****Project 2A: Lab for Inclusive FinTech (LIFT): Building an Inclusive and Sustainable Digital Economy ___ ****Project 2B: LIFT, Blockchain Solutions for Vulnerable Populations: Use Cases and Applications
Paul Gertler, Professor
Business, Haas School
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2023 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2024.
***In your application, please indicate whether you are interested in project 2A or 2B
- 2A, LIFT: general comms, events, and website support
- 2B, LIFT: Blockchain white paper
The Lab for Inclusive FinTech (LIFT) is a new and exciting initiative housed at the Institute for Business and Social Impact at Haas.
LIFT seeks a creative, ambitious, and mission-driven student with strong communication skills and a passion for economic development and FinTech to help take LIFT"s media and policy engagement strategy to the next level. Students will have the opportunity to interact with industry, NGO, and research leaders and contribute to fostering a healthy, inclusive, and sustainable digital economy.
• LIFT links academic researchers with industry partners and policymakers to reimagine the design and reach of digital financial services for unbanked, underserved, and vulnerable populations around the world by tackling the complex barriers to financial inclusion leveraging technology.
• LIFT functions as a real-world lab. It forges partnerships with industry, NGOs, and policy makers, leading to the formulation of bottom-up questions/problems and solutions. It combines rigorous evaluation and frontier research with Fintech, big data, and AI.
LIFT’s three pillars:
(1) Research: high-quality impact evaluations and advanced data analytics
(2) Strengthening Community of Practice: field-building though careful designed field experiment to design, test, solutions for and in collaboration with industry/governments partners
(3) Facilitate Innovation and Experiential Learning: train the next generation of leaders in fintech to ensure diversity and inclusivity is the cornerstone of the industry
LIFT places a strong emphasis on new technologies (Fintech, Insurtech, and, Blockchain Applications) designed
(1) to support, grow, and ensure financial inclusion by removing constraints and creating opportunities for individual and SMEs/firms at the bottom of the pyramid
(2) to enable and promote sustainable development, green growth, and social impact: sustainable digital finance, impact investing, climate fintech etc.
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Project 2B: Blockchain Solutions for Vulnerable Populations: Use Cases and Applications
The goal of this project is to co-author a white paper on existing and promising blockchain and decentralized finance use cases designed to enhance lives of vulnerable and traditionally excluded or underserved populations. The focus includes those that enhance financial inclusion (e.g., access to credit, digital payments, digital identity, social protection etc.), better deliver aid, expand public good delivery and citizen participation, etc.
The project will be organized in three parts.
1. Review and summarize use cases relevant to marginalized, low income, and underserved populations
2. A comprehensive and rigorous literature review to determine knowledge frontiers and status quo in the field and a careful analysis of the potential benefits and drawbacks of each use case, based on rigorous and credible evidence/evaluations
3. An engineering focused portion of this project, covering a technical review of blockchain technology aimed at understanding what features work and do not work for our target population; what are barriers (technological and design-based) to make the use of these technologies work for underprivileged/underserved population; and what is necessary for a solution for vulnerable populations.
Among others, this entails reviewing various existing products in the blockchain and other digital financial technology work – looking at security, sign-in, accessibility, tech requirement, usability, and design among others, and presenting a thoughtful discussion of the technology to highlight features/design that make a solution work or not work, in addition to features that were not seen but could become recommendations for practitioners to focus on building in the future.
The white paper will be valuable input for researchers aiming to study the social impact of these new blockchain solutions for vulnerable populations in advanced and developing economies, but it should also serve as a guide for industry partners, NGOs, and government officials as they design and deploy these new solutions to serve underserved communities.
Role: ****Project 2A: Roles and Qualifications
- Write timely and exciting blog posts/policy notes with quick turnarounds
- Develop multimedia content, disseminate through social media, monitor press coverage, and support website operations
- Support event planning (conference, round tables etc) and promote event on social media. These event will feature leaders and innovators in the FinTech, Policy Makers, and Researchers
- Develop web content for LIFT and related initiatives' websites
- Track web and social media analytics and report metrics
**** Project 2B: Roles and Qualification
- Advanced writing skills with precise, clear, and vibrant language
- Relevant communications experience and a demonstrated interest in evidence-based policy-making and related economics topics (e.g., fintech, economics, behavioral economics, and economic development, public policy etc.)
- Strong ability to anticipate, plan, prioritize, and meet deadlines
- Capacity to handle multiple projects at once, effectively manage time, and interface confidently with co-workers
- Self-motivated, detail-oriented, hard worker who enjoys working in teams
- Demonstrate professionalism and discretion, exhibit good judgment when sharing news and information publicly
- Familiarity with app development and UI
Qualifications: ****Project 2A
- Advanced writing skills with precise, clear, and vibrant language
- Relevant communications experience and a demonstrated interest in evidence-based policy-making and related economics topics (e.g., fintech, economics, behavioral economics, and economic development, public policy etc.)
- Strong ability to anticipate, plan, prioritize, and meet deadlines
- Capacity to handle multiple projects at once, effectively manage time, and interface confidently with co-workers
- Self-motivated, detail-oriented, hard worker who enjoys working in teams
- Demonstrate professionalism and discretion, exhibit good judgment when sharing news and information publicly
- Flexible and able to adapt to change
- Eye for design and style, both in web and in print
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Project 2B:
Advanced writing skills with precise, clear, and vibrant language
- Relevant communications experience and a demonstrated interest in evidence-based policy-making and related economics topics (e.g., fintech, economics, behavioral economics, and economic development, public policy etc.)
- Strong ability to anticipate, plan, prioritize, and meet deadlines
- Capacity to handle multiple projects at once, effectively manage time, and interface confidently with co-workers
- Self-motivated, detail-oriented, hard worker who enjoys working in teams
- Demonstrate professionalism and discretion, exhibit good judgment when sharing news and information publicly
- Familiarity with app development and UI
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Laura Chioda (Director of Research), Staff Researcher
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Social Sciences Engineering, Design & Technologies