101 Innovative & Entrepreneurial Ideas and Initiatives from around the planet
Social innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives around the world
DRAFT – STILL IN PROGRESS
1. Location: India - Mumbai - Industry Type: Entrepreneurship Education / http://www.ecell.inMy main reason for visiting Mumbai was to meet the “The Entrepreneurship Cell”, IIT Bombay. I was also at the IIT to discuss their proposed membership of the World Internet Project. The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay is one of the premier student organizations inIndia promoting entrepreneurship. The Cell has led to the start up of more than a dozen startups. The organization has also become a role model for similar student organizations being setup in other Indian institutes. It runs the biggest Business Plan Competition in India and one of the Top Five in the Asia-Oceanic region in terms of participation, prizes and resources. The annual Entrepreneurship Summit is also organized by the eCell at IIT
I was also eager to learn more about the programme led by Namo Narain Meena entitled the Commonwealth-Central Bank of India Youth Enterprise Finance initiative. This programme is aimed at developing the skills of, and providing accessible and affordable loans to, young entrepreneurs across India.
2. Location: India - Delhi - Industry Type: Economic Development / http://www.khemkafoundation.org/
In Delhi I visited the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation to learn more about their Social Entrepreneurship initiatives. The foundation is an Indian public charitable trust. Their mission is to build innovative cross-sectoral collaborations and development infrastructure within India and internationally through strategic philanthropy. They adopt a long-term, strategic and leveraged approach.
Initiatives organized by the foundation include:
The Khemka Forum on Social Entrepreneurship
The Foundation runs an annual forum on social entrepreneurship that are designed to create an ecosystem, a community of sorts for all the players in the field. Every year, social entrepreneurs, investors, academics, government representatives and thought leaders gather under a ‘big tent’ to share their thoughts on scaling social impact.Under the overarching theme of‘scaling innovations’the forum examines the ‘how-to’s’ that enable ‘low cost, high quality solutions’ get to scale.India's 'Social Entrepreneur of the Year'
The Foundation and The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in association with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) collaborate to select India‘s ‘Social Entrepreneur Of The Year’.3. Location: India - Jaipur - Industry Type: Craft/Micro finance/Economic Development / http://www.arthfinance.com/
I had two objectives in visiting Jaipur, to visit a community produce initiative (Rajasthan Textile Development Corporation) and visit Arth Micro Finance.
Arth Micro Finance
“ARTH’s objective is to help women, become self – reliant and independent by their economic empowerment through income generating activities and our aim is to provide them with a platform which will help them achieve that level of self sufficiency.”
Arth was established in May 2007 as a Micro Finance Institution with the objective of improving the financial status of women in India. Arth Finance is backed by IIRD (Indian Institute Of Rural Development) the parent company (which has 15 years experience in areas of economic development, natural resource management, health education, sanitation ,child development and women empowerment).
Arth has a strategic financial plan to grow to over 100 branches and client outreach to 140,000 by 2013.
Current outreach as of January 2010 :
Total Member : 23000
No. of branches : 11
Total Disbursement : Rs.2400.57 Lacs
Rajasthan Textile Development Corporation
My purpose in visiting the state owned Rajasthan Textile Development Corporation
was to investigate the possibility of advancing the social aims of the organisation by selling their products into Ireland. The corporation stock Indian finished minerals and precious stones, clothing, granite , traditional bronze figures and hand woven carpets.
4. Location: India - Agra - Industry Type: Community traditional produce
In Agra I visited the Kanu Carpet Factory, Fatehabad Road. It is a craft business retailing products of Indian village producers (later in my travels I visited location where they were made). Again my objective was to investigate the possibility of advancing the social aims of the organisation by selling their products into Ireland.
I toured the factory and learned about the creation process. Kanu is renowned for making custom carpets that are shipped primarily to the United States. They showed all the steps necessary in making hand-tied carpets, watching the weavers knot and weave at a loom, working at high speed. The average size rug takes up to 5 months to complete, one knot at a time. Once complete the rug is taken to a concrete floored room where men in rubber boots scrape and wash the rug for a couple of hours to remove excess dye. Than the rug is hung in the sun and once dry put onto a stretcher and nailed down. After a day they take it to trim with hard core scissors and once trimmed each and every piece rug is washed again, and then coated with acidic treatment to moth proof and set the colors.
5. Location: India - Orchha - Industry Type: Hand made recycled paper / http://www.tara.in/
TARAgram Project
I visited the paper plant near Orchha to see this community employment project in action, it is a cottage industry of handmade paper products, mostly to provide employment for women. The project is supported by the Indian government through the purchase of the produced paper for degree certificates and legal documents. TARApaper is made of recycled and waste materials. It uses no wood or chemicals. And it is crafted by the local villagers, most of whom are impoverished women.
TARA (Technology and Action for Rural Advancement) objective is to create sustainable livelihoods on a large scale. It aims to give the rural entrepreneur an edge by designing and delivering machines and solutions that are suited to local needs and at the same time, easy to use and profitable.
6. Location: India - Udaipur - Industry Type: Tourism/traditional crafts /
I sought out the innovative small businesses in Udaipur and found The Spice Box. I signed up for the class with seven others. In 30 minutes we learnt how to make a starter, main course and dessert. Using mirrors on the ceiling the chef made sure everyone on the small room could see everything he was doing.
I next went to the Udaipur Cultural Centre and spoke to a group of artists that specialise in the production of miniature paintings using camel eye lashes for the brush. My objective was to investigate the possibility of advancing the social aims of the organisation by selling their products into Ireland. The rich painting tradition in Rajasthan is evident in the folk murals on the walls of houses and palaces at Udaipur
7. Location: Nepal - Kathmandu - Industry Type: Community traditional produce/Entrepreneurship creation initiatives /
http://e4nepal.com
In Kathmandu I sought out a number of community enterprises. I was taken aback by the economic disruptions caused by regular power outages. It would appear that when the British left India, they had already built universities, roads, bridges, courts, and other constitutional structures. When "Rana Regime" and "Panchayat" system were toppled in Nepal it was left with debt and, according to the locals, not much else.
I also visited “Entrepreneurs for Nepal”. This group meet the last Thursday of every month at a restaurant venue. Each month an entrepreneur in Nepal speaks to the group sharing their stories of success, failure, and lessons learned. These meetings also provide the youth of Nepal with an opportunity to network with the speaker, other mentors and each other during a social hour following the talk.
The group run a “Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs” and have produced a book “Nepali Entrepreneurship Handbook” - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18400325/Entrepreneurs%20for%20Nepal/E4N-nepali-entrepreneurs-handbook.pdf
8. Location: Nepal - Bhaktapur - Industry Type: Community traditional produce
I visited Bhaktapur to meet the staff of the Lama Thanka Centre. My objective was to investigate the possibility of advancing the social aims of the organisation by selling their products into Ireland.
Since 1973, the Lama Thangka Centre located in Bhaktapur, Nepal has been creating authentic, high-quality Thangkas intricate scroll paintings depicting ancient Buddhist iconography. Supervised by lamas of the Nyingma order and closely adhering to traditional Thangka painting customs, the artists of the Lama Thangka Centre believe themselves to be masters of this sacred tradition. A "Thanka" is a Tibetan silk painting with embroidery, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, famous scene, or mandala of some sort. These thanka served as important teaching tools depicting the life of the Buddha, various influential lamas and other deities and bodhisattvas. One popular subject is The Wheel of Life, which is a visual representation of the Abhidharma teachings (Art of Enlightenment).
9. Location: Vietnam - Hanoi - Industry Type: Tertiary Education
RMIT
RMIT Vietnam is the Asian hub of RMIT University, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
RMIT University has made a strategic commitment to develop as a “twin hub” university, with its Vietnam campuses linking Melbourne, Australia strongly to the Asian region. Opened in 2004, the Hanoi campus has around 1200 students studying English, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Business (Accountancy)and the Master of Business Administration, withfurther academic programs to arrive in future. RMIT Vietnam delivers the same degrees that students acquire in Australia. These are seen to be relevant to business and industry in Vietnam as Vietnam increasingly looks outward to the world. The degree programs at RMIT Vietnam foster essential skills in students such as critical thinking, problem solving, time management and communication. Given the rapid change of culture from communist central planning to open, market based activity that accompanied Vietnam’s accession to the WTO I was interested in learning from the nascent entrepreneurs there.
10. Location: Vietnam - Hoi An - Industry Type: Tourism /
I visited Hoi An Ancient Town as I was interested in learning how its assignment as a World Heritage Site had created economic benefits (and believing that Ireland has more sites that should have this recognition than currently do). Hoi An is a well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site.
In 1999, the old town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on the following basis:
· Criterion (ii): Hoi An is an outstanding material manifestation of the fusion of cultures over time in an international commercial port.
· Criterion (v): Hoi An is an exceptionally well preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port.
Hội An attracts a substantial number of tourists due to its UNESCO status and is a well-established place on the backpacker trail. Many visit for the numerous art and craft shops and tailors, who produce made-to-measure clothes for a fraction of the Western price
The Pole Kmatkowsky was the prime mover in achieving UNESCO recognition.
11. Location: Vietnam Saigon - Industry Type: Creativity and Innovation promotion / http://saigoncreativemornings.blogspot.com/
Saigon/CreativeMornings is a monthly series of morning meetings that focus on fresh ideas, innovation and creativity. Held at TBWA\Vietnam's head quarters in Ho Chi Minh City, the event brings in key speakers on a range of topics that inspire and support creativity. The meetings are open to the public on a first come, first serve basis.All events are free of charge
Inspired by the CreativeMorningsseries in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Zurich, originally founded by Tina Roth Eisenberg ofSwissMissDesign Studio and Blog in New York.
Initiated by creativeprofessionals, the non-profit Saigon/CreativeMornings seeksto bring world-class creative thought leaders in a variety ofdisciplines (Fine Art, Design, Music, Film,Architecture, Technology, Cuisine andgrowing) in for anintimate chat with young leaderson a monthly basis to inspire, motivate and initiate truecreative change in business in Vietnam.
All events are scheduled through EventBrite.com.
12. Location: Lao Vang Vieng - Industry Type: Tourism /
I went to visit this town to see what the tubing buzz was about. Until recently this dusty, one street town’s main boast was a long, mostly unused, airfield runway parallel to the main road. It was used during the Vietnam War. The town has grown substantially due to the influx of backpackers in recent years attracted by the opportunities for adventure tourism in an incredible landscape.
Today, Vang Vieng is mainly a backpacker town with “tubing” the main attraction. With very little capital outlay the town has become a hive of activity, the main street is full of guest houses, bars, restaurants, internet cafes, tour agencies, and western tourists. Attractions of the town include inner tubing and kayaking on the Nam Song River, which is lined with bars selling Beer Lao and equipped with rope swings, zip lines, and large decks for socializing. Safety measures for the tubing have been described as "non existent" and a mixture of this and heavy drinking has seen tourists drown.
13. Location: Lao - capital Vientiane - Industry Type: Economic Development /
In the capital of Lao I visited the National Young Entrepreneurs Association. It is a professional development organisation closely aligned with Lao People Revolutionary Party. will provide these functions. It also provides a forum for news and ideas and for interaction with other organizations.
A key aim is to help to increase the capacity to direct or manage companies (particularly in the forestry and agriculture making products for export) in order to compete globally.
They have close ties with international young entrepreneurs associations such as ASEAN(Business forums for young entrepreneurs)
The closeness to the political system is a bit disconcerting initially (one of their objectives is to “Develop employees so they love the new regime, loyal to their superiors, motivated, patient and work with dedication.”) however it is the same market orientated communism as prevails in Vietnam.
They are working with the World Bank on the Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI), as part of the World Bank Group’s Gender Action Plan. Delegations from the Young Entrepreneur Association and Youth Union from Lao PDR participated travelled to Washington for the launch events. An MOU was signed with the Government of Lao PDR in 2010 and financial support has been provided by AusAID and the World Bank for the initiative. The programme is called STEPS (Supporting Talent, Entrepreneurial Potential and Success).