Where we work – Integra LLC

Areas of Expertise, Asia, Biodiversity, Environment, Environment & NRM, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Where we work

Integra Evaluates $20 Million USAID Project in “the Serengeti of Asia”

An Integra evaluation team recently concluded a mid-term performance evaluation of USAID’s Supporting Forests and Biodiversity (SFB) Project in northeastern Cambodia, under USAID’s REPLACE IDIQ. The project, aims to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity through improved conservation and forest governance. It is implemented through a cooperative agreement with Winrock International and supported by the East West Management Institute, WWF, People and Forests (RECOFTC), and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Read more

February 11, 2015/by actualize

Africa, Areas of Expertise, Environment & NRM, Integra News, REPLACE Update, Where we work

Integra Evaluates USAID’s STEWARD III Under REPLACE

As a Task Order under the REPLACE IDIQ, Integra has conducted a mid-term performance evaluation of the Sustainable and Thriving Environments for West Africa Regional Development Program (STEWARD III), being implemented for USAID/West Africa by the US Forest Service International Program in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire.

June 20, 2014/by actualize

Africa, Areas of Expertise, Information and Communication Technology for Development, Integra News, Where we work

Government of Kenya Launches National Broadband Strategy

On July 23, 2013, at a high profile event in Nairobi attended by the US Ambassador, Kenya became only the second country in Africa to launch an elaborate National Broadband […]

July 26, 2013/by actualize

Asia, Connectivity, Integra News, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Where we work

Integra to assist in USAID’s ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment (ACTI) Project

Integra LLC is pleased to announce the award of a subcontract from Nathan Associates, Inc. to provide technical services for the ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment (ACTI) project. Funded through USAID’s Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA), the project focuses on trade facilitation, energy sector development, small enterprise expansion, and telecommunications development. Read more …

July 15, 2013/by actualize

Africa, Agriculture, Food Security & Rural Development, Areas of Expertise, Economic Growth, Integra News, Where we work

Eric White, Integra LLC’s Lead Economist, to join panel at the World Bank Info Shop!

Eric White, Integra LLC’s Lead Economist and Managing Associate, will join a panel next Wednesday, May 15th at the World Bank Info Shop. At the event, entitled“Breaking the Rural – Urban Divide”, panelists will be discussing two books released by the World Bank Press; Structural Transformation and Rural Change Revisited and Financing Africa’s Cities. As a co-author of the former, Mr. White will take part in a discussion about the structural transformation process, from both a rural and urban perspective.

Communications Commission of Kenya releases National Broadband Strategy for public hearing

This past January the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) presented the draft of their National Broadband Strategy for public review. The strategy outlines a comprehensive plan for bringing communications services and ICT business development to all of Kenya. Expected to cost US$ 2.4 billion, 70% is budgeted for national infrastructure while the remainder will be used for capacity building and content development. Funding will be a combination of public and private sources and will include accessing Kenya’s capital markets. Read more …

April 19, 2013/by actualize

Areas of Expertise, GBI Updates, Information and Communication Technology for Development, Integra News, Latin America and the Caribbean, USAF Updates, Where we work

Broadband a key target for Colombia

Jonathan Malagon speaks at a February Compartel Broadband Strategy event

Jonathan Malagon, (fmr) Director of Compartel, speaks at a February Compartel Broadband Strategy event

On October 23 Integra wrapped up its technical assistance in Colombia, with the presentation of a strategic plan for Compartel, a telecommunications organization under the direction of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MINTIC). The “Broadband Strategic Plan: 2013-2017” (below, in Spanish), was developed by Compartel in collaboration with Integra’s consultants working under USAID’s Global Broadband and Innovations program (GBI). The project also falls under the Broadband Partnership of the Americas, an initiative announced by President Obama while he was in Colombia in April 2011.

November 19, 2012/by actualize

Africa, Areas of Expertise, Economic Growth, Information and Communication Technology for Development, Where we work

Massive New Submarine Cable to Bring High-Speed Broadband Access to West Africa

Bandwidth problems in West Africa may soon become a thing of the past when the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) broadband submarine cable comes online this December. The US$700 million will interconnect a total of 23 countries in Europe and West Africa, including two Integra and GBI clients, Nigeria and Ghana. This massive infrastructure project aims to bring high-speed broadband internet to these developing countries in order to reduce the digital divide and serve as “a vector of social development and economic growth in Africa.”

Led by the France Telecom company, this broadband system will extend over 17,000 km to from Brittany in France to Cape Town in South Africa. Parts of Europe and 16 West African countries will be interconnected by the submarine cable. Connectivity will extend even to the landlocked nations of Mali and Niger who will be connected via their own terrestrial links.

The cable itself has an initial 1.92 terabytes per second (Tb/s) capacity that can be upgraded to a whopping 5.12 Tb/s. ACE will use cutting edge fiber optic technology developed by Alcatel-Lucent that offers a higher quality of high-speed broadband than satellite at a lower cost. Utilizing new wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)technology, the ACE stations can be upgraded without any actual modifications to the cable itself. This is a significant increase in the broadband capacity for these countries. Gambia for example, is estimated to have an increase in capacity by a factor of 16.

Increasing bandwidth capacity is crucial for enabling increased broadband penetration rates within a county. In 2011, the Broadband Commission for Digital Development issued a report that identified broadband as a “tool of unprecedented power” in helping countries meet the millennial development goals in 2015. Additionally, a report from the World Bank showed that a 10% increase in broadband penetration in developing economies correlates with a 1.38% contribution to economic growth. With ACE online, West Africa will be able to access a plethora of new opportunities.

June 25, 2012/by actualize

Areas of Expertise, GBI Updates, Information and Communication Technology for Development, Integra News, Latin America and the Caribbean, USAF Updates, Where we work

Making Progress and News in Colombia

Earlier this month, Integra President Robert Otto and Managing Associate, Eric White, traveled to Colombia as a part of our work on the Global Broadband and Innovations Program. The two met with officials from Compartel, Colombia’s universal service administrator to begin exploring opportunities for rolling out new low cost, low power demand rural connectivity solutions. They met with key players in both the mobile and broadband industries in Colombia, and early in the trip Bob was interviewed by El Tiempo! Video below (in Spanish) This due diligence phase is expected to wrap up later this month.

This is the first initiative under the Broadband Partnership of the Americas.

May 14, 2012/by actualize

Areas of Expertise, GBI Updates, Information and Communication Technology for Development, Integra News, Latin America and the Caribbean, USAF Updates, Where we work

Broadband Partnership of the Americas

President Obama, seated at a panel discussion at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia In April 2012, President Obama announced the creation of the Broadband Partnership of the Americas, an effort set to improve internet access across the Latin America and Caribbean region. The President was in Cartagena, Colombia, for the Sixth Summit of the Americas.

The Broadband Partnership for the Americas (BPA) is designed to improve access to broadband and the Internet and other communications technologies in the Americas. It will serve as a voluntary and flexible framework through which the governments of the Western Hemisphere, multilateral organizations, the donor community and the private sector can collaborate to increase access to broadband and the Internet across the Americas.

The BPA is supported by USAID and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and will be managed by the Global Broadband and Innovations Program, of which Integra is an implementing partner.

Eric Postel, Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade Bureau, said in a joint statement with the FCC, “We are very excited about this rich partnering opportunity within our own hemisphere- where we can mobilize public and private resources toward achieving more equitable access to broadband and the Internet as a key contributor to development.”

The financial and technical resources mobilized through the BPA will be used to help interested countries advance a range of information technology initiatives, including:

– developing and implementing national broadband strategies;

– creating or upgrading universal service funds to finance the expansion of mobile and broadband technologies to rural communities;

– improving international and regional connectivity by linking existing broadband networks;

– collaborating on a regional effort to harmonize the use of digital spectrum; and

– sharing best practices.

For more information, please visit GBI’s Broadband Partnership of the Americas page.

April 19, 2012/by actualize