Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund

Perspectives on By Naeem Azam

Senior Volunteer

Innovation.
October 5th 2015
Islamabad, Pakistan

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 My background
❖ Naeem Azam - Born, educated and live in London
❖ 18 years experience in the IT sector [Support,
Architecture and Process Improvement]
❖ Married and have one son - who is going through the
“WHY?” phase of life !
❖ I am not an Innovation “expert” or any other type of
expert - I find strategy and innovation interesting!

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 Interest in the Charity Sector
❖ I am a Trustee for a charity my late Father set up charity Adam
Khan Muslim Trust for poverty alleviation in Mitha Tiwana,
Khushaab.
❖ I am a Trustee for Al-Gilani Trust - providing free Health Care
Facility in Kanyat Khalil (Gujar Khan)

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 Interest in the Charity Sector

❖ Established a charity called Sidq Foundation

www.sidqfoundation.com in 2014
❖ We have raised just under £100,000 for poverty alleviation
in Amman, Jordan for local Jordanians and Syrian Refugees
in Amman.

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 Expat Pakistani Community UK

❖ According to the 2001 Census, 13.8 per cent of Pakistanis

living in Great Britain were in managerial or professional
occupations
❖ Some Pakistani communities in London and the south-east
are said to be "fairly prosperous”
❖ It was estimated that, in 2001, around 45 per cent of British
Pakistanis living in both inner and outer London were middle
class

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 Registering PPAF in UK
❖ Charities benefit from a number of financial advantages, including
exemptions from:
❖ income or corporation tax on some types of income
❖ inheritance tax on gifts made in wills
❖ Give donors and beneficiaries confidence that your charity is
legitimate and working within a regulatory regime
❖ Register with HMRC for Gift Aid
❖ Gift Aid is a simple way to increase the value of your gift to PPAF - at
no extra cost to you
❖ If you pay tax in the UK, PPAF can reclaim the basic rate tax (25%) on
your gift. So, if you donate £100, it is worth £125 to PPAF
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Registering PPAF in UK - Hurdles
❖ A physical address is a must. A PO Box number is not adequate.
❖ Not immediately, but in due course (soon after registering) a UK
bank account will be required for PPAF.
❖ When opening a bank account there is a requirement for signatories
to the bank account to present themselves at the bank in person,
with proof of address and identification (e.g. utility bill and
passport)
❖ Above points were garnered in an initial discussion - is it expected
there may be some other challenges which we will have to be
overcome also.

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Innovation

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 Why do we need innovation?
❖ Marie Curie Cancer Care is looking to increase donation by building
on a new demographic of donor who like playing games!
❖ The Children's Society plan to offer real-time updates and
transparency information for supporters on the difference their
donation is making to a local project
❖ The idea came out from their 2012 annual key supporter conference,
where supporters said they wanted a better understanding of how
donations are spent, and how their gifts make a difference.

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Instant Democracy - Leverage Social Media

❖ Example of public pressure changing

government policy
❖ Iceland government was only taking 50
Syrian families - author FB appeal &
10,000 families/individuals respond -
leading to government rethink
❖ Over 200,000 people sign petition for
“Refugees Welcome” after Aylan Kurdi
photo leading to UK government rethink.

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 Commodity Tracking System
❖ FedEx Commodity Tracking
System (CTS)- now Open Source
and free!
❖ Community Physical
Infrastructure (CIP) could track
components via QR Code
❖ A verification method for what is
being reported via GPS
❖ Open Source so the expectation of
enhanced functionality in the
future (unlike GPS!)
❖ Full article at: http://www.wired.com/2015/08/fedex-style-system-humanitarian-aid-now-free/

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 Text Giving Potential
❖ Internet penetration still very
low and therefore huge 7770 Thank you for donating Rs 20/- to
potential for the future Shaukat Khanum Hospital. This will help
treat poor cancer patients…
❖ Only 30 million internet users
from a Pop. of 190 million
❖ Introduction of a low entry
between $50-$100 smart phone
will have a huge impact
❖ One report says 1.5 to 2 million
Smartphone are being sold
every month in Pakistan

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Text Giving Potential
❖ 77% of cell phone users aged
between 21-30 - this is our
target market
❖ Of the top 5 uses - 90 % is for
Social Media
❖ 72% using Smart Phones.
❖ Are we fully leveraging these
opportunities?
❖ I am for Poverty Alleviation, I
have the PPAF app on my
phone!
❖ Infographic by Grappetite
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 Internet = Transformative
❖ The internet has the potential
to bring about a “disruptive
transformation” - a decoupling
of traditional ways of doing
things! (does one need a
classroom to be educated?)
❖ The internet and it’s increasing
coverage is a huge wave on the
horizon
❖ How can we leverage the
internet for Poverty
Alleviation?
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You only have to know
one thing:
You can learn anything
Khan Academy is a
non-profit educational
organization created in
2006 by educator
Salman Khan to provide
"a free, world-class
education for anyone,
anywhere". The
organization produces
micro lectures in the
form of YouTube videos
 Internet: Coverage
❖ Aquila, Facebook's
unmanned Internet drone
❖ Internet access to people in a
50 kilometre radius
❖ The plane gets Internet
connectivity from a free
space optical communication
system

Connectivity provides unprecedented opportunities to The drone will fly above

improve livelihoods as it connects people to markets, conventional air traffic for unto
lowers market entry and trade barriers, and facilitates three months and provide
online commerce (for every 10% increase in Internet internet connectivity to the
access, low and middle-income countries see a 1.38% most remote places on earth
increase in GDP).* using lasers and radio
frequency technology

*Building broadband: Strategies and policies for the developing world, Yongsoo
Kim, Tim Kelly, and Siddhartha Raja, Global Information and Communication
Technologies (GICT) Department, World Bank, January, 2010, page 2.
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Internet : Global Humanitarian Assist
❖ Nov. 8th 2013 - Super
Typhoon Haiyan hits
Philippines
❖ 16 Million people are
impacted
❖ 30 days = $23 Million
raised
❖ Classic example of
leveraging technology for
a humanitarian effort!

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 Recommendations
❖ Increased focus/investment in Social Media esp. Facebook
❖ Investigate effects of increased www coverage vis-à-vis Poverty
Alleviation ”For every 10% increase in Internet access, low and middle-income countries see a 1.38% increase in GDP”
❖ Increase interaction with the 21-30 demographic - they are
tomorrow’s middle class [mobile app, FB, Twitter, Instagram]
❖ Increase focus on (digital/technical) innovation - how can
technology be leveraged to help the work of PPAF? (small changes
have the potential to yield huge results/benefit)

❖ Work with Telcos to introduce Text Giving

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Questions & Discussion

Questions please

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 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

UAV’s & Disaster Recovery

The study, conducted by Measure, in coordination with the American Red Cross

❖ Reconnaissance and Mapping

❖ Structural Assessment
❖ Temporary Infrastructure / Supply
Delivery
❖ Search and Rescue Operations
❖ Enhanced effectiveness of responders
❖ Less exposure to disaster workers to UAV’s can carry: 

danger cameras
communications
❖ Enhance effectiveness of responders mapping sensors
sniffers
❖ Highly deployable
cargo holds
❖ Cost efficiency Can act as a cell phone/Wi-Fi tower as
well as broadcast AM/FM radio signals.

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UAV’s & Emergency Response
❖ Fly over roads which are impassable
❖ Be fitted with night vision or infrared
❖ Pickup heat signature of bodies and pinpoint locations of survivors
❖ Can operate when too dangerous for pilots (post earthquake)
❖ Track shipments and vehicles with use of RFID tags

Dated: September 2014

RFID Tag

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