A Design Space and Business Strategy Exploration Tool for Infrastructure-Based Ventures in Developing Communities
Chanakya Mehta and Khanjan Mehta
International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering
Mehta, C., Mehta, K., International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Vol. 6, No. 2, “A Design Space and Business Strategy Exploration Tool for Infrastructure-Based Ventures in Developing Communities“, 2011
Abstract
There are a growing number of curricular and extra-curricular programs that focus on developing appropriate technologies to address the needs of marginalized communities at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP). Technology ventures in developing communities often fail because of disconnects between the designer, the implementer, and the end-user. Finding an optimal distribution of time, money, and sweat across the stakeholders is pivotal to achieving sustainable impact for the communities. The design-space and business-strategy exploration tool described in this paper, the E-Spot canvas, identifies a technology venture’s stakeholders, defines their individual roles, and suggests the forms of equity they might offer to meet the venture’s overarching objectives while fulfilling their own needs. The E-Spot canvas facilitates consensus-building among stakeholders on how to match project requirements with time, money, sweat, and other equities to sustain their project socially, economically, and environmentally. Several case studies that apply the canvas to real-world ventures are discussed.
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