FinNode India - 2012 -India and BOP 3.0: Co-Creating Ecosystems
During the first half of the year 2012, The ‘India and BOP 3.0: Co-Creating Ecosystems’ project brought together public and private Finnish organizations and international partners active in the area of developing business focusing in emerging markets.
Summary: Background
Bottom of Pyramid (BoP) as an emerging market place is shifting. Embedded innovation is in the core of the more current approach to doing business in emerging markets so that social benefits are taken into account. Emerging market is seen as a business partner where deep dialogue and direct personal relationships are needed. This approach can be called ‘development business’. This project was looking for action models for Finland to tap the future opportunities in emerging countries in a large scale. The basic hypothesis was that Finnish companies need local partners in the process of tuning their existing offering and in creating totally new radical innovations. The project established a participatory co-creation process where a few hundred people gave some of their experience, expertise and time into this joint effort.
Summary: Key Findings
1) Drishtee (testbed/ecosystem). Project validated the operations and rural service supply chain of an Indian NGO called Drishtee. It can act as a good partner ecosystem for Finnish companies in the future.
2) Co-Creation Service Packages can be anything from piloting trips to long training programs. They must be based on the demand of the Finnish companies. The majority of the process facilitation costs should be supported by a host entity, such as a Tekes Program.
3) Testbeds and partner ecosystems are needed for Finnish companies. The companies need an opportunity to perform real life field level experiments with their products in areas of green energy, clean water, housing, sanitation, healthcare, nutrition, digital society, education, etc.
4) Open Hub is needed as a network of Finnish companies and actors interested in developing business. It must be open and neutral to be able to foster co-creation in national level. Main activities of Open Hub are Networking and Knowledge Sharing. The activities of Open Hub are enabled by the Hub members and monitored by Task Force. Open Hub is optimally resourced and the focus is in coordination, networking, communication and monitoring. These activities are done by the actors of the Open Hub, and if needed, by subcontractors. Open Hub is able to channel service packages (co-creation packages / training packages / trips) only by open competition-based subcontracting.
5) Task Force is needed in national level to maximize knowledge sharing and co-creation and to steer the Open Hub operation in a strategic level. It must have representatives from various stakeholder groups. Task Force is not credible if it consist of only from one NGO, one University and one semi-public organization. Company representatives are obligatory (2 companies actively acting in the development business market and one company offering consultation).
6) Team Finland: Open Hub and Task Force should operate under the support and high level supervision of the VMK Group of Team Finland coordination. This enables direct linkages with Export Boosting Trip Processes [Export promotion and internationalization (EPI) trips].
7) Research funding is needed for projects targeted to radical innovations for large populations.
8) Sparring services. Emerging market expertise and development business know-how is needed as part of existing business services in Finland.
9) Bi-lateral joint funding opportunities are needed so that Finnish companies and their partners in target countries could each receive funding to their joint development and innovation projects.
10) Development Business (‘kehitysliiketoiminta’) should be used as a name for business that is targeted to an emerging market and that takes into account the social aspects. Other terminology related to almost same issues includes base-of-the-pyramid business, inclusive business, inclusive innovation, scalable affordable business, etc.
Summary: Next Steps
1) Drishtee (testbed/ecosystem). Finpro New Delhi, as part of FinNode India, should formulate a partnership with Drishtee and define a basic Testbed service framework with them for the future co-creation activities.
2) Co-Creation Service Packages: Tekes GreenGrowth, or any other national program, should initiate a Co-creation and Piloting Trip to the beginning of 2013. A Co-Creation Service Package should be added to ministerial level delegation trips to emerging countries.
3) Testbeds: In addition to Drishtee partnership, two more ecosystem partnerships should be formulated in the next 12 months. At least one of them must be in Africa.
4) Open Hub: Initiating the project is already active and executed by Finpro, Aalto University and WorldVision. More stakeholders are needed in the co-creation of the open model.
5) Task Force: TEM has already initiated the Task Force. To earn credibility to operate the Task Force needs a) representatives from various stakeholder groups, and b) a Project Manager or Champion to the part time role of the Network Leader.
6) Team Finland: Task Force will decide how to approach Team Finland coordination bodies.
7) Research funding: Tekes is planning a research opening related to radical innovations for large user populations. The call should not limit the types and target areas of the projects beforehand.
8) Sparring services: Tekes GreenGrowth program has embedded the emerging market issues into its sparring services and will provide services if the case fulfills the set requirements for offered service. In a longer run, these should be embedded into the services of business pilot (‘luotsi’) individuals of the services targeted to growth companies.
9) Bi-lateral joint funding: Tekes is planning potential joint SME funding instrument with Indian authorities (GITA).
10) Development business (‘kehitysliiketoiminta’) should be accepted by Task Force having a main role in the vocabulary related to these issues.
Project_Report_FinNode_India_BOP_3_0_Co-creating_Ecosystems_2012.pdf (1.3 MB)
Appendix 1. Summary of Critical elements in BOP NewDelhi Signal session 030212 (pdf) (189.9 KB)
Appendix 2. Drishtee's Model Village Plan 03 2012 (pdf) (2.1 MB)
Appendix 3. Drishtee Under the skin (pdf) (479.4 KB)
Appendix 4. Circle of Finnish Actors (pdf) (191.4 KB)
Appendix 5. Journey Program Co-creating ecosystem (pdf) (561.2 KB)
Appendix 6. Miniature pilot house was built (pdf) (600.9 KB)
Appendix 7. Summary of observations done in Saurath Village BoP 3.0 India Co-creating ecosystems FinNode project 2012 (pdf) (592.4 KB)
Appendix 8. New Delhi workshop results (pdf) (988.3 KB)
Appendix 9. 'Overview of the Finnish initiative Finland and India (pdf) (307.4 KB)
Appendix 10 OPEN HUB and TASK FORCE EXTRA Questions and answers for supporting the building of Open Hub (pdf) (338.8 KB)
Riku Mäkelä
FinNode India
+91 88 6060 0627
riku.makela@finnode.fi
Markus Talka
Finpro Finland
+358 40 3433551
