the same system for any individuals that can locate wanted enemies or provide information. You could also provide bonuses to guards that participate in surveys. How about an english learning program, which would make it a game for guards to learn english? There are a ton of things you could ask the guards to do in order to get ‘feedback gold’ before they could collect their paycheck. I guess the point is, is just offering payment through this convenient service will be reward enough for anything you need them to do.
The other thing that you could do with this concept for government related services, is to constantly ask police, military, and government folks to identify issues that need to be addressed within their organizations–before they collect their paycheck via phone. You don’t want to piss them off by making them go through too many hoops, but you could definitely tap into all of these ‘human sensors’ throughout the organizations, and get a feel for what is going on and collect data.
I really like the commerce angle on this. If this mobile cash concept makes transactions more transparent with better record keeping, then that will make banks more accountable. Especially when you have dorks like Karzai’s family in charge of the Kabul Bank, and because they keep playing games and writing checks to all their friends, that now you have a bank in trouble. (and I will pull my hair out if the US bails out this bank…pfffft) Hell, if there was a way to bypass corrupt local banks and maybe use international banks or even try a telecom bank type system? Who knows, but either way the cell phone transaction will only add more record keeping to the whole thing.
Now for the future. I believe in several years, the smart phone market will catch up in these war zones. People might joke, but locals in the cities will purchase these things because they are status symbols. The car, motorcycle, satellite dish, cellphone, and the soon to become a hit ‘smart phone’ are all status symbols that locals in these countries want to have. These devices will also be within their reach just because there will be such a large supply of them throughout the world. The telecom industries in these countries will also do their best to keep up with this latest trend. That is just my thoughts on the future of this stuff.
Now imagine a local Afghan businessman with basically a computer in his pocket? The apps, the online payment systems of international banks, the social networking, all of it, will be available to these folks in developing countries. It will be wise for us to take advantage of this new reality, and develop strategic communications plan that utilizes these devices as a means to reach out. Good article and a big hat tip to the guys at Small Wars Journal for putting it out there. –Matt
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One Cell Phone at a Time: Countering Corruption in Afghanistan
by Dan Rice and Guy Filippelli
September 2, 2010
Download the full article: One Cell Phone at a Time
American commanders are preparing for a major offensive in Afghanistan to attack one of the most formidable enemies we face in country: corruption. Despite sincere efforts to promote governance and accountability initiatives, Afghanistan has slipped from 112th to158th place on Transparency International’s global corruption index. One reason the international community has been unable to effectively tackle corruption in Afghanistan is that our own reconstruction efforts perpetuate the problem. As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently acknowledged, “Corruption, frankly… is not all an Afghan problem.” Money appropriated to secure and stabilize the country is too easily siphoned and redirected as it changes hands, inevitably making its way to local powerbrokers, insurgent networks, and offshore bank accounts, rather than the individuals who need it most. One solution to this problem lies in the palm of our hands: the mighty cell phone.
When Americans first entered Afghanistan in 2001 there was little infrastructure and no banking system in an entirely cash economy. Nine years later it is still a cash economy and 97% of the country remains “unbanked”, but Afghanistan’s thriving telecom industry offers a way to minimize graft. From a standing start, Afghanistan now boasts a cellular network of 12 million cell phones in country of 28 million. Mobile technology is the largest legal, taxpaying industry in Afghanistan and the single greatest economic success story in the country since the fall of the Taliban. The existing network also offers a proven way to help defeat corruption.
Download the full article: One Cell Phone at a Time
Dan Rice is the President of Sundial Capital Partners. Guy Filippelli is the CEO and President of Berico Technologies. Both are West Point graduates who have served as Army officers in Iraq and Afghanistan respectively.
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Michael Yon wrote up a deal about the concept as well. Check it out here.