FastCompany on lab’s research: These new poverty maps could reshape how we deliver international aid

Granular geographic targeting, down to 2-by-2-kilometer squares, may help pinpoint the very poorest who need urgent financial assistance—and COVID-19 vaccines.

“…The new model—called the Relative Wealth Index—will be freely available to nonprofits and governments as they decide how to distribute cash assistance to the developing world. “The more granular you’re targeting, the more likely it is that more benefits will go to the poorer people than wealthier people,” says Joshua Blumenstock, associate professor at UC Berkeley, who’s leading the initiative there.”