Access
What does Access mean?
The ability to participate in a market or obtain products or services.
Main Idea:
There is plenty of new technology on the horizon. The question we really want to address is: does our technology make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives? A necessary condition to do so is to ensure everyone will be able to use it – and easily.
Statement of the Problem:
In private markets, it is not enough to claim “free markets” are working if there are people who cannot participate in them. Geeq’s mission is to provide people with more access to existing markets, the means to improve the efficiency of those markets, and the opportunities to participate and shape markets that have not been invented yet.
The same is true for public services, whether provided by governments or non-profit organizations. It is not enough to claim such programs work when the ones who would benefit most are under-served (or not served at all). For example, there are many countries with functioning health systems that deliver health services. However, if one cannot access those services because it is too hard to get to those locations, the services are too expensive, or cannot be delivered in time, then it is as if those markets or medical technologies do not exist for them. Access matters.
Ways to Improve Universal Access:
- Reduce fixed costs and barriers to entry (e.g. eliminate gatekeeping and red tape)
- Improve the ability to move freely among choices in order to find what works (e.g. eliminate lock-in)
- Guarantee delivery of services when the terms of a contract have been fulfilled
- Encourage market competition to provide a variety of quality levels, efficiently and densely enough to provide opportunities for all
- Reduce frictions at the point of sale
- Reduce uncertainty about availability and prices
Used in a Sentence:
Providing easy access to the benefits of decentralized technology is an essential aspect of building an open digital economy that works for everyone.
Last Updated: March 21, 2021
