Tech for Good | The Impact Post
Issue #7 | Thu, Dec 3, 2020
“How we manage and harness technology for the good of mankind is the key issue of our time.”
- Henry Timms
Dear NuSocia Patrons,
How do you as an individual or an organisation view Technology – an enabler, a distracter or just another tool.
Have you seen some organisations been able to leverage technology better than others?
Have you seen technology being put to use for societal change?
During this pandemic related lockdown, we all had a front row view of how technological impact is reaching some of the most remote and impoverished areas of the world. However, the full potential of using technology for societal change is far from being tapped.
In this month’s newsletter, we focus on how technology can be leveraged to meet the SDG goals, help marginalized populations access many of the life-saving and life-improving services and how it can help to democratize information in the fight to reduce Information divide.
Happy Reading!
Readings : Food for Thought
We have carefully curated a selection of reading list for you to get an in-depth idea and importance of Tech for Good.
1. How Technology can fast track Global Goals
In 2015, all 192 member UN States came together to commit to achieve the 17 SDG goals by 2030. This article emphasizes the means to achieve them by harnessing technology since we are entering into the "decade of action"-2020-2030 where our ambitions and plans need to turn into reality.
Read more (5 Mins)
2. Solving complex social problems in India through innovative use of technology?
Read more to understand how Indian social enterprises are leveraging technology to solve complex issues of healthcare, sanitation and education in the remote rural areas. A holistic view of the challenges with solutions are delineated for the tech enabled start-ups wings to thrive in the competitive landscape of India.
Read More (6 Mins)
3. Artificial Intelligence and Social Sector
Mr. Aviral Apurva, CTO and Co-founder of NuSocia and an AI coach at My Captain opines how AI can be a major force for social good and how it depends, in part, on how we shape this new technology and the questions we put forward to inspire young researchers. Furthermore, a list of potential use cases is drawn up where AI can be applied to solve the most complex social problems.
Read More (5 Mins)
Expert Speaks
The next generation of science & tech-entrepreneurs have great ideas to leverage technology to solve the most pressing societal challenges however they often confront barriers in finding financial and scientific support.
We talked with Aathira Jayaraj, who is the Head – Strategic Partnerships, Social Alpha about the unique ecosystem that Science and Tech entrepreneurs need to scale and maximize their impact.
What are the key levers for incubating a social enterprise?
What is most important for an entrepreneur is to establish a product market fit. Questions need to be asked are- What is the problem that your product is trying to solve and is your product really solving the problem and most importantly whether the people really want to pay for the product. Investors really want to know two things- are you able to create a impact model and are you able to create a business model. If you do these two things you have identified the need, the business model and sustainability of the business.
Establishing the product market fit is the first and foremost, then you can think about how you can market, sell, support you provide. Also you need to figure out how you innovate continuously once the product hits the market. That is the second stage. A mistake that entrepreneurs make is that they stop innovating.
You need to stop worrying whether your product is social or not social, but worry about whether your product is solving the problem of the customer and give him a product that is affordable, accessible and also gives him a great user experience.
How are science and technology-based models different from other venture investing models?
Service model innovations are purely based on running a business. It’s a working capital issue, churning out a larger number of customers, its about making the right connections and grow your business.
Science and technology is not that, the entrepreneur or innovator will need multiple things- access to right labs and infrastructure. Its not a real estate game. A lot of incubators play in the real estate market, giving entrepreneurs seats to sit in, giving entrepreneurs business mentorship support.
In case of Science and tech, they need access to labs, infrastructure to do solutioning, rapid prototypes, iterating the product based on the pilot and needs to be tested. What is the user acceptance rate, user feedback and how do I iterate the product? It needs access to expertise too. For e.g.- If you work in the clean tech space you need access to experts- scientists and researchers who can help you out when you do not know how to do it.
Hope you enjoyed reading this session. Do share your feedback and write to us at contact@nusocia.com . For similar and more interesting insights, do follow NuSocia on Social media / NuSocia Blogs for the same. If you want to get additional people in your network to receive the newsletter going forward, please do share their contact details with us. Your privacy and patronage, both are important to us!