Day 6: Project Ringtones - Mobile Phone Applications for Workers in China

After being given an introduction to Project Ringtones through the amazing Ted Talk on Sixth Sense which can be found here and an introduction to Mobile Phone Applications and how combination of tools on mobile phones can help build a powerful application, we were put into break-out groups:

1. TB Subgroup - Katrin Stoy from FSU and Constanza Alonqueo from UFRO

2. Mobile phones in China - Andre Reichel and Steffen Bethmann from FSU

3. Empowering Consumers through Mobile phones - Falk von Moellendorff from FSU and Jiayuan Meng from ZU

This article will talk about Mobile Phones in China and how applications on mobile phones can help the low income group workers in China to counter problems faced in the transport system especially in booking tickets for their journeys.

We discussed the target group who require the application, the tools which will be required - the positives and the negatives of the same. We discussed the requirements of such an application viz. easy user-interface, fast learning curve, trustworthy and the application should run on all mobile platforms especially on the ones which are low cost.

We identified that the target group would be young people moving to urban china mainly as workers and they would be needing to travel back home atleast once a year during the Chinese New Year and for such people, the ideal application should provide an easy access and interface to buying tickets on their mobile phone. The challenges which will be faced in such an application would be suspicion on the part of the users since it would be mainly SMS based, mode of payment, authentication and such others.

The group came up with a proposal to develop such an voice/SMS based application whose main purpose is to fight black markets who sell tickets at a high price since the ticket booking system in China isn't very customer friendly.

Day 3: Session on Innovation by Carla and Pia

Innovation in Professional Areas

This was the theme of the session conducted for Senior Fellows by Carla Concha and Pia Gonzalez, SFs from UFRO.

The session which was very educative to the audience was divided into two distinct halves comprising of Case Studies:

1. Bacterial Properties of Copper: This case was presented to us by Carla Concha which gave us an insight into how Copper makes up a large percentage of the exports of Chile and how in the recent years this has been on the reduce. The reason being that there wasn't a significant change in the reasons for use. And because of this recently, an innovation has been brought out in this industry. It being certain properties of Copper making it bacteria resistant.



This is being used to fight Nosocomial Infections in patients in the hospitals. Patients being in hospitals for a longer period are at a higher risk of infection and the nature of this infection is quite dangerous. Therefore, it has been discovered that growth rate of these germs/bacterial is lesser on surfaces coated with copper. This has been an important innovation in the copper industry in Chile.

2. Mobile Dental Clinics: This case was presented to us by Pia Gonzalez who works in a Mobile dental clinic herself. She presented to us the innovative concept of Mobile Dental Clinics which have been provided by the government to serve people in lower income rural areas. Pia explained to us how it was a frustration of denying the poor one of the main drivers of this innovation.

She explained to us the process and the way in which these clinics work in providing to the poor quality dental care. Though small in size, these clinics have been quite effective in treating dental problems in the lower income groups.

The case studies were followed up by division of groups into two which then discussed innovation in their lives, about whether or not we are innovating at our workplaces, whether we are interested in innovating and if we are encouraged by superiors to innovate.

Day 2: Workshops on Innovations

"Nothing is impossible though all may not be possible"

The above quote from Mr. Vijay Ladha's session on Product Innovation was one of the take-aways from the numerous ones which we got on 4th Aug '09. Mr. Vijay Ladha who by education is a Chartered Accountant but forayed into entrepreneurship by choice. He walked us through his interesting journey of innovation.

Mr. Ladha started his innovation - Gas Candles out of a necessity for the middle class average Indian. And that was to help him/her during the times of power shortage. His motives were simple, to provide a simple, economic, hassle-free, mess-free alternative solution of wax candles in turn to the chronic problem of power shortage faced in almost all parts of India.



Mr. Ladha began to manufacture a the product roughly 25 years ago. The product has undergone a sea of change though retaining its original goal. Mr. Ladha explained to us how customer feedback was of utmost importance as that was the main source of innovation of the product. He went on to explain to us the changes that were made to the product which were mainly based on the customer feedback.

The product was originally used as a replacement for wax-candles but soon, the word caught up and people were curious to know about the product. The same product then became a gift, corporates wanted to gift their employees these candles as souvenirs, while some others wanted it for religious purposes.

Soon, some other people wanted to use the gas flame for other purposes and thus, innovation made the product multi-purpose in nature.

The audience then went on to ask Mr. Ladha questions about his innovation, about what drives him to continue the same business and keep innovating even 25 years down the line and his answer was:

"Believe until you have a reason to disbelieve. Continue innovating for as long as you can!"

You can find more information about gas candles at: http://www.fourell.in/

Day 3: Session on Microfinance

On Wednesday, 5th August '09 we had a session on Microfinance by Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan, Chairman and Founder of Janaagraha and Janalakshmi. Mr. Ramanathan walked us through the various technicalities, challenges and the business process of Microfinance.

He gave us an insight into the history of Microfinance whose pioneer was Md. Yunus who is aptly called as the "Father of Microfinance".

Mr. Ramanathan first spoke about the aims and goals of Financial Inclusion which are:

1. Access to credit

2. Saving and contingency

3. Wealth Creation

And this led to telling us about how Microfinance institutions fall into the Non-Profit Financial Institutions (NBFI) whose main goal is to give the lower income group Access to Credit. He gave us the basic information about the processes involved in the working of NBFIs including the setting up of technology base to administer the same. He told us about the challenges faced in the procurement of cutting edge technologies for core banking solutions for the basic operation of these institutions.

Mr. Ramanathan then went on to explain to us the novel method of Biometric solutions used by his organization Janalakshmi to track customers for credit purposes. He explained to us the use of smart cards to compete with the challenges faced by the institution with respect to maintaining proof of identity.

We were also briefed about the challenges faced by the institutions in the following areas:

1. Institutional Design

2. Cost of Creation

3. Scale

4. Risks

The audience then had a very interesting discussion with him and brought out different perspectives to the same. The discussions were about modes of operation of the microfinance institutions, challenges faced, microfinance and main stream banking regulatory problems and ethical issues while handling these institutions and finally Mr. Ramanathan told us his story of how Janaagraha and Janalakshmi was born!

Day 4 : Breather between two heavy duty events:)

The Panel discussion was followed by a surprise none of the visting fellows were ready for!
Yes, a lunch on a banana/plantain leaf and having to taste and feast the spread of traditional Indian dishes(yes, Holige, Jilebi, Poori, Pulao, Rasam, Buttermilk, Pickles) with one's fingers. They sure were pleasantly surprised and by the end of the lunch, were the most satisfied bunch of foks one could catch sight of.
Following the lunch was the field visits to three places of interest to the fellows which centered around the theme of Innovation. One of the trips was gonna be to the micro-finance institution Janalakshmi, while the the other was a trip to one of India's premier B-Schools - the Indian Institute of Managment in Bangalore. The visit there would involve meeting enterprenuers at the NS Raghavan Center for Enterepreneurial Learning. The last was to see the massive scale and success gained by the famous mid-day meal scheme of ISKCON - the Akshaya Patra programme which enables the not-so-privileged students from economically backward areas attend school by enticing them for a mid-day meal (Yes, receiving a nutritous meal is a privilege for many children across India's vast lower strata of society).
Just to give you the sheer numbers- the program serves as an enabler to education by providing food at no cost( costs are made up by donors and trustees) to over 1 million children in India across seven states!

Day 4: Panel discussion

The fourth day’s events started off in right earnest with business sessions of JFs, SFs and the TTs.
However the highlight of the day was definitely gonna be the Panel Discussion on the Symp Theme. Consisting of eminent personalities – Prof-Ganesh Prabhu (Faculty at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore), Prof Christopher Bull (Faculty at Brown University) and Professor Gabriel Harp (Faculty at the Shristi School of Art and Design) – each being a subject matter expert in their fields spoke of Process Innovation, Social Innovation and Innovation in Education respectively.
Moderated by Vijai Kumar (SF-BMS Class of 2000), the panellists began by giving a short little presentation on the innovations which have been witnessed in their fields, examples of the same, the key drivers which propelled the innovation and the new path the innovations have created, existence/creation of such markets, downsides if any and many other aspects of them.

Prof Prabhu, whose expertise in the area of process innovations, led the audience through the kinds of process innovations that India has been witness to (especially with a major portion of India’s economy being a services–driven one) first spoke of how reconfiguring an existing product/service has been one of the process innovations with the Jaipur Foot being a star example of how collaboration with ISRO(Indian Space Research Organization) to produce lighter weighing artificial limbs (prosthesis) as well as the model of providing two kinds of service – one which is providing the limb free of cost to the not-so-privileged while another being a choice for the privileged buyer of the Jaipur Foot to pay any amount he/she wishes to pay (many a times, the amount paid is three times the cost of the prosthesis).
Moving on to how reconfiguring two products into one led to the success of the travel portal, Makemytrip.com , Prof.Prabhu spoke of how flexibility in choosing different airlines provided the user a customised travel schedule which was one of the reasons for its success.
Maruthi Automobiles’ offer (TruValue Cars) of re-purchasing second-hand cars from its users and rebranding/refurbishing the same into quality used-cars was another successful innovation of creating a new way of selling existing products.
The case of DimDim creating a platform for priests to deliver sermons or for teachers to provide classes to students through the free web conference services DimDim offers was a case of creating a new product/service of higher value.
Shimano’s was another classic example of innovation in business processes in the bicycle industry with gear-set kits which could be fit on most bicycles making Shimano garner a market share between 86-98% in the early 90s.
Delving on cases where innovations in business through people created products/services, Prof Prabhu shared the immense success of networking portal PaGalGuy.com which offers focussed services to MBA/Business School aspirants, premium services which are generally charged elsewhere are offered at no cost by a team of MBA grads who felt the need for the such a service.

Next up was Prof Chris Bull, who spoke of Social Innovations, of enterprises created which in turn created meaningful jobs, increased agricultural productions and stimulated economic development (Kickstart, Grameen Bank). Prof Bull shared with the eager audience of the various characteristics of an innovator in the social domain.
A big heart, passion, persistence and the hard wait through the initial stages of any innovation are a few of the things called upon, but again the success rate for innovations is relatively small. Urging the audience that for one to be an innovator, one needs to get onto the field, get one’s hands dirty, understand the market dynamics hands-on and act, Prof Bull shared his insights about social innovation.

Next up was Prof Gabriel Harp whose deck on Innovation in Education had the fellows take notice wondering if the maze and arrays of dots were abstract art or something to interpret. Elucidating further, Prof Hart informed the keen audience of the demographics and the economy which make up a nation’s dots and the squares and of intertwining any two industries sometimes can bring aobut something as radical and abstract as a pair of gold screw earrings(a hybrid of the gold and the iron&steel industries!)
Connecting the dots/nodes, making new hybrids, bridging different industries, creating knowledge sources and locations across various aspects of the spatial dimensions are the challenges one faces in the field of education. Providing us an example of how the noble teaching profession and its teachers can be viewed with different perspectives as a network entrepreneur, trickster, jesters, jokers or brokers, Prof Hart surely had everyone thinking.
Providing examples of innovations (in the education sector have furthered the cause of holistic learning) like Playpower which are exploring ways to make laptops(simlar to gaming consoles available in China or India) for as little as $10 to the interaction of students and new media, to students creating knowledge through cell-phones (learning on the field by taking pics of plants through cell-phones) to farms on tripod like stands/supports as well as harvesting square cocoons.
Dwelling on the responses to innovation (adaptability, coordination, knowledge sharing) as well as the challenges to be faced in the form of questions like sustainability, their challenges for a service based economies, and the robustness one may lose or gain, of cognitive biases and epistemological foundations that might hinder or help the innovation, not to forget the ways in which infrastructure and design inertia enforce themselves upon the innovation, Prof Harp signed off his presentation with a flourish.

Next up, was a round of discussions amongst the panellists, moderated ably by Vijai who not only ensured the audience’s voice was heard as well as developed the topic .

Not only did interesting questions emerge but it was quite a sight to see not all the panellists quite agree on a few aspects of innovation.

Just a sampling of the question posed to the panellists by the audience:

>Is there any such thing like a mid-life crises for Products and would innovations need to be made continually? A case in point can be Apple which was only revived after Steve Jobs came back to chart Apple back into the company we know it is today.

> Are innovations carried or brought about for the sake of innovations? Sometimes at the expense of robustness?

> Facebook is still more popular than PaGalGuy.com? Any reasons though FB doesnt have a focussed/targeted audience unlike PG which targets only MBA aspirants and still genrates revenue through Ads?

It was not just another panel discussion, Vijai was able to draw enough comparisons to the Melton Foundation and the need to innovate given the current scenario. Also of how the Foundation always had brilliant ideas, entreprenuers who marketed/braodcast the idea, but unfortunately didnt have executors and thus losing fantastic ideas.

Day 4 - Field based visit to one of three sites : Janalakshmi

"Our social conscience starts and ends with our customer being the not fully serviced or the poor as many may call them, everything else about us is like a bank - pioneering, innovative, deploying traditional market principles, etc."- Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan

After a delicious lunch served at BMSIT on a banana leaf people left to the different theme based trips based on their choices. For most this was a continuation of the talk delivered by Ramesh Ramanathan, the founder of ‘Janalakshmi’ or 'People’s wealth' which is a microfinance institution. We were first welcomed by the Area head who briefed us on what Janalakshmi is all about. He said the micro financing works by first approaching potential customers who are typically from economically weaker sections. There are groups of about 15 formed with each person being a guarantor for the other, i.e. if a particular month’s installment is not paid by any person then the others pitch in for that person and later can collect it back as the members of the groups usually consist of people who know each other personally and live within 200 meters of each other.
We later interacted with 6 clients. A large percentage of the clients are women and the people we were about to interact with were a part of one of the many 15 member women groups.
They patiently answered all the questions without once indicating any kind of discomfort but extreme confidence. The first question asked as what they needed the money borrowed for to which we got various replies which included enlarging their small businesses (which may be petty shops or small saree shops) , personal loans taken to improve standard of living, for the children’s education,etc.

Below are some of the other questions asked and the responses we got.

“How did you know of Janalaksmi?”
…We were approached by the members of the organization and were glad to here of the schemes as previously we had to pay exorbitant rates of interests and banks would not provide us with loans to run our small businesses.

“How do you feel as working women and do you take help or include other members in your family to handle the finances.”
…We feel independent and some of us are the primary bread winners of the family. We independently handle the finances and do not include other members of the family in the decision making.

“What dreams do you have for you children?”
…We have not studied much due to financial reasons. At young ages we were married of to the person our parent’s chose for us. Now we want to ensure our children are educated and can go on to becoming successful in their lives and will not have to face the struggles we have.

“Do you feel you would have been better of not working and having a lot more free time?”
…We enjoy work as it gives us our independence and identity. We rather be working than not!

By the end of the interaction everyone was filled with admiration for the courage the women possessed. We were also amazed by the organization itself which is progressing in leaps and bounds towards its vision of seeking to move beyond the narrow definition of micro credit to broad-based microfinance encompassing a range of financial services including savings, insurance, and pension to be offered to individuals and group.
The entire interaction was certainly one filled with open communication and mutual respect. After having thanked them for their time and effort we returned to the hotel. With the rest of the day off many were looking forward to go shopping in “Namma Bengaluru”.