Rural Innovation Workshop

Rural innovation generally refers to the process of improving the quality of life and economic well being of the entrepreneurs in rural areas.

The workshop was attended by people working on rural development in Namibia. They want to educate the rural entrepreneurs on how they commercialise their products and how they can scale their products in the market. They want to develop a model for rural innovation so that entrepreneurs can benefit from it and learn what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.

They used a good example of India National Rural Development (Honey Bee Network). The Indians work miles every day to share ideas with their rural entrepreneurs, and ask the villagers what they need in their villages. Through these processes, they host village meetings, looking at survey done by students, local network and media and the use cell phones and laptop to document these surveys. People who carry out these surveys are volunteers we hope to have similar people in Namibia for the benefit of economic growth of our country.

The participants had so many questions regarding the challenges in rural areas most of them are concerned if research was done regarding this issues. Some have pointed out that lack of infrastructure and skilled people in Namibia can be a huge threat to the development of rural entrepreneurs.

The participants posted their ideas on the notice board and all these questions they had been answered by discussing all the notes posted on the notice board.

The workshop closed by discussing how they can engage Namibia rural population in innovation and entrepreneurship. We hope for more of these workshops to continue for the upliftment of rural development in Namibia.

Sourcing of ideas for change - problem solving

@Polytechnic hotel school
Topic: Sourcing of ideas
for change - problem solving
This is an amazing of
all workshops for NBIC innovation week. The speaker of the event was Mr. Nico
steyn. The workshop focused on how to discover a problem, put it in work, split
it and find different solution for it. People
from different companies in Namibia had participated and had a lot of fun by
playing idea game where first you
find problem perception and definition of problem major root and minor roots.
There were card game
played were by each group combined their ideas, and think outside the box and
come up with critical solutions. This was real great and proved that thinking
has never been this much fun! It’s very important that creativity ideas are
shared.
For
more info: http://www.intellilab.tv/
http://www.theideasgame.com/
nico@theideasgame.com

Public Talk: Sourcing of Ideas & Problem Solving

NBIC hosted a Public Talk on 13 March evening on how to source ideas to solve problems. Mr Nico Steyn from Cape Town shared more insight on the subject. He gave us a list of top thinkers and problem solvers such us Leonardo daVinci, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Wall Disney, and Kauro Ishikawa. DaVinci, for example, lived before enternet was introduced but he managed to carry out scientific researches without any technological advantage.

One of the interesting points he raised was that 90% of our thinking is based on perception and it makes us not to understand the real causes of the problem. To overcome this, we should regard problems as a tree with roots, which can therefore be only removed by getting rid of the roots.

NBIC 2012 Mural Design Competition

 

NBIC Namibia doesn't only offer innovation opportunities for young entrepreneurs, but it also give opportunities to children from different special schools to showcase their talents.

NBIC is hosting an Arts and Design competition for Children with special needs. Two schools attended this competition: Eluwa and Dagbreck Special School. The kids have painted different paintings on NBIC's wall. There will be awards for the best painting on the 15 March 2012.

It is very impressive how these children are painting. As for one painting painted by Eluwa Special School, it is portraying Oshiwambo traditional homestead, visually attracting with green colours representing the beauty of nature.

We hope for more projects of this nature in the near future for the upliftment of children with special needs in Namibia.

Innovation Circle

Innovation circle members pinning ideas on the notice board

The Innovation Circle is attended by business people to discuss business related topics. 
These topics include; what blocks businesses to compete internationally, what is blocking progress in Namibia and what are the possible solutions to these problems.

These business people write down their ideas based on the topics they are discussing. The topic that gets more votes is chosen to be discussed. People have many different ideas based on what they think should be done to ensure that businesses in Namibia will be successfull.

Some of the topics disccussed are:
1.Improve the capacity of teachers; if students do not have the knowledge on research, it will be impossible for them to do business research.

2. Establish prototyping labs; this include clarifying information requirements or creating a demo of activities they are doing .

3. Increase research and development in manufacturing

• Do research on the unsuccessfulness of certain products.

4. Connect SMEs with distributors; there must be certain procedures to followif they want their business to be a success

5. Rural innovation

• There is need for better infrastructure in rural areas, e.g internet access, that will enable them to access information and allow them to register their businesses online.
• There is lack of skilled trainers in rural areas.

Dr Christian Toelg said "all people are born entrepreneurs. Some people do not have any educational background, but they are so productive. Training these people will help them to become successful in their business".
  

Meetings of this nature always take place at NBIC (Innovation Village). We are urging business minded people to register and experience transformation in how business is done in Namibia. To register, please visit NBIC.