Customer Discovery is a proven approach for organizations, startups and entrepreneurs to find and validate sustainable business models to increase impact and diversify funding sources. (Note: this article is adapted from a blog post on Customer Discovery Pros)
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It is based on a proven model developed by Stanford University Professor and serial entrepreneur Steve Blank to assess the sustainability of a business model, market and customer segments before developing a business plan or making costly hiring decisions or infrastructure investments. 

In addition to Development Wisdom, I (Randy Fisher) am the Founder and CEO of Customer Discovery Pros; a a mentor with the US National Science Foundation’s Innovation (NSF I-Corps) Program; and a team member in TechStars Global Startup Weekend to Fight COVID-19. These experiences have led me to develop a deep understanding of customer needs and insights. 

Customer Discovery is an intriguing type of qualitative market research that involves identifying and validating (or invalidating) Customer needs, wants and aspirations. It uses Alexander Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas, and a scientific method to test and evaluate hypotheses / assumptions about Customers' needs, pain points and behavior. It also helps you to determine who your Ideal Customer and achieve “Product/Market Fit”. The result are insights that enable you to iterate and/or pivot your organization to make better decisions and increase the sustainability and profitability of your business models.

​A case study has been developed for the World Intellectual Property Organization about how Randy Fisher from Customer Discovery Pros mentored Ushani Hewage of Sri Lanka, a senior design executive with Hayleys Fabric PLC and recent university graduate to understand her Customer's needs, motivations and preferences, and pivot her business model to commercialize an innovative weaving technology for unique multicolor designs / fashions for key Customer segments and buyer personas.

​Part social enterprise, she pays rural women weavers higher wages than competing businesses. She also greatly benefited from help from the University of Moratuwa's Engineering School, the Technology Transfer Office and her Sri Lanka's National Science Foundation. She has become a role model and inspiration for other women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, for her drive, motivation and success.   

Does ICT improve or hinder M&E?

Technology allows us to reach remote communities and has the potential to more efficiently collect and disseminate data. But, how is it being used in the field and what are the challenges? Those were some of the questions explored at the Ottawa Tech Salon in early June.

In disaster response situations, ICT has been helpful in collecting and monitoring real-time data through crowdsourcing in many situations including the Tsunami, Haiti and the Pakistan floods.

But in regular programme-related M&E, how is ICT used, what are its limitations and does it help?

Ostensibly, M&E is for the purpose of improving an intervention - to learn by experimentation and analyze what’s not working in order to change inputs as needed.

In reality though, M&E  is too often viewed by governments, donors and implementation organizations more like a final exam: either the project passes or fails according to defined performance indicators.

Engagement of end-users

Technology can help to engage more stakeholders in the ongoing M&E process, making it more meaningful. Collecting and measuring data using technology can accelerate the rate at which results can feed directly into the M&E cycle. Using mobiles to collect data, conducting surveys to disseminating results, sometimes through 1-minute taped messages sent to survey respondents to provide results, can be useful to engage more clients and stakeholders.

Access to highly sensitive information

Technology can also allow for easier collection of sensitive materials. An Egyptian study into sexual harassment revealed that the problem wasn’t only concentrated in cities and against women, for instance. Users could rely upon anonymity and respondents were aware that the results would be used to improve programmes.

Because technology allows data to be shared so quickly, it’s important that consideration is given regarding whom to share it with and when. For instance, when results are not what was expected, governments are sometimes displeased. This can have unexpected impacts on both relationships and programming. One organization working in Africa lets beneficiaries decide how to share with government and who to share it with - so that, for instance, an organization could disseminate information through a UN body allowing the organization to remain anonymous.

Sometimes, it’s a matter of the government determining the best way to share data with the populace. In Rwanda, Thailand and the Philippines, governments have provided a platform to let people to access the data themselves.

Speed and ?

Technology has been used to more quickly collect certain types of data and to disseminate results faster. Taking greater advantage of what technology could offer to the M&E process will require new connections to be made within systems and organizations. It’s going to be important for more organizations to deepen connections between IT and the programme areas of an intervention. The techie jargon needs to be translated for programme people and stakeholder needs and context needs to be communicated to the IT people. A few NGOs are already starting to make this a priority.

How can Technology Improve Monitoring & Evaluation in International Development? - RSVP Now

The world has more data now than ever before, and more ways to collect it too. In fact, we are floating in an ocean of data, but too often, we are barely treading water versus swimming with a purpose.

How can we leverage the tools of ICT to swim, or even sail, on this sea of data? Can we improve our understanding of data and the overall monitoring and evaluation process? Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves questions like:

• Beyond surveys and dissemination, how can ICT be helpful to M&E?
• What are the challenges in implementing inclusive ICT-based M&E programs?
• When can ICT be used to celebrate (and learn from) ‘failures’?
• Does participatory ICT and social media help or hurt M&E efforts?
• How can we channel independent grassroots monitoring efforts into established development channels?
  
  

Please RSVP now for the next Technology Salon Canada - in Ottawa! - to seek answers to these questions and explore how we can truly achieve data-driven development. We’ll have the following experts as guides on our journey:

• Jacques Mailloux, CIO of Elections Canada, and previously with CIDA
• Levi Goertz, Client Solutions at VOTO Mobile, and previously with McKinsey
• Kathy Durant, Manager, Global Results, Digital Opportunity Trust
  
  

Please RSVP now to join 35 of your peers in technology and international development for a lively yet informal discussion on the opportunities and challenges in using the data tools of tomorrow to create lasting change today.

ICT for M&E
Technology Salon Canada
Thursday, June 5th 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Downtown Ottawa, Canada

RSVP is required
Please RSVP now to be confirmed for attendance as we'll have hot coffee and tasty donuts for a morning rush, but seating is limited and once we reach our 35-person capacity there will be a wait list.

Canada’s 1st Technology Salon kicked off in Toronto in May, addressing How Technology Can Improve Development. An important theme raised was the need for stakeholder or constituent participation (i.e., participatory design) throughout the lifecycle of an international development project, not just at the end.

Well-planned community engagement (i.e., listening to, and following through) is the key to how innovation can sustainably be incorporated into ICT4D projects. One Salon participant said, that project success is about 25%-35% technology, with the remainder as to how it’s incorporated into the local community context, who buys in, and how workers are sensitized to the project.

Engagement means gaining the trust with decision-making being participatory. Digital technology allows one to multiply the way to engage stakeholders . But engagement is only the first step - which has implications at the local level, as well as managing donor expectations and drive for results and progress. A common theme was the need for education donors to consider designing projects that build on successful initiatives rather than trying to create something new (i.e., innovation challenge grants), and focus on funding and scaling up models that work and are really effective.

Many Interventions, Not Just One

Community radio still overwhelmingly reaches most people, but mobiles are catching up  However, regardless of the technology used, there’s still a disconnect between what the funders want, and what the community needs - it is often a case of well-intentioned people with a hammer, looking for nails…

Participants said multiple tools and different approaches are needed to achieve the outcomes that make a difference in people’s lives. Consider:

• SIM cards are more important than phone ownership
  
  
• Gender differences - men communicate through mobiles even as a way to get radio - women have limited access to mobiles and depend more upon the older technology - specifically, radios.
  
  
• Reality radio in Mali   - youth connecting with agriculture to try different approaches  and show what’s possible.
  
  
• The One Laptop Per Child project- focuses primarily on the end-user, but teachers are also important to engage with (and are the decision-makers) to get them on your side.
  
  
• As more women get into the design of phones, the mobile form factor may change
  
  
• Cheaper devices increase the likelihood that young people will have them.
  
  

Of importance, is an ecosystem approach that integrates insight about local culture and engages trusted intermediaries is. It’s less about technology outcomes. One participant said  ‘do the risk-assessment first, and find out who will move first and second in adopting the technology’. Then, test through 100-200 person with self-reporting, to make the necessary changes on a technical and behavioural / adoption level.

May 21st Toronto Salon - RSVP Now

We have all seen the pretty pictures of children playing with fancy new gadgets, and while the photos are uplifting, do they really signify progress?

• Does the introduction of new technology, specifically information and communication technologies like mobile phones, computers, and the Internet really accelerate the social and economic advancement of the developing world?
• Will Asian Tigers and African Lions use wireless communications and new big and open data systems to leapfrog legacy infrastructure and reap digital as well as demographic dividends?
• Or might we be overestimating the reach of modern technology? Could new solutions and their diffusion patterns inevitably widen the digital divide?
• And are we actually imposing Western values and suppressing local businesses with extractive electronic tools no better than colonial powers of the past?
  

 These are the big questions we'll be asking, and seeking answers to, at the 1st Technology Salon Canada on May 21st in Toronto, Ontario with Development Wisdom.

Please RSVP now to join an intimate gathering of 35 thought leaders and decision makers in technology and international development for what will be a lively yet informal discussions on the opportunities and challenges in using the tools of tomorrow to create lasting change today.

We will be joined by two noted experts in the field who will start the session with their thoughts on the topic; Jacob Korenblum, CEO of Souktel Development Solutions and Mark Leclair, Knowledge Manager at Farm Radio International. 

Then, we'll quickly jump into the heart of the Salon - an open and lively discussion moderated by Wayan Vota co-founder of Technology Salon, with everyone participating as equal peers with their thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

How Can Tech Improve Development?
1st Technology Salon Canada
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
9:00-11:00 am
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment
Ministry of Research and Innovation
Toronto, Canada 

We’ll have hot coffee and a light breakfast for a morning rush but seating is limited, so be sure to RSVP now to be confirmed for attendance. RSVP is required and once we reach our 35-person capacity there will be a waiting list.

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About the Technology Salon
The Technology Salon™ is an intimate, informal, and in person, discussion between information and communication technology experts and international development professionals, with a focus on both:

• technology's impact on donor-sponsored technical assistance delivery, and
• private enterprise driven economic development, facilitated by technology.

Our meetings are lively conversations, not boring presentations. Attendance is capped at 35 people - and frank participation with ideas, opinions, and predictions is actively encouraged. 

Development Wisdom, which convenes Tech Salons in Canada, is a non-profit organization that develops and implements wise and sustainable education, entrepreneurial and ICT solutions that empower vulnerable, at-risk and marginalized youth and adults in Canada and internationally

Join us today to meet others motivated to employ technology to solve vexing development problems!

We can certainly count on the good folks involved with Educause to come up with a great 'state of the union' report pertaining to IT in educational institutions. They hit the nail on the head by highlighting partnerships. It’s people working together across sectors and fields that allows us to benefit from ICT in the end.

Of the top 10 issues, #2  got my attention:

• Establishing a partnership between IT leadership and institutional leadership to develop a collective understanding of what information technology can deliver.

Whether in the international arena or closer to home, the use of Information and communications technologies (ICTs) in the design and delivery of a program or project, can have a significant impact on its sustainability.  The ‘wins’ are often talked about: reach more people with less money; increase access and affordability; leverage and repurpose existing content across multiple stakeholders and platforms.

Getting there, is another matter. Today’s ICTs, mobile apps and cloud technologies are an updated, albeit far more powerful version of yesterdays CD-ROMs, and desktop systems. The hype is all about the technology - and utilizing, the latest and greatest.

• Online programs generate huge revenues at low cost.
  
  
• Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other consumer applications are free, so providing these kinds of services for the institution will be easy and will cost little or nothing.
  
  
• Technology will always allow us to do more for less.
  
  
• "Cloud" services cost less, work better, and reduce local staffing needs.
  
  

Too often, effective project management focuses on the work to be done - to meet specific funding requirements - and sustainability comes as a deliverable at the end of the project. That’s just way too late.

The article suggests that IT leaders be included in the strategic planning process - and share timely information about costs, delivery and impact with business / academic leaders.

That’s great advice, but this often requires an huge cultural shift in the organization, and it might take years for this focus to get down to the granularity of job descriptions and work responsibilities and accountabilities. In other words, it may never make it to the project level.

Based on our years of experience working with ICTs to support programming for marginalized and at-risk populations, sustainability and ongoing stakeholder / partner engagement should be part of the program design and implementation  

The Litmus Test is - without our partners….

• Would these technologies be available for use?
  
  
• What mechanisms are in place to engage and incentivize diverse stakeholders (internal and external) to ‘own’ the project - and provide their value-add?
  
  

Designing for Project Sustainability

As sustainability becomes a critical input to the project with its downstream impact on the overall scalable nature of the project, one can expect these answers to be addressed.

It’s important, in selecting any technology, that it is readily available to the users. IFor instance, in Pakistan Mobilink partnered with UNESCO and a local NGO to provide rural girls with mobile phones to receive instruction aimed at reinforcing their basic literacy skills. Through SMS texting and phone calls, girls were able to significantly improve their literacy levels. (GSMA, 2014)

Sometimes, 2nd or 3rd generation technology is best, to ensure that the devices are available and affordable, and that people know how to use the system. Another issue is the repair of the devices - which can possibly lead to sources of income generation, not the usual emphasis put on the procurement of the technology.

Another important factor of sustainability is putting together a broad range of partners from private sector, government and community service organizations. One project in India brought together a telecommunications company, a university, the government and volunteers to provide farmers with state of the art advice relating to various crops. Farmers were able to use their own phones and communicate in their own language. The programme includes short SMS information pieces each week and a toll-free number to call an expert (Venkataram, 2014)

References:

GSMA-Cherie Blaire Foundation for Women-Vital Wave Consulting , (2014), Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity, GSMA. Accessed at http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GSMA_Women_and_Mobile-A_Global_Opportunity.pdf

(Venkataraman, B. and Prabhakar, T.V. (2014), Changing Tunes from Bollywood’s to Rural Livelihoods - Mobile Telephone Advisory Services to Small and Marginal Farmers in India: A Case Study in ‘Increasing Access through Mobile Learning’, Ed., Ally, M. and Tsinakos, A., Commonwealth of Learning).