http://www.innovations.harvard.edu Finance covers innovations in banking, government finance, and microfinance. Finance is important in the functioning of any public or private organization. This section includes several studies, articles, and news items on new approaches to allocation and management of financial resources. It highlights the critical role of finance in public management and global development. It presents the ever-growing role played by information technology in financial organizations. en-us Copyright 2009, Government Innovators Network Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:41:00 -0500 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:41:00 -0500 info@innovations.harvard.edu http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/595814.html It’s hard to argue with success. For instance, we couldn’t argue with the success of deregulated housing finance, at least until it proved to be totally illusory and led to the wreckage of the global economy. Now we’re arguing about who should have been arguing with “success,” at what point they should have argued with it, and what they should have done about it. Ah ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/800403.html This report summarizes findings from the USAID-sponsored project on models of financing for slum upgrading in India, undertaken on behalf of SPARC, a prominent NGO involved in slum upgrading in India and internationally for over two decades, and the National Housing Bank of India (NHB), one of whose main goals is enhancing housing finance for low-income households. In preparing the recommendations ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/873669.html A study by an Icelandic bank assesses the potential for geothermal power development in the United States. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/147411.html COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ — The Ohio Department of Development's Office of Community Services along with the statewide organization Finance Fund are introducing the "Cars for Jobs and Diplomas" program. This new initiative is an effort to provide affordable used car financing and consumer assistance to approximately 60 low-income participants statewide. The Ohio Community Action ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/625472.html The combination of retiring baby boomers and the government's stimulus package has created a bright spot in today's gloomy job market: Uncle Sam is hiring. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/681506.html Decentralization and intergovernmental finance have been a common element in international development efforts for many years. However, the success of fiscal decentralization as a development strategy is decidedly unclear, and there is growing skepticism about the effectiveness of (fiscal) decentralization as an international development strategy. This short essay explores the current state of ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/692679.html The city of Chicago is using ARRA funds to introduce a new program for retrofit delivery that relies on private sector financing and energy service companies to target property owners of lower-income multi-family homes. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/218961.html Environmental worries have transformed the waste industry, says Edward McBride (interviewed here). But governments’ policies remain largely incoherentTHE stretch of the Pacific between Hawaii and California is virtually empty. There are no islands, no shipping lanes, no human presence for thousands of miles—just sea, sky and rubbish. The prevailing currents cause flotsam from around ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/878925.html A new state program would draw on potential stimulus funds to establish a statewide revolving loan fund to accelerate mass-scale building energy efficiency audits and retrofits, and collaboratively expand opportunities for green workforce development and job placement. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/608541.html Amid the recession and stock-market losses, there are several steps you can take to give your charitable donations extra muscle. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/147761.html The following information was released by the International Fund for Agricultural Development: A new project in The Sudan financed by IFAD will help 38,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable households overcome food insecurity and extreme poverty in six counties in Southern Sudan's Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei states. The $13US.5 million IFAD grant to support the Southern Sudan ... http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/145161.html Care quality and finances have improved at the Minneapolis Veterans Home after years of problems, a state commissioner told a Senate committee Tuesday. "But I don't expect you to trust what I say," he added. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/646656.html Starting July 1, some college graduates will be able to get lower loan payments under the federal government's new Income Based Repayment Plan. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/644052.html KIVA has been making micro loans to the poor in the developing world; now the group is expanding to facilitate micro-lending to the US from the outside. http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/752468.html From a Silicon Valley office, a group of twenty-something software engineers is building an unlikely following of terrorist hunters at U.S. spy agencies.