Data = Life BUSINESS PLAN

  1. Executive Summary
  • Please provide a snapshot of what you are trying to achieve. Focus on the issue (the need for specific development), the solution (your business using ICT innovation), and the impact.

Information asymmetries in conflict

The nature of conflict is that there are large information asymmetries between the situation on the ground and the people trying to provide assistance. In the past there was no easy way to source information from people on the ground but the increase in mobile penetration has started to change that. Using mobile technology to rectify these information asymmetries will improve the effectiveness and impact of aid programmes.

Private sector and donor agency involvement in conflict situations

As an example, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contributed nearly $142 million in humanitarian projects and grants to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa with one of the main outcomes of support being able to facilitate logistics support for partners working in West Africa1[1].

2012 Gallup Poll, “Does your home have a cellular phone?” (15 and over)

Source: Gallup. Note: Data not available for countries in white. 2011 data used for Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique

According to the UN Global Compact, which tracks private sector donations during the crisis, businesses contributed or pledged nearly $300 million to the global Ebola response3 in 2014[2] .

The economics and power of Mobile

Few technologies have proliferated as fast and as far as the mobile phone. A decade ago few in the developing world economies had access to mobile tech and service, now over 70% of individuals either own or have access to a cellphone in a majority of African and South Asian countries.[3]

From a demand side perspective, the presence of mobile technology in the developing world has meant that the last mile and base of the pyramid (BOP) users that were previously offline have access to content and services that were previously locked. From a supply side perspective operators are facilitating mobile growth by expanding networks to urban, peri-urban and the rural last mile and offering mobile products priced and tailored for base of the pyramid users.

Mobile technology doesn’t only bring a direct line of communication but it also provides data that is useful in crisis situations. One specific type of data called Call Detail Record (CDR) data, which is held by the mobile operators, has been proven to assist in tracking population movements in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Various analytics and critical insights can also be delivered by analyzing and leveraging such data.

  1. The Initiative
  • Provide in brief information about your business concept, its mission/vision, and social purpose.

The concept is requires a 2 fold solution (1) to create a software platform for relief agencies to derive data around the needs of displaced populations. (2) An application for basic/feature phones that allows users in conflict regions to use SMS and IVR to communicate critical information.

The information communicated by the basic app could include anything, in this case this aspects like location data, food supply shortages, medical supplies and migration routes would be key. The ability to accurately assess the needs and requirements in a conflict zone is invaluable and would assist in reconciling supply and demand of commodities provided by relief programs and private sector donors.

International development agencies and private sector donors (e.g. Google, United Nation and USAID could plug into this platform and ultimately use the data mined as a tool to distribute relief aid products, map out logistics routes and population movement which will ultimately better inform decision making and the impact of aid efforts.

This user-facing app would require an incentive structure and local agent network to gain traction in that market. The app would also have to be designed using Human Centered Design principles to optimally derive useful information from the target population. For instance, investment into reverse billing for SMS and IVR would be required so that the end user will not have to bear the cost of the interaction as well as using mechanisms like shortcodes to allow for maximum usability. The data mined can be stored in the cloud and analysis and access right would be given to legitimate aid partners. I would suggest a HCD study be sourced or performed before the app was built out to fully understand how conflict populations interact with mobile and data.

Using local agent networks that consist of informal vendors, local store owners, religious networks etc is a mechanism to proliferate app awareness. Other incentive structures such as free airtime could also be used to encourage people to use the service and provide this crowdsourced data. These mechanisms have seen success in the past.

More precise and current information provided to those who are looking to help in times of disaster and conflict will hopefully save many lives.

  • Tell us why you will be able to implement your proposal.

I will be able to implement this proposal because of my background in the technology, telecoms and development industry as well as the fact that I live in a developing country and have an understanding of how community ecosystems work. The technology behind this solution is not hugely complex or sophisticated. The power of the idea is in its ability to harness communities to inform decisions that will ultimately benefit those community both in the short and longer term.

I understand that this idea would require buy in from a number of key stakeholders but the data has shown that in times of conflict, MNOs, aid agencies and the private sector come together to facilitate such use cases. The ITU as a funder of this idea would also be greatly advantageous for MNO buy in.

  • Provide a brief summary of the skills, experience, knowledge, and responsibility necessary for your business and of all the people involved or to be involved with your business.

Framework for skills and expertise required to implement Data = Life

  • Technical Knowledge
  • Coding of the core application and platform
  • Data analysis, aggregate in, warehousing and storage maintenance
  • Mobile operator integration for commodities such as SMS, IVR etc
  • Human Centered Design knowledge
  • Context/country Knowledge
  • Ability to build agent networks and communities
  • In-country context knowledge
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Understanding of the relief and donor communities
  • Understanding of private sector aid
  • General
  • Finance skills
  • Fund raising
  • Marketing
  • What connections with external parties are necessary or beneficial (NGOs, government, trade associations, funding organizations, etc.)

This idea requires a number of different stakeholders to be involved throughout different points of the project:

  • Mobile Network Operators: access to communication challenges e.g. SMS, USSD, shortcodes, IVR to create a communication channel to request and receive data
  • Data analytics: could be held by companies like FlowMinder or Operators to predict and understand population migration in order to target outreach and “marketing”
  • Aid/ relief agencies and donor organizations: initially to alpha and beta test the data in their aid programs and eventually to leverage the platform in bespoke ways
  • Private sector: provide aggregate level data to private sector agencies that want to help e.g. Facebook (internet.org), Google etc
  • How are you planning to protect the intellectual property?

This idea has high barrier to entry in that the relationship with various stakeholders as well as the connections to aid organizations make it difficult for anyone to execute. With that being said, if someone can do it better, they should run with the idea or be a potential collaborator on this project. I do not believe in IP with regard to social enterprises (which is not to be confused with inefficient duplicative efforts)

  • How would your supply chain look like?

Platform Development

Distribution channel to conflict affected persons

Distribution channel to aid agencies

  1. Marketing & Sales
  • Describe your product or service
  • What is the innovation? How is it innovative? How does it differ from current products or processes?

The solution is innovative in its simplicity. The challenge in the space is an information asymmetry. The technology that will be used is not ground breaking or new but rather a medium that base of the pyramid users are comfortable with and hence will be more inclined to interact with. Currently there are a number of players in the space that are working on tracking population movement and this is an idea that could very easily be integrated into those efforts or even CSI initiatives by MNOs or Internet companies. The ultimate value is the mechanism of 2 way communication.

  • Description of your products or services

App Front end: The user interacts with this through SMS, USSD or IVR if they have a basic/ feature phone. Mobi sites can be used for WAP enabled phones / smart phones. Depending on the country, reverse billing can be applied. Free airtime can also be distributed as required

Platform backend: Aid organization can integrate through a web API to gain access to the relevant data and reports. The backend will store all the data through a web service (with measures of security and data cleaning being applied. The backend can be built in which ever programming language best suits the donor agencies (e.g. HTML5/ JS/ JSNode)

Business Intelligence Engine/ Dashboard: Both raw data and business intelligence reports will be available. This is highly dependent on the use case, data received and audience. Depending on the roles and permissions of the end user, the availability of data will be accessible on demand.

  • The Market
  • Talk about your target group. Who will buy your product and why?

The target market is both the conflict stricken populations and organizations willing to support aid efforts. Initially the product will have to be fully funded through fund raising efforts and social impact grants as this is a non-profit. After the business case has been proven, the access to information could potentially be packaged on a subscription basis. Access to accurate information is something that, if useful, donor organizations will be prepared to factor into their program budgets as an operating expense.

  • What is your Unique Selling Point (USP)

The USP is that this is an initiative that has not been tried before, but parallel use cases have seen success in the space. The benefits of this product could change the way that aid is deployed.

  • Market research data you should collect about the market size, value, etc.

Market research, to be done, include:

  • Human centered design study
  • Total aid contributed to conflict/ disaster ($)
  • Primary aid contributors – Stakeholder analysis
  • Mobile phone penetration by geography, connection type, provider
  • Talk about your competitors in this market and your competitive edge.

It is well documented that during a conflict or disaster situation there is often a lack of information as well as population migration from conflict struck areas. Aid organizations face a severe challenge in trying to predict both (a) population movement (b) the needs of that population such that efforts can be effectively targeted. Mobile technology and infrastructure allows for the data from (a) to be communicated in some way but there is still a gap in terms of the (b) needs data. Organizations like Flowminder assimilate and aggregate this movement data by working with operators. This solution seeks to take that idea one step further in answering the question of needs and requirements of displaced populations.

  • What is your marketing strategy? Describe using the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion)
  1. Social Purpose
  • Who will benefit?

The benefit will be felt by the conflict struck populations in that they will be more effective and targeted aid programs. For donors and aid agencies to see the benefit a Monitoring and Evaluation strategy will need to underlie the whole project so that both Data = Life and the organization can track the progress of fuller information on decision making.

  • Why is there a need for a social enterprise?

The business case has not been proven yet and therefore it would not be feasible to try to sell this as a commercial product

  • How will running a social enterprise meet the identified need?

The social enterprise will unlock a very specific development use case of the power of data through a simple communication medium. The presence of which can result in saving lives through food, medical and armed forces efforts. There is not currently a direct communication channel to those affected

  • How will you measure your social impact?

There will need to be a Monitoring and Evaluation part of the enterprise that conducts a baseline survey from which to measure the results based on critical Key Performance Indicators. They usage of the user service will need to be monitored to track usages, challenges and biases in the sample.

In order to create a commercially viable product the benefits of the data in donor and aid decision-making will need to be tracked and publicized. This can also be done through a baseline survey and KPIs/

  • What support is there to help you to measure your social impact?

There are a number of M&E tools that currently exist but we would also have to collaborate with people on the ground to corroborate the effects of the air to the end user.

  1. Growth
  • What is the potential for your submission’s growth?

There is large scale growth that Data = Life can extend to. The crisis/ conflict scenario is one specific use case in which data analytics can solve information asymmetries. It can be scaled and replicated to any development context in which there is a mobile end user and any organizations that aims to optimize their efforts without having (a) presence on the ground (b) local understanding / agent network (c) limited resources

  • How will you measure growth?

Conflict user: We could measure growth by the number of users, volume of interaction, quality of information, unbaits sample,

Aid Organization: Fluctuation in population fatality through malnutrition/ lack of medical attention (or any other data points provided by the platform (. Effectiveness of aid programs, number of organizations connecting through the API

  1. Finance

First round Funding

First round Expenses $ 61,650

First round Assets $ 10,000

Total Funding Required $ 71,650

Start-up Expenses

Development Cost$ 50,000

Landscape and Research

Landscape and HCD Analysis (2 week travel included)

Flight (US to Asia/Africa) 1$ 2 200 Accommodation/per diem 2 $ 1 700

Property Plant & Equipment

PC $ 5,000

Office space$ 1,000

Web Services

Internet (FTTP)$ 500

Amazon Web Service$ 1,000

Misc. $ 250

Total First Round Expenses $ 61,650

First Round Assets

Cash Required $ 10,000

Total Assets $ 10,000

Assets

Cash Requirements from Start-up $ 10,000

Additional Cash Raised$ 0

Cash Balance n Starting $ 0

Total Assets $ 10,000

Liabilities and Capital

Liabilities

Current borrowing$ 0

Long-term Liabilities$ 10,000

Accounts Payable$ 0

Other Current Liabilities $ 0

Total Liabilities $ 10,000

Capital

Fundraising round 2$ 100,000

Fundraising round 3$ 0

Additional Investment Required $ 0_____

Total Planned Investment$ 100,000

Total Capital $ 100,000

Notes to Financial Statement

(1) Based on market costs

(2) Based on market costs

  1. Implementation Plan
  • Key milestones/timelines targeted and associated activities.

.

Project Time Line

Activity / Q1- Y1 / Q2- Y1 / Q3- Y1 / Q4- Y1 / Q1- Y2 / Q2- Y2
Landscape Analysis /
System specifications (technical, user, data) /
Platform development /
Testing (alpha and beta) /
Deployment and training /
Monitor and Evaluation /
Maintain and upgrade /
Partnership development with key stakeholders /
  • Cost requirements in terms of startup and ongoing expenses.

Projected Income ($)

Year 1 / Year 2 / Total
Funding :
First Round / 71,650 / 0
Second Round / 0 - / 100,000
Total Funding / 71,650 / 100,000 / 171,650
Expenses:
Development Costs / 50,000
Landscape / 3,900
Dividends / - / -
PPP / 6,000
Web Services / 1,500
Miscellaneous expense / 250
Income / 71,650
Net Income / 10,000
  • Describe the skills and educational backgrounds of yourself and your team, and what additional personnel and skills you might require.

Skills of personnel:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Previous experience working in software development
  • Partnerships manager with previous work experience in the donor community
  • Admin staff

[1] USAID (2013)

[2] UN Global Compact (2014)

[3] Gallup Poll