Proposing “Mobile, Finance, and Information” Toolkit for Financial Inclusion of the Poor in Developing Countries

Since 2015, the Government of India has been designing policies for transforming the country with over 400 million unbanked adults into a cashless economy so that a majority of financial transactions can be carried over mobile devices, the most widely used information and communication technology in the country. However, over 200 million adults earning less than $2 a day have a low or little mobile, financial, or information literacy. This short paper reports a newly proposed interdisciplinary, six-step toolkit operationalized using a survey questionnaire, focus group prompts, and hands-on training for developing mobile, financial, and information literacy among the poor in developing countries like India. Implications for public libraries, governments, and the poor in developing countries and beyond are discussed at the end

Managing the “backend” of LIS research projects: A project management perspective

There is very little guidance in library and information science (LIS) literature about how researchers should manage the scope, time, costs, quality, human resources, communications, and risks associated with LIS research projects. To fill this gap, researchers tested the utility of project management principles (PMP) for planning and managing a project designed to enhance the information, digital, and financial literacy of the people earning less than $2 per day in India. The customization of PMP through 29 mechanisms and 60 action items was used to conduct focus groups and in-person surveys with over 150 participants, in their native language, at 10 public libraries. PMP were most helpful for managing risks (13 solutions), communications (11 solutions), and human resources (10 solutions) of the project and treating participants ethically. PMP developed in the West were helpful before, during, and after data collection in the LIS research project in a developing country