Infrastruktur

Musingini is a community of 2000 inhabitants in rural Kenya and was the first community to benefit from a Grundfos Lifelink system in March 2009. Before, they had a hand pump, but it was broken down, so people walked several kilometers to the river to fetch water.
The pump was installed in the borehole and the entire Lifelink system implemented by the Kenyan Grundfos Lifelink team. Each household got a smart card ‘water key’ and the community received training on how the system works and on the relation between safe water and good health.
The community reports that water is now near and easy to tap, that there is no waiting time, that water borne diseases have gone down and children are more in school. Several young men have started a ‘water distribution business’ and others use the water for growing vegetables and tree seedlings. One year later, the community raised funds for extending a distribution line to the school, the health clinic and the central market place. Since inception, nearly 4 years ago, the community has only seen one day with interruption in the water supply, which was solved by the Kenyan technical service team from Grundfos.

In a professional engagement, value is usually transferred monetarily, yet can be derived in so many other ways including participation, through experience and leadership development, through brand and reputation enhancement for the firm. These are all highly valuable/desirable outcomes that would carry a substantial cost if 'purchased' in an open market. There are other 'currencies' available in exchanging value.

A new approach and business model that is at least partially based upon broader participation in Community impact enables pro-activity. Unshackled from the limitations of procurement, a terms of reference or a fixed scope in a traditional sense, motivated experts can find their way into the complex problems facing us and be able to sustain participation and the development of solutions; unfettered by traditional limitations.

An example: Housing issues within many First Nation communities in Canada. Governments are at least distant from the problem. First Nations people are often trying to react to the situation. Politics abound. Ownership for the issue is splintered across silo's of government. No individual agency or person is positioned to work across the silo's, jurisdictions and agencies. The problem is a century in the making; and resourcing the development of sustainable solutions isn't yet imaginable or affordable.

Yet many possess the expertise, networks and skill to get started; but traditional engagement models just don't provide a central 'client', a terms of reference or an assignment. Open participation is inherently discouraged.

Phone App Example: Whole Foods has two hundred pounds of organic onions and 100 pounds of chicken in Southern California that will, presently, spoil if not sold that day. Instead, a soup kitchen can view this inventory dilemma and offer to buy the onions and chicken at 10% of their value. Whole Foods minimizes profit loss and the soup kitchen has more food to offer. A homeless person can look up where the food will be and reserve a seat.

Website: A college student from California wonders why in Massachusetts, where he attends school, there in insufficient signage for navigating suburban streets. He posts this observation and suddenly government employees, private business, and creative thinkers can collaborate on finding solutions. Since this is done publicly, any malicious exploitation of this dilemma becomes much more difficult.

Bus Tour: A bus shows up at Harvard University at the beginning of fall semester. A young, intelligent, and passionate team exits the vehicle and talks for 15 minutes to an advanced economics class. Sitting in the class, John Doe, a college senior currently applying to I-Banking positions and extremely busy with school work, learns about the incredible, and little known, opportunities that have only just come into existence. He realizes he can make money to pay off is college loans and actually do good too. Instead of working at Goldman Sachs, he takes a job with LGT Venture Philanthropy.

Support for the Arts is usually seen in terms of space to perform and exhibit; we are addressing the need for affordable space in which emerging artists can spend the years required to get to that point. Spaces in which creative individuals with diverse backgrounds and skill-sets can meet, discuss, and collaborate. New ideas are often germinated in the unplanned encounters between otherwise unrelated concepts and practices. Our proposed facility will provide studio and rehearsal space for artists and musicians for $150/mo for 200 sq.ft., plus access to sound, lighting, and recording equipment, woodworking, machining, and electronics workshops, darkroom and printmaking capabilities, as well as a flexible space for short-term rentals for film/video/photography, theatrical rehearsals, seminars, meetings and community-building events. We've always been open to anyone who comes in the door with enthusiasm and a good idea, regardless of age, sex, cultural or socioeconomic background. Through our past activities, we have the support of a broad cross-section of Vancouver's cultural community (eg. over 900 signatures on our petition in support of our proposal to the City, see http://redgate.at.org/petition ) and we have had dozens of expressions of interest from people looking for affordable space in which to create and collaborate. We anticipate being full, with a waiting list, within weeks of re-opening. We hope above all to give young artists and innovators a reason to stay in Vancouver, and to enable them to continue to live and work in the city we love.

Social Cops makes the solution to Social issues really simple. Imagine you walk out of your house and see an uncleared garbage dump. Previously, while the sight may have distressed you - a common citizen would just walk by- as the process of getting the issue solved is highly cumbersome & unrewarding. But with Social Cops', all you need to do is click a picture of the problem with your smartphone. Your problem statement & photo of the problem along with the location will automatically be posted to the platform. It will then be forwarded to the relevant authorities and you will be assigned a complaint number. In the case of uncleared garbage, it will be the municipal corporation's responsibility to update you on the status of your complaint. Your complaint will be monitored, tracked and reviewed thus bringing the much needed accountability into the system. Social cops will also be publishing monthly social analytics to bring transparency- which localities authorities are slowest to respond, where are the maximum reported problems from, etc.

Our innovation lie in our unique style of service delivery and design that addresses underlying causes of poverty through asset based entrepreneurship development:

1. 5 drivers constitute a group & 2-5 groups fall under one garage/meeting point. The group acts as the social collateral of the asset-based loan. Individual drivers are added to groups

2. Each garage/meeting point cover 10-25 taxis.
Each garage/meeting point serves as the collection centre for the driver’s daily/weekly payment and also provides repair facilities

3. We then provide ongoing ecosystem services that drivers cannot provide individually but represent real needs or opportunities (advertising on taxis, professional mechanic shops, taxi online booking and pre-paid services', taxi drivers' credit union, taxi drivers and families' health insurance, health center and pharmacy) on a revenue-share basis

4. We weave a country-wide network of garage/meeting points and expand the model virally.

The model for this solution is based on fair access and equal rights. This can be done by charging a toll for travelling on a select amount of highway on mainland British Columbia and doing the same for an amount of travel of the ferry system.

Our solution will create an opporuntiy for Haida Gwaii youth to participate in minor hockey and skating. It will provide a recreational opportunity in the way of an adult recreational hockey league,and open/public skating. The primary activity involved in our solution is to raise the funds that will allow us to construct this much needed facility.

Synthetic ice surfaces are in use all over the world, from shopping malls to theme parks. Productions such as Disney on Ice use sythetic ice. In Canada the District of Wood Buffalo installed a synthetic surface in the community of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, when they built a new recreation complex. They chose this type of "ice" because of its sustainability,durability, and flexibility.

1. Ask host organization "What's your question?"
2. Collect and discuss ideas, and identify the one question that is clear, results and action focused, and engaging.
3. Gather participants from a broad spectrum, preferably from different and inherently creative sectors.
4. Find a unique and positive setting.
5. Get participants in the same room, either physically or electronically.
6. Facilitate participation and discussion, using both proven and newly developed methods that allow fresh perspectives to emerge.
7. Aim for the 'ah-HA!' moment and capture it when it happens.
8. Give the organization space and support to grow their new idea or solution.

Six elements are needed for the model to succeed:

1. Good question.
2. Right space.
3. Right people.
4. Expert facilitation.
5. Willingness and openness of participants.
6. Support after the event to give their innovation a chance to grow.

The model is not prescriptive and is process-oriented. We cannot predict what will happen in the space, or say how the organization will use the experience. We cannot say what support will be needed, or for how long. However, we believe that this process has the potential to allow fresh, exciting and challenging ideas to emerge, and make a real change to how an organization approaches its work. An organization needs to be willing to participate, inferring that they are hungry for fresh perspectives.

We also believe all participants will benefit from the model, and newer, broader communities of practice may arise.

Indian street vendors sell fresh produce, cooked food, household items, and clothing in an attempt to make ends meet. Evening hours are especially important for business yet vendors lack affordable options that sufficiently illuminate their products. Most vendors use kerosene lanterns and liquefied petroleum gas systems for lighting despite their high fuel and maintenance costs, limited light output, and toxic fumes.

S3IDF identifies a local low-income entrepreneur to operate a battery charging station business that uses hybrid solar photovoltaic panels that can take advantage of the sun’s rays and the grid. The batteries are charged during the day and are delivered to the vendors in the evening for use in their shops, stalls, and pushcarts. Vendors rent the batteries each night on a pay-per-use basis. To use the batteries vendors attach their CFL lightbulbs, yielding an average 4 hours of bright, reliable, and safe light each evening. Batteries are picked-up in the morning and recharged.

To make these projects happen, S3IDF must (1) incentive banks to make loans to the entrepreneur for the solar panels and batteries by offering market-based guarantees or other credit conditioning mechanisms to overcome his/her collateral constraints, (2) work with the local technology suppliers to extend their product distribution to new areas and to provide servicing, and (3) aid entrepreneur's business planning.

Street vendors cut their operating costs, increase profit, and protect themselves against health hazards. The entrepreneur gains a reliable source of income.

Education - Take rickshaw drivers for eg. Research says that there is aversion towards general public as a result of the swollen middle-class pushing the cost of living higher, ousting them to the periphery. This surfaces as apathetic and risky behavior on the road. CoRPS uses social meetings as ice-breaker, with the help of JAAGA, a local community place. Intervention is subtle, creating an artificial vent for this community and identifying those who could lead this change within the community. The program will be supported by public recognition for good behavior, and also introducing knowledge of place with interesting stories so that interested rickshaw drivers double up as tourist guides and are able to charge some extra money.

On the other hand, CoRPS facilitates a market-based approach to funding pedestrian infrastructure. It allows the local government to raise cash by leasing commercial spaces, and manage pavement infrastructure using their existing vendors. The commercial spaces will be leased out initially for a period of time, and then will be available for open bidding as and when they are available. Eventually, CoRPS will introduce this to local corporators as an idea to change their respective locality, and resist anyone who spoils the roads, creating an internal competition among themselves.

The last pillar of first-aid care maps healthcare clinics along the busy roads and standardize first-aid capacity. This will reduce chances of ambulances stuck in traffic, and instead take the victim to the nearest clinic, saving lives.

According to the Microfinance Information Exchange there are roughly 1.7 million micro loan borrowers in the Philippines, which amount to less than 2% of their population. With 42% of their population living on less than USD 2 per day, it is clear that the micro finance industry has room to grow. Our credit bureau (CB) will help their micro finance institutions (MFIs) efficiently and risk-appropriately grow their loan portfolio while simultaneously preventing borrowers from becoming over-indebted.
When looking at an example between two borrowers, A and B, the effects of our CB can be clearly seen. Borrower A has good credit history and has always repaid their loans on time, while borrower B has 7 outstanding loans and is delinquent on several. Borrower B has been able to approach and procure loans from other MFIs because he is not part of a credit bureau system. Because there is no CB in place, borrower A and B are charged the same interest rate on loans. Borrower A is being penalized, while borrower B is taking advantage of the system. Our credit bureau would let the MFIs know that borrower A is of low risk and should be charged a significantly lower interest rate, and that borrower B should be charged a much higher interest rate and perhaps be put on a no-lending list.
We will work with all MFIs and other relevant institutions to gather and update needed information. As borrowers repay or fail to repay loans, we will include our new risk assessment in reports and credit scores to lenders. Our scores and reports will directly influence the cost of borrowing.