Date/Time
Date(s) - 16/10/2017
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Location
Lauder Business School

Category(ies)

• Kickoff meeting

Project title
Business plan OpenCommunity platform for development

Principal investigators
Dr Verena Régent, Dr Christian Reiner

Collaborators
IML 2016 Students

Client/cooperation partner
Knowledge for Development Without Borders (KFDWB)
www.knowledgefordevelopmentwithoutborders.org

Duration
October 2017 – May 2018

Objectives of the project
Knowledge for Development without Borders (KFDWB), a Vienna-based non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 2014, requests consultancy from the LBS to develop a business case for their OpenCommunity platform. KFDWB’s core activity is to train disadvantaged individuals in peripheral regions in developing regions in ICT (Information and communication technologies) and business skills. Their objective is to empower these individuals and thus to make them development agents within their communities. Thereby, KFDWB’s overall aim is to contribute to the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The OpenCommunity platform is meant to help promote their efforts, to share relevant knowledge as well as to be a contact point for students, tutors, professionals and interested individuals. In the first place, it shall serve local citizens to be aware of the SDGs and of their potential roles and responsibilities. Moreover, KFDWB wants to use the platform to establish partnerships with important players in the development sector.

As part of the ongoing SCP project, the client would like the students to work on the following tasks:
• Develop a business plan for the implementation of the OpenCommunity Platform
• Develop a marketing plan for the OpenCommunity Platform
For doing so, basic knowledge about development, the relationship between ICT usage and development as well as the UN SDGs are required.