Biometrics & Incentives for Positive Change
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2010-11-17 14:18
Using Biometrics and Incentives to Encourage Positive Change
- Rob Tsai
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of meeting some social entrepreneurs through a dinner hosted by the Echoing Green Social Investment Council. Over a fine meal of beef brisket and pork ribs at Hill Country, I heard the stories first hand of serial entrepreneur Charles Maisel, who was funded by Echoing Green in 2004 and is on his 11th or 15th social enterprise since.
I was intrigued by one of his new projects – called The Broccoli Project – which is using biometric and mobile technology to measure the impact of social programs in South Africa (for now). One of their initiatives is to encourage people to get tested for HIV, as the incidence and spreading of AIDs in South Africa is one of the country’s biggest health challenges. Using the Broccoli Project technology, adults are eligible to receive a $10 credit (redeemable for food, not cash at one of the country’s largest retail grocery chains). The results have been staggering, and it seems like a no brainer. I’ve been thinking a lot about behavioral economics lately – and I’ve really enjoyed following the insights of Daniel Kahneman and Dan Ariely. So it’s no surprise that incentives foster behavior – and you can structure economies around fostering behaviors with positive impact as well as negative impact.
The one sensitive area of this project is the use of biometrics to identify the aid recipient. In the U.S., where privacy is supposedly of utmost concern, I wonder about the political feasibility of rolling out a project that collects fingerprints and stores them in databases – that are also tied to a database of positive behaviors (health tests, etc.).
Cross-posted from: http://ht.ly/3boHe
Rob Tsai has worked as a Solutions Consultant at several software and technology startups focusing on online advertising, including PubMatic, Conductor and Rapt. Previously, he was an investment banker and management consultant. He is a member of Echoing Green's Social Investment Council, a group of young professionals from around the world committed to social change and supporting entrepreneurial social change leaders.
