On January 21, dr. Sameer Mehta , Professor at the Department of Technology and Operations Management of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, gave an online presentation as part of our SEICA Open Seminar Series, titled: Empowering Marginalized Communities: Improving Access to Credit via Data Cooperatives.

Abstract
Marginalized farmers in developing nations face significant barriers to accessing formal credit, largely due to limited data on their creditworthiness. These constraints impede agricultural investments, reducing productivity and financial stability. A promising solution is data pooling through cooperatives, where members collectively share their data to build a stronger credit profile. A key challenge faced by such a data cooperative is the design of a credit allocation policy for sharing credit with its members. An important question arises to ensure that pooled data benefits all members effectively: how should credit be allocated among the members of the cooperative? Should more credit be directed to the most productive members, who may yield a higher return on investment? Or should credit be allocated based on the amount of data each member shared, recognizing that data-sharing played a key role in securing the credit?