Exploring the concept of user inspired policy planning
Getting up close and personal with Farmer Pedro at the Minbuza Since late September I’ve been collaborating with Bart Doorneweert on an exploratory project for the Dutch government, taking a closer look at the design process for policy and planning related to private sector development of sustainable agriculture value chains. We’ve been thinking a lot […]
Tap lock: Design that mirrors need
These are jua kali manufactured locks for taps, where the padlock goes on the little handles shown and the contraption protects your faucet from either being stolen for scrap metal value or your water being used by unauthorized people. It was seen in the market in Nakuru, Kenya. This is a conceptual design for a […]
Innovations in transport business models across Europe
Spotted outside the Zuid Park Business Center in Amsterdam, this is a taxi stand cum charging station for electric vehicles. And its not the only one, as I saw the same taxis waiting at Schiphol airport. They were asking half the price of a regular taxi for the trip to the center of town. In […]
Prioritizing whom you put at the center of the strategy and why
The tacit mandate for companies interested in the BoP market is that your product or service must either fill an ‘unmet’ need (of which the poor have many), or provide a way for them to enhance their livelihood or quality of life. Why else would they divert their limited and hard-earned cash for your product […]
Rigor in brainstorming as a pause in the process of creating the new
Conventional wisdom states that the best brainstorming sessions are the extremely rapid fire ones where ideas are flying out like arrows and much energy is expended. In actual fact, you need a little bit of deliberation before you can make a concept tangible. And a little more before you invest in fixed costs before getting […]
Pondering media trends in “Bottom of the Pyramid”
I’m seeing an interesting trend in the news about “Bottom of the Pyramid” markets. Even as we noticed yesterday, that the absolute numbers of those living on $2/day were on a downward trend, there’s hints that the informal economy has arrived in the OECD nations (or erstwhile First World, I suppose). Grupo Electra’s Ricardo Salinas, […]
Putting numbers to the story of the emerging global middle classes
The top 1% of the global income distribution has seen its real income (adjusted for inflation) rise by more than 60% over those two decades. What is far less known is that an even greater increase in incomes was realized by those parts of the global income distribution that now lie around the median. They […]
Over Scandinavian skies…
This post was written by niti bhan and rss originates from www.nitibhan.com
Barcelona and informality
The ancient Roman town of Barsino, or Barcelona, the Catalan capital in Spain, was the location for the recently concluded symposium on the Informal Economy. Short overview of the conference is here, while on Flickr you’ll find my overdose on Antoni Gaudi as well as just the myriads of eyecatching details of the city. I’ve […]
The Africans are not beneficiaries anymore
Innovating without knowing your customer is like being lost in the dark with your eyes closed: you’ll never know if you hit the light switch ~ @bdoorn My colleague on my current project in The Netherlands, Bart Doorneweert, tweeted that insight after our next to last user interview today (tomorrow is our last). While I’ve […]
