Stuart Gannes Conference at e-Stas 2007

The Stanford Digital Vision Program: Solutions for an Urbanizing World

The “DO” Tank: A Stanford University program that empowers technology-

focused entrepreneurs to develop and implement new solutions, build organizations, define best practices,

leverage new technologies, business models, and navigate the regulatory policies of global emerging markets.

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Stanford H*STAR Institute 2

DV MissionI Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Improving productivity in emerging countries:

• DV Identifies, incubates, and supports ventures to bridge digital, social and economic divides

• Develops blueprints for emerging market businesses that– Enhance productivity– Increase economic velocity

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Background: The irretrievable past

“I arrived in the late evening. The city seemed to have no outskirts, the bus emerged all of a sudden out of the dark and empty night into the brightly lit, noisy city center. After getting off the bus, I went for a walk. I reached the edge of Benares. On one side in the darkness, lay the still uninhabited fields, and on the other rose the city, densely peopled, throbbing with loud noise.”

-Ryszard Kapuscinski



Benares, India 1956:


The inevitable future

More than half of the world’spopulation live in urban

areas:

• 90% of population growth over the next two decades will take place in developing countries

• 90% of it will take place in urban areas

• 90% of that in peri-urban settlements



UlanBaator, Mongolia 2006


Urbanization changes everything

“I've been telling people for 30 years that material changes in our lives are almost irrelevant. The important changes are demographic, in health care and education. The demographic revolution of the last 40 years is unprecedented. Today, the majority of people around the world live in cities. Urbanization changes your worldview. So, the real change is in meaning, not in goods.”

-Peter Drucker. 1998




New urban characteristics

Migration from countryside, rapid population growth:

• 21st Century landscape: – ‘Roadside’ infrastructure– Minimal services,

amenities– Severe environmental

stress– Uncertain or illegal tenure– Lack of recognition by

governments



“Peri-urban development almost always involves wrenching social adjustment as small agricultural communities are forced into an

industrial way of life in a short time. As well, large-scale in-migration of

young people, usually from poor regions, creates enormous demand,

and expectations, for community and social services.”

- Douglas Webster, Asia/Pacific Research Center, Stanford University


Innovative, entrepreneurial solutions

Public/private/non-profit collaborations:

• Increasing foreign investments– Manufacturing operations– Outsourcing services

• Wireless data networks– Information services– m-commerce transactions

• Private investing leads public sector– Water/power/transportation

services by entrepreneurs– Social services provided by

NGOs




ICT: Transformation catalyst

Affordable networks extend services grid:

– Robust, inexpensive equipment

– Leverage existing facilities– Rapid innovation pace– Can expand incrementally– Reselling opportunity for

entrepreneurs, small businesses




New ICT-based applications

Promote economic, social and educational development:

• Financial services– Credit, loans, insurance– Employment

• Community services– Public safety,– Health and telemedicine– Education

• E-Citizen and e-government– Opportunities for digital

inclusion– Improving transparency




More Salsa! Entrepreneurship(for start-ups and govt

organizations)Stanford Entrepreneurship

Network (SEN):

• Stanford Digital Vision Program

• Graduate School of Business• Business association of

Stanford engineering students (BASES)

• Stanford Technology Ventures (Engineering School)

• Stanford Project on Regions of Innovation and

Entrepreneurship (SPRIE)




Stanford DV program: Real solutions for real needs

‘High potential’ entrepreneurs, Cisco targeted locations:

• DV program support – At Stanford

• Seminars, workshops• Prototyping• Entrepreneurship

– In the field• Researching user needs• Operations development• Assessing impact

• Deliverables – Prototype– Business plan– Market survey




A model that works

Critical success factors:

• Fellows trust and participate in the program

• DV fellows effectively take product/service concepts to market

• DV methods produce more sustainable ventures and leaders

• Program employs scaleable, reusable approaches and tools




“Do Tank” resultsDV fellows at H*STAR:

• Sustainable network-centric solutions via– Industry-academic

collaborations– Intensive case studies– Building partnerships

• Prior track record– 50% of DV fellows create

ventures that grow the number of beneficiaries every year for 5 years.




Beyond cyberspace! Visit us please!

Contact:

Stuart Gannes, DirectorDigital Vision ProgramStanford Universityhttp://rdvp.org



Stuart Gannes Conference at e-Stas 2007

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