ICT- Information Communications Technology, the Foundation for Change-Joshua D. Mosshart

Innovation lies at the heart of addressing the interlinked challenges of global development... Every development success has drawn in large measure from absorbing knowledge, technology and ideas and adapting them to local conditions. In other words, by innovating. 

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, Geneva, 1 July 2013

In the past few decades, information and communication technology (ICT) has transformed the world. Its potential for reducing poverty and fostering growth in developing countries has increased rapidly. Mobile telephones provide market links for farmers and entrepreneurs. 

The Internet delivers vital knowledge to schools and hospitals. Computers improve public and private services, and increase productivity and participation. By connecting people and places, ICT has played a vital role in national, regional, and global development, and holds enormous promise for the future. 

In recent years the world’s policy makers have recognized that ICT provides key inputs for economic development, contributes to global integration, and enhances public sector effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency. There is also growing consensus that countries seeking to strengthen their investment climates (for foreign as well as domestic investors) should make it a priority to improve ICT access and quality. 

Moreover, country conditions that bolster ICT investment—including sound economic policies, strong property rights, liberalized markets, limited restrictions on entry and ownership, and predictable regulation— contribute to a healthy overall business environment and so to growth throughout the economy. Firms that use ICT grow faster, invest more, and are more productive and profitable than those that do not.

ICT is an essential part of national infrastructure and private sector potential. It can create business opportunities, especially for companies located far from urban centers, and improve links among firms, suppliers, and clients. When used well, ICT can also make management and operations more efficient. 

The Internet can be especially valuable for firms in developing countries because it provides opportunities to connect to markets and participate in trade, domestic and foreign. A recent survey of 56 developed and developing countries found a significant link between Internet access and trade growth—with the greatest benefits accruing to developing countries with the weakest trade links. 

ICT is also crucial to sustainable poverty reduction, because it makes a country’s economy more efficient and globally competitive, improves health and education services, and creates new sources of income and employment for poor people. In addition, ICT enhances social inclusion and promotes more effective, accountable, democratic government, especially when combined with effective freedom of information and expression.

Liberalization and competition—and the resulting increase in private investment—have driven the development of telecommunications infrastructure and ICT in general.

Capital is crucial to the development and expansion of robust telecommunications networks. Because developing countries often lack the capital—as well as the technology and managerial know-how—needed to develop such networks, many have turned to private investors, domestic and foreign. 

By opening their telecommunications markets through well-designed reforms, governments can create competitive markets that grow faster, lower costs, facilitate innovation, and respond better to user needs. As a result, the traditional monopoly model of telecommunications services—based on extensive state control and protected national markets— has eroded, in concert with rapid technological advances in the sector and fundamental changes in economic policy in developing countries. 

Over the past two decades telecommunications markets have undergone unprecedented liberalization in every region—though the pace and scale of reform have varied, and markets for fixed local and international telephone services remain closed or barely open in about half of developing countries. Effective competition between multiple providers helps expand access and results in cheaper, more modern services.

A business-friendly overall environment is an important ingredient for attracting and retaining FDI in telecommunications. Factors that favor FDI for any sector are sound macroeconomic policies, low political risk, ease of market entry, the protection of property and investor rights, and— more generally—reliable contract enforcement. Good infrastructure, a skilled work force, and favorable tax policies are additional factors.

Source: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Joshua D. Mosshart

Malia Ventures Inc.

Cleantech Grants

Sustainable Infrastructure Development-Joshua D. Mosshart MSFS

Joshua Mosshart

Founder of Cleantech Grants, Malia Ventures Inc. & Covenant Energy Consultants LLC

“As we embark on this great collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. 

Recognizing that the dignity of the human person is fundamental, we wish to see the goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society. 

And we will endeavor to reach the furthest behind first.” 

Source: General Assembly Resolution Sept. 25 2015

Infrastructure affects inequality of outcomes and opportunities through three main channels. 

First, infrastructure that provides basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity may affect inequality depending on the quality, design, coverage, accessibility and distribution of that infrastructure. 

Second, Infrastructure such as irrigation, electricity, ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies), and roads increase productivity and reduce trade costs, which affects the structural dynamics of the economy, including levels of income and distribution of jobs, and may have an effect on inequality. The 

Third channel is through connectivity infrastructure such as roads and ICT, which affects the access of people to goods, services and job opportunities, and therefore may have an effect on inequality. 

On the other direction of the interlinkage, inequality of outcomes affects infrastructure through its effect on the balance of political power and, consequently, government decisions and the involvement of private companies on the provision of basic services, including infrastructure. 

Infrastructure affects resilience through its effect on access of people to goods, services and job opportunities, which have an effect on the ability of people to adapt to shocks. The quality, design, distribution, interrelation and operation of infrastructure also affect the resilience of the infrastructure itself, which has an effect of people’s resilience to economic, social and environmental shocks. 

Infrastructure has historically been considered key to economic growth and development,but research on the link between infrastructure and inequality has shown a more nuanced story.

Econometric studies at the aggregate level have found that infrastructure development has positive effects reducing poverty and income inequality. However, the impacts of infrastructure on income inequality may differ based on the type of infrastructure and the income category into consideration. The mechanisms through which these effects operate remain relatively unexplored through econometric techniques.

Microeconomic studies that evaluate the impact of particular infrastructure interventions have found that physical infrastructure in roads and communications facilitates spatial access and information, raising labour mobility, advancing rural non-farm economies, and reducing the incidence of poverty in some geographic areas. 

Other empirical studies have found that improved access to infrastructure services can raise the income of the poor through its impact on human capital, specically education and health outcomes, and that public infrastructure provides a boost for local community and market development.

Many studies have also assessed the impact of infrastructure on inequality through the effects of the former in increasing productivity and reducing trade costs, which affects the structure of the economy and the levels of income and distribution of jobs. A considerable share of that research focuses on the rural context. In general, development of infrastructure improves agricultural productivity and reduces rural poverty. 

We help facilitate education of FDI opportunities into rural infrastructure to aid in the United Nations Millennium Goals.

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Joshua D. Mosshart, MSFS, CHFC

Malia Ventures Inc.

Cleantech Grants

The Sustainable Energy Path for Cities- Joshua D. Mosshart

The following is a set of check boxes to intergrate into your energy independence planning initiatives for sustainable cities. 

Reduce carbon emissions.

Reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Introduce cleaner fuels.

Increase use of renewable energy.

Promote diversification of energy sources.

Support local and decentralized power supply.

Focus on energy efficiency and provide support and information to users.

Make efficient resource use the basis of economic development.

Ensure that citizens have appropriate access to energy services and information on best energy use practises to reduce poverty.

Plan for efficient spatial development.

Develop efficient and accessible public transport using cleaner fuels.

Create a sustainable and lowcarbon energy vision for the future.

Sustainable energy action planning

The aims of sustainable energy action planning are optimal energy efficiency, low- or no-carbon energy supply and accessible, equitable and good energy service provision to users. 

Planning is based on consideration of the broader concerns of the whole economy, environment (particularly carbon mitigation) and society, not just a ‘least financial cost’ focus. And, it is led by the demand for energy services.

These are the key characteristics of sustainable energy and climate action planning:

All energy sources and energy related activities are considered as a whole system;

Carbon mitigation is a key determinant in the development of the plan and choice of project options;

The demand for energy services, rather than what energy can be supplied, is the basis for planning;

Energy conservation, energy efficiency and demand-side management are considered prior to supply-side solutions;

Environmental and social costs are clearly considered;

Energy sector linkages with the economy are included;

The plan is flexible and can anticipate and respond to change.

Why a demand-led approach to energy planning is important:

Understanding the needs of the users

Good energy planning needs to be informed by the right kind of information. It is fairly easy to gather supply information (how much oil, electricity, gas etc. the city uses), but it is more difficult to gather information on who uses what energy sources, how they use these and why. 

This kind of energy information is very important for sustainable energy planning, because your focus needs to be on meeting energy users’ needs in the best way possible. 

There are very significant economic, social and environmental benefits which can be gained by planning according to people and industry needs: these therefore must determine a city or town’s energy plan.

The needs of energy supply industries and the energy sources which they supply often dominate energy planning. The supply industries are also often very powerful so they can push their needs over the needs of users. 

Sustainable energy and climate action planning requires a very different approach: first of all it must put the energy service needs (such as the need for a warm or a cool house, hot water, cooked food, transportation of goods, welding, public lighting etc) of the users and the city first. This is because energy service needs do not necessarily need to be met with a supply of energy.

Take for instance the need for a warm house in winter or a cool house in summer – this can be met by installing a ceiling and insulation or by overall energy efficient design for new build; the need for hot water can be met by installing solar water heaters. A supplyled regime would just assume that the household could use electricity for heating or make some other plan from the energy sources available. 

A demand-led approach would also plan at a much more local scale and try to create closed/no waste systems: for example the energy input required by an industry for production may be able to be supplied by the waste energy and waste products produced by that same industry or by an adjacent industry.

A good demand-side database is important in order to develop energy action strategies and evaluate implementation.

Malia Ventures Inc.-Cleantech Global Licensing Opportunities.

Cleantech Grants-Cleantech Grant Funding 

Joshua D. Mosshart-Cleantech Sustainablity Expert

Source: UNHABITAT-UNEP-ICLEI

The President’s FY 2017 Budget provides the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with $48.9 billion in gross discretionary funding, Joshua D. Mosshart

The Deptartment of Housing Mission:

HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination, and transform the way HUD does business.

The President’s FY 2017 Budget provides the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with $48.9 billion in gross discretionary funding and $11.3 billion in new mandatory spending over ten years, with an emphasis on supporting 4.5 million households through rental assistance; increasing homeless assistance; supporting tribal communities and providing opportunities to Native American youth; and making targeted investments in communities to help revitalize high-poverty neighborhoods and improve housing affordability. 

This includes: 

1. Providing over $38 billion in rental housing assistance to support 4.5 million low-income families through the Housing Choice Voucher, Project-Based Rental Assistance, and Public Housing Programs; 
2. Ending family and chronic homelessness, and continuing to make progress across all targeted populations, by investing $11 billion in mandatory spending and $2.8 billion in discretionary spending for targeted homeless assistance; 
3. Improving mobility for low-income families to access higher opportunity areas by investing $15 million for a Mobility Counseling Demonstration, and ensuring that Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) have sufficient resources to promote mobility by increasing PHA administrative fees to a fully-funded level of $2.1 billion; 
4. Investing $200 million to transform neighborhoods with distressed HUD-assisted housing and concentrated poverty into opportunity-rich, mixed-income neighborhoods through the Choice Neighborhoods program; 
5. Providing $786 million to address the housing and community development needs of Native Americans, including $20 million targeted to Native youth; 
6. Narrowing the digital divide for students and families in HUD-assisted housing through actions that include a strategic investment of $5 million for the ConnectHome initiative; 
7. Preserving affordable housing units through the Rental Assistance Demonstration program by providing $50 million and a targeted expansion to include certain properties that provide housing for the elderly; 
8. Investing $300 million in local community efforts to reduce barriers to housing development and increase housing affordability; and 
9. Increasing job training and financial incentives for employment for public housing and Native American households through Jobs-Plus, an evidence-based program funded at $35 million. 

Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Reforms: 

1. Enhances local decision making, improves program accountability, and provides more options for regional coordination and planning through a series of reforms to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. 
2. Updates the formula of the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program by using HIV incidence rates and adjusting for fair market rents and poverty rates to better reflect the current nature and distribution of the epidemic. 

HUD’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Prioritizes Ending Family Homelessness and Increasing Opportunity for Resident of Low-Income Neighborhoods through these initiatives:

1. Ends family homelessness and chronic homelessness, and continues to make progress across all targeted populations. 
2. Provides Opportunity for Vulnerable Families through Housing Assistance. 
3. Improves mobility through the Housing Choice Voucher program. 
4. Expands Opportunity in High Poverty Communities. 
5. Improves Employment Outcomes for HUD-Assisted Households. 
6. Supports Local Efforts to Improve Housing Affordability and Economic Opportunity. 
7. Provides Communities with New Flexibilities to Help Families Achieve Self- Sufficiency. 

Invests in Programs that Serve Native Americans, including Native Youth, The Budget invests $700 million for Native American Housing Block Grants, $50 million above the 2016 enacted level.

Contractors or businesses that provide services to aid in HUD's initiatives are in the front of the line for grants, cooperative agreements and contracts.

Source: HUD

Joshua D. Mosshart MSFS, CHFC, CASL, CLU

Sustainable City Development-Joshua D. Mosshart MSFS, CHFC, CASL, CLU

Today, it is recognized that social, cultural, economic and environmental considerations are completely interconnected. In the city context, this means that sustainable urban development is not a choice but a necessity if cities are to meet the needs of their citizens. 

Urban centers must be socially equitable, culturally aligned, economically successful and environmentally sustainable if cities are indeed to be the home of humanity’s future.

Successful city development cannot operate efficiently in isolation from its environment. It must balance social, cultural, economic and environmental needs. A successful city must offer investors security, infrastructure and efficiency, and should also put the needs of its citizens at the forefront of all its planning activities. Poor urban planning and management can have grave results for the urban economy, the environment and society.

Poorly managed urban settlements will be unable to keep pace with urban expansion, and unserviced slums will proliferate, bringing with them poor health, poverty, social unrest and economic inefficiency. Environmental hazards are responsible for the most common causes of ill-health and mortality among the urban poor.

Local governments have an enormous influence on how urban-environment relationships develop, and on how their cities interact with their hinterlands and with the wider global community. Effective local governance can make cities more competitive, more efficient and more attractive to investors and workers by promoting the sustainable development of the urban environment.

Sustainable development is multi-dimensional. It requires an understanding ofcomplex and often conflicting relationships. These issues call for an integrated approach and an integration culture. A variety of strategic approaches to integrating the environment into the urban planning process exist. 

Environmental activities can be targeted at different levels.

No single recipe for managing change can be applied to all cities. Cities are affected by their location, their climate and natural features. Cities and urban settlements don’t operate in isolation—they are part of a national structure, subject to central government, strengthened or limited by regional and national infrastructure, budgetary policies, development priorities, decentralization policies.

Clean air is essential to a healthy environment.

Rivers and water bodies provide drinking water and act as natural pollution filters.

Biodiversity is essential for food, materials, medicine and improved quality of life, not just locally but also globally. Biospheres range far beyond the boundaries of a city, and urban activity in a single location can damage forests thousands of kilometres away, or disrupt migratory patterns. Biodiversity increases the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change.

Forests serve as watersheds, habitats, carbon sinks, leisure amenities and tourist destinations.

If managed sustainably, forests are also a source of energy and building materials.

Wetlands filter and process waste and act as a nursery for fisheries.

Sand dunes, coral reefs and mangroves protect cities from storm surges, prevent erosion and siltation, and in the case of the latter two act as nurseries for fisheries. Attractive coasts draw tourism.

Parks and greenbelts act as sinks for carbon dioxide (CO2) and counteract the heat island effect of large built-up areas. They also provide essential open space for urban residents, flora and fauna, counteract traffic noise and improve the general ‘liveability’ of a city.

The arguments for sustainable development are clear and universally accepted. For a city to grow and develop in the long term, it cannot disregard its environment. Theenvironment cuts across all sectors, income groups and management areas.

The foundation for Sustainable Urban Planning is building upon Clean Energy Technologies to stay on the sustainable energy path.

                                    Key Elements of a Sustainable System

Consistent: the short term actions are compatible with long-term goals and the viability of the system;

Renewable: the system depends on renewable resources and operates using environmentally clean technologies;

Diverse: the more diverse a system is, the more able it is to adapt to needed change;

Inclusive: all elements of the system are valued and used for the good of both the individual parts and the whole;

Interdependent: each element of the system is both dependent on and depended on by several other elements; the greater the interconnection, the stronger the system.

Source:UN-Habitat & ICLEI

Joshua D. Mosshart MSFS, CHFC, CLU, CASL

Public, Private, Partnerships to Promote Cooperation and Sustainable Development- Joshua D. Moshart

Developed markets are facing unprecedented challenges with the rapid urbanization taking place caused by rapid demographic growth. World Bank, claims that 90% of recent urbanization has occurred in developing countries, with urban areas gaining an estimated 70 million new residents each year.

Trends in South Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa, the two poorest regions of the world is expected to double in population by 2030. This will lead to massive pressure on local governments to house the world's poor and provide them the access to basic human needs such as health care, food, clean water, energy, education, transportation and sanitation.

Economic growth trends have not kept up with the urbanization. A great solution for local government and private companies is collaboration to overcome these challenges utilizing Public Private Partnerships (PPP).

Governments are turning to PPP a financial model driven by collaboration between public, private and  nonprofit groups. PPP represent a innovative long term agreement between various parties in which each party contributes and shares some level of risk.

PPP allows a private consortium to assume the financing risk. This is an important instrument that can be used to help accelerate the development of infrastructure assets, along with basic urban services, to the poorest neighborhoods.

                                        Some of the advantages of PPPs

Cost Savings-

The private sectors role as a partner fundamental drive is for economic gain which yields an incentive to continually improve productivity, thereby cutting overall project costs.

This also creates economies of scale to dive efficiencies and maximize returns on investments.

Performance Contacts-

PPPs typically adopt a performance based contracts which links payments to performance. This specifies project results in terms of quality and timing delivered, rather than how assets or services are provided. 

Focus on outputs motivates innovation to take place by creating new methods and approaches for project execution that meets requirements at a more resource efficient manner. 

Risk Mitigation-

PPPs are designed so that risk is transferred between the public and private sectors allocating particular project risk to the partner best able to manage that risk cost-effectively.


                                                   Common Project Risks

• Procurments
• Design
• Construction
• Operation
• Permit and Approval 
• Political
• Commissioning
• Technical
• Policy and Legislative
• Financing
• Maintenance and Operation
• Currency 

Source: Canadian Council for Public Private Partnerships.

Enhancing Public Management-

When governments utilize a private partner the public authority can transfer risks and responsibilities over the day-to-day operations of two or more phases of the urban infrastructure project to the private partner. 

This frees the public sector to focus on other important policy issues such as regulating, performance monitoring and urban service planning.

Enhancing Resources-

PPPs have a uique ability to share a diverse range of resources, technologies, ideas and skills in cooperative manner that can work to improve how urban infrastructure assets and services are delivered to the people. 

The private partner typically absorbs the financing risk, the public authority is not obliged to record the investment upfront as part of its bottom line surplus or deficit for the fiscal year. 

This allows the transaction to remain "off balance sheet" meaning the government can borrow for other important projects without affecting calculations of the measure of its indebtness.

Joshua D. Mosshart BIO
Malia Ventures Inc.
Mosshart News
Source: UN Habitat