Economic Growth, Inclusive Digital Ecosystems

Cui Prodest advances economic empowerment by expanding access to low-cost digital financial services for poor and supporting entrepreneurs in digital trade, especially e-commerce. Women and marginalized groups persistently lag behind men when it comes to access and use of the digital marketplace.

We engage local partners in designing and accelerating the use of digital tools to ensure women and all people share in the benefits of digital ecosystems. Our approaches promote people gain access to support networks, strengthen digital capacity skills, empower  working women to shift to more productive occupations and enable non-working women to enter the labor force and join the formal economy. Digital ecosystems  support resilience because they expediate the speed of financial transfers during acute needs,

Closing the digital gender gap on online platforms means  billions of dollars invested into women-owned businesses and exponentially grow global e-commerce markets. E-commerce platforms in Africa and Southeast Asia have tripled sales between 2015 – 2020 and are expected to triple again by 2025.

Our Services 

 Digital Policy:  We facilitate public-private dialogues on how to reach markets, increase competitiveness and identify benefits compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. We conduct stock-taking exercises and design workshops on approaches and considerations for communicating cybersecurity practices to public and private stakeholders. 

Women Entrepreneurs in E-Commerce: We identify gaps in support to  women and provide training to women as they navigate the unique challenges they face when entering e-commerce such as understanding regulations in digital trade, customs or intellectual property rights. We apply  a Cui Prodest customized Women-owned Businesses in E-Commerce Diagnostic Tool Kit,  to address these challenges.

Digital Literacy and Capacity Building: We strengthen the capacity of women and marginalized citizens’ to fully participate in the digital economy through digital literacy and capacity building to increase their labor market participation, personal and workplace safety, access to resources and time use. We establish relationships with banks and nonbank financial institutions, including mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, fintech firms, community-level self-help groups and savings and loans associations.

Silicon Valley Bootcamp, Accelerators, Mentors  for Tech and Digital Businesses: We work closely with Silicon-Valley based startup accelerators and innovation enablers to help foreign technology companies with global market access. Our three-week boot camp features high-profile instructors who deliver participatory training in selling and marketing to global customers, pitching to investors and marketing to customer.  We match American executives, venture capitalists, angel investors and industry Sherpas with global entrepreneurs.

Incentivize Uptake of Value-Added Services: Women are less likely to use paid platform services and advertising. Training women entrepreneurs and business owners on how these services influence product ranking and sales, and encouraging targeted uptake, can help equalize sales Our approaches draw directly from our own research and experiences in Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Lao PDR, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, East Africa, Georgia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Current Activities 

U.S.-Support for Economic Growth in Asia (SEGA) Evaluation: Cui Prodest  serves as the gender/social inclusion expert to assess how U.S. State Department and USAID are supporting regional connectivity and digital ecosystem in APEC countries and Southeast Asia economies. Through in-depth engagement with USAID/Asia Bureau and USAID/RDMA, we have  developed case studies for activities in Cambodia and Vietnam; making programmatic recommendations to improve local capacity in selected countries to utilize tools such as USAID’s internal Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA).

Giza Systems Education Foundation: Cui Prodest advised the Foundation on how to launch and establish Fab Lab on Wheels to support local communities through practical workshops, awareness sessions, community events and obtaining maker diplomas. The foundation, established in 2013 by leading technology firms in Egypt, creates partnerships with private sector, educational institutions and NGOs to support STEM initiatives, curriculum development and teaching of information technology, marketing, business management and development. The Fab Lab has a state-of-the-art digital fabrication and 3D printing equipment, including laser cutters, 3D printers and a CNC precision milling machine. 

Cui Prodest advances economic empowerment by expanding access to low-cost digital financial services for poor and supporting entrepreneurs in digital trade, especially e-commerce. Women and marginalized groups persistently lag behind men when it comes to access and use of the digital marketplace.

We engage local partners in designing and accelerating the use of digital tools to ensure women and all people share in the benefits of digital ecosystems. Our approaches promote people gain access to support networks, strengthen digital capacity skills, empower  working women to shift to more productive occupations and enable non-working women to enter the labor force and join the formal economy. Digital ecosystems  support resilience because they expediate the speed of financial transfers during acute needs,

Closing the digital gender gap on online platforms means  billions of dollars invested into women-owned businesses and exponentially grow global e-commerce markets. E-commerce platforms in Africa and Southeast Asia have tripled sales between 2015 – 2020 and are expected to triple again by 2025.

Our Services 

Digital Policy: We facilitate public-private dialogues on how to reach markets, increase competitiveness and identify benefits compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. We conduct stock-taking exercises and design workshops on approaches and considerations for communicating cybersecurity practices to public and private stakeholders. 

Women Entrepreneurs in E-Commerce: We identify gaps in support to  women and provide training to women as they navigate the unique challenges they face when entering e-commerce such as understanding regulations in digital trade, customs or intellectual property rights. We apply  a Cui Prodest customized Women-owned Businesses in E-Commerce Diagnostic Tool Kit,  to address these challenges.

Digital Literacy and Capacity Building: We strengthen the capacity of women and marginalized citizens’ to fully participate in the digital economy through digital literacy and capacity building to increase their labor market participation, personal and workplace safety, access to resources and time use. We establish relationships with banks and nonbank financial institutions, including mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, fintech firms, community-level self-help groups and savings and loans associations.

Silicon Valley Bootcamp, Accelerators, Mentors  for Tech and Digital Businesses: We work closely with Silicon-Valley based startup accelerators and innovation enablers to help foreign technology companies with global market access. Our three-week boot camp features high-profile instructors who deliver participatory training in selling and marketing to global customers, pitching to investors and marketing to customer.  We match American executives, venture capitalists, angel investors and industry Sherpas with global entrepreneurs.

Incentivize Uptake of Value-Added Services: Women are less likely to use paid platform services and advertising. Training women entrepreneurs and business owners on how these services influence product ranking and sales, and encouraging targeted uptake, can help equalize sales Our approaches draw directly from our own research and experiences in Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Lao PDR, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, East Africa, Georgia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Current Activities 

U.S.-Support for Economic Growth in Asia (SEGA) Evaluation: Cui Prodest  serves as the gender/social inclusion expert to assess how U.S. State Department and USAID are supporting regional connectivity and digital ecosystem in APEC countries and Southeast Asia economies. Through in-depth engagement with USAID/Asia Bureau and USAID/RDMA, we have  developed case studies for activities in Cambodia and Vietnam; making programmatic recommendations to improve local capacity in selected countries to utilize tools such as USAID’s internal Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA).

Giza Systems Education Foundation: Cui Prodest advised the Foundation on how to launch and establish Fab Lab on Wheels to support local communities through practical workshops, awareness sessions, community events and obtaining maker diplomas. The foundation, established in 2013 by leading technology firms in Egypt, creates partnerships with private sector, educational institutions and NGOs to support STEM initiatives, curriculum development and teaching of information technology, marketing, business management and development. The Fab Lab has a state-of-the-art digital fabrication and 3D printing equipment, including laser cutters, 3D printers and a CNC precision milling machine.