Fiw Year
- 2024
Fiw Topics
- AI
- Digital Financial Services
Transcripts:
AI-Generated
Session Summary
Duduetsang Mokoele and Elizabeth Raiters discuss the challenges of the SRD Grant in South Africa, highlighting issues of accessibility, trust, and systemic flaws affecting beneficiaries.
- 🔍 Algorithmic Decision-Making: Governments are increasingly using algorithms for social security decisions, raising concerns about transparency and fairness. This reliance often leads to marginalized groups facing unjust barriers.
- 🚨 Impact of COVID-19: The SRD Grant was introduced as an urgent measure during the pandemic, yet its implementation has highlighted systemic flaws that disproportionately affect the poorest citizens.
- 📉 High Unemployment Rates: With unemployment soaring to over 33%, the necessity for effective social security measures like the SRD Grant is critical for survival.
- 🖥️ Digital Barriers: The fully online application process for the SRD Grant excludes many potential beneficiaries who lack technological access or literacy, exacerbating inequality.
- ⚖️ Advocacy and Support: Organizations like Hash Pay the Grants provide crucial support to beneficiaries, acting as intermediaries between them and the government, amplifying their voices.
- 💔 Emotional Toll: The uncertainty and complexity of the SRD Grant application process inflict significant emotional distress on beneficiaries, affecting their mental health and well-being.
- 🔒 Erosion of Trust: Persistent issues with the SRD Grant, including fraud and lack of clarity, have led to a significant trust deficit between beneficiaries and government agencies, complicating efforts for reform.
This session summary was AI-generated using NoteGPT.
Mind the People is a research project that investigates the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to administer social security in South Africa. COVID-19’s economic devastation prompted the establishment of the Title: Mind the People: Automating Social SecuritySocial Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. The increased demand for AI in the public sector raises some critical issues, such as the design of the public finance system, the implications of greater involvement of the private sector in delivering social services, the lived experiences of the target population, and the extent to which the current administration of the SRD grant by all stakeholders (in the public and private sectors) aids inclusion or exclusion from the public financial system. In conversation with Elizabeth Raiters, a community activist, she spearheads the effort to elevate the voices and intricate experiences of those striving to secure the life-saving grant. The session explores structural inequality, trust, accountability, explainability, transparency, and accessibility of digital public service systems.
Session Speakers
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Hosted annually by the Center for Financial Inclusion, FIW brings together global leaders to exchange ideas, share research, and offer perspectives to inform the future of inclusive finance.