Page 264 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem
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ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
                                                         Ecosystem



               Figure 11 – Ecosystem Facilitation


































               Social networks are well-positioned to facilitate these ecosystems.
               •    Technology  building  blocks:  Social  networks  provide  payment,  event  management,  hosting,
                    communication tools, privacy management, and other reusable components that ecosystems need.
               •    Large modular network: Social networks can support many ecosystem types since a wide range of entities
                    participate (lenders, retailers, wholesalers, governments, NGOs, consumers). Essentially, the required
                    players are already ‘in the room’ and can participate in ecosystems relevant to them.
               •    Fast learning curve: The universal user experience simplifies onboarding new ecosystem members.

               4.2.1   BoP use cases and benefits


               Agricultural value chains

               Social network platforms could be used to organize agricultural value chains and enhance how farmers interact
               with produce buyers, agro-dealers, banks, and other stakeholders. In this scenario, third-party developers
               or even social networks, could develop applications related to bidding, contract management, financing,
               payment management, education, or product certification. Value chain administrators would then integrate
               these applications into their value chain’s social network group. Using social network platforms would be
               attractive because of the pre-existing user base and universal functionality such as registration, authentication,
               communication, and hosting, among others.


               Farmer groups

               Some smallholding farmers organize themselves into groups to share knowledge, borrow from banks, or
               negotiate better prices from crop buyers. Social networks can facilitate group creation and management. For
               example, a lead farmer or NGO could create a Facebook group. Participating farmers could send and receive
               group messages, review archived materials, buy and/or sell used equipment, document important agreements,
               etc. There is evidence this is already happening.








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