ThoughtWorks has established a dedicated team to advance next-generation Mifos technology architecture using the latest open source technologies. The project will extend the Mifos’ capabilities to meet the changing demands of the microfinance industry. These efforts represent ThoughtWorks’ commitment to using its technical expertise towards alleviation of world poverty through microfinance.
A ThoughtWorks engineering team in India, along with a distributed Mifos engineering team and worldwide open source community, will work towards the advancement of the Mifos platform to accelerate business efficiencies for MFIs, and thus increase their social impact. ENDA Inter-Arabe, the leading MFI in Tunisia, has benefited from the close collaboration between the ThoughtWorks and Grameen Foundation teams through the expansion of Mifos to include support for individual lending, agricultural loan products and a centralized data warehouse for extensive reporting. “We have proven that technology can effectively enable MFIs to service the poor; now we have to accelerate the adoption,” said George Conard, Executive Director of Grameen Foundation’s Technology for Microfinance Initiative. Launched in 2006, Mifos is an advanced software platform for microfinance institutions that offers both an online hosted service, Mifos Cloud, and a downloadable open source edition for use on-premise. In a recent CGAP review, Mifos was awarded four out of four stars for its technical capabilities and comprehensive implementation, training, and support provided by Grameen Foundation and its specialists. Mifos is currently used by MFIs in the Americas, Asia, Middle East-North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, in countries such as India, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Philippines, and Tunisia, serving more than 800,000 clients. Mifos is spearheaded by the Technology for Microfinance Initiative based at Grameen Foundation’s Technology Center in Seattle, with support in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
