Photo: Philips Design
The conference will be a one and a half day event taking place on the September 26-27, 2008 in the venue of Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland. The conference program will include both speakers and interactive facilitated workshops.
Program
Friday Sept. 26, 2008
8.00 – 9.00 Registration
9.00 – 9.10 Opening, Minna Halme, Helsinki School of Economics
9.10 – 9.20 Welcome, Rector Eero Kasanen, Helsinki School of Economics
Session 1 Setting the scene
9.20 – 10.05 Prabhu Kandachar, TU Delft: Base of the pyramid strategy - eradicating poverty with innovations?
Session 2 Business and design solutions for the BOP
10.05 – 10.30 Rama Bijaburkar, author & strategy consultant: Building businesses to profitably serve low income consumers: The Indian experience
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee & refreshments
11.00 – 11.30 Mika Skarp, Head of Village Connection Product Management, Nokia Siemens Networks: Connecting the next billion: Affordable communication for rural communities
11.30 – 12.00 Simona Rocchi, Director of Sustainable Design, Philips Design: Designing together with users at the BOP: An innovation experience based on value co-creation and user insights. Recipient of the IDEA2008 award from IDSA.
12.00 – 12.30 Dr. Helen Pates-Jamet, Head of Entymology of Vestergaard-Frandsen, the innovator firm of LifeStraw: Design for the 3rd world
12.30 – 13.45 Lunch
13.45 – 14.15 Sultanur Reza, Head of Community Information Centre Innovations, GrameenPhone: Will Community Information Centres reduce poverty? Lessons learnt at the GrameenPhone
14.15 – 14.45 Johanna Liukkonen, Manager, Government and Industry Affairs, Emerging Markets, Nokia Corporation: Innovating for the local needs of low-income consumers at the BoP
Workshops
14.50 – 15.50 Interactive workshops
WS1. Consumer perspectives & wellbeing at the BOP. Facilitator: Assc. prof. Susanne Sweet, Stockholm School of Economics
Food for thought: Prof. Frank Belz, Technical University of Munich: Integration of consumers into innovation processes of BOP products and services.
WS2. The role of NGOs and enabling policies. Facilitator Emma Wilson, International Institute for Environment and Development
Food for thought: Patrick Vermeulen, Associate Professor, Tilburg University and the academic director of the Base-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) Learning Laboratory for the Benelux: The different roles of NGOs in BOP ventures &
Myrtille Danse, Division Head Markets and Networks, Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Wageningen University: Small-scale producers' access to the international supply chains: The need for policy innovations
WS3. Innovating sustainable energy for the rural BOP. Facilitator: Jan Carel Diehl, Delft University of Technology
Food for thought: Helena Korhonen, Senior Investment Manager, Finnfund: Challenges and opportunities in financing rural electrification &
Tapio Peltonen, StrategyAdvisors: Innovating sustainable energy in Africa: Early experiences from ABB's minihydro project
15.50 – 16.15 Break
16.15 – 16.45 Panel: Insights from the workshop discussions
Session 3 Experiences at the BOP
16.45 – 17.15 Georgina Koomson, Entrepreneur & Managing Director of Ideal Providence Farms: Linking rural women in organic farming to international markets - Experiences of IDEAL Providence Farms in Ghana
17.15 – 17.45 Dr. Sirpa Tenhunen, University of Helsinki: Mobile technology in the village: An anthropological view
Concluding remarks from the 1st day
19.30 - Buffet dinner at Restaurant Sipuli
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008
Session 4 Towards inclusive markets
9.00 – 9.40 Christina Gradl, Co-Author, UNDP Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative: Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor
9.40 – 10.00 Dr. Kent Wilska, Commercial Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland: Strengthening productive capacities at the base of the pyramid: creating policies for inclusive capitalism
Session 5 Micro-finance and insurance at the BOP
10.00 – 10.30 Tim Vang, co-founder and development director of microfinance venture MyC4: MyC4 - Global catalyst to end poverty through micro-finance
10.30 – 11.00 Dr. Olli-Pekka Ruuskanen, Chief Executive Officer, Uganda Insurers’ Association, Uganda: Providing insurance products in developing countries - the challenges for formal insurance companies
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee & refreshments
Session 6 Sustainability challenges at the BOP
11.30 – 12.00 Dr. Frank Wijen, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University: Environmental sustainability challenges for BOP business
12.00 – 12.30 Burcu Tuncer, UNEP Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production: Which BOP approach can help leapfrogging poverty barriers and conserve resources? - The Perspective of Human Development through the Market
12.30 – 13.00 Prof. Liisa Välikangas, President, Innovation Democracy, Inc. & Helsinki School of Economics: When Less is More: The Battle Between Resources and Imagination
13.00 – 13.30 Closing discussion: The next steps for sustainable development at the Base of the Pyramid
13.30 – 14.30 Lunch & conference ends