Professor Diana Jue-Rajasingh has devoted her entire career to understanding why great products designed for low-income settings in places like her Alma Mater, MIT, are not adopted.   As co-founder of a distribution and marketing company called Essmart Global, she learned that distribution infrastructure and consumer education are essential – but not enough to assure uptake.  As a scholar, she found that local resistance arises from long-term exposure to practices that typically keep investment capital in the hands of expats who push tech products into “moral markets” that satisfy their own interests but don’t reflect what’s happening on the ground.  A long-term connection between product designers, distributors, local retailers, field advocates and low-income consumers is key to overcoming this resistance.  It’s a lot of work, but ultimately it’s critically important for overcoming global problems.

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