This course provides learners with deep insights about Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Based on diverse ground experiences, the course provides a comprehensive knowledge of the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem in diverse cultural contexts. The course amplifies students’ innate ability to think beyond textbook concepts and enables them to explore development of innovative pathways to deliver products, services and systems for rural communities. It also encourages cultivation of Design Thinking and Frugal Innovation Mindset resulting in Innovative Business Models that can organically flourish in the rural context.
COURSE PLAN
Rural Innovation Ecosystem
Rural Business Overview
Facets of Rural Entrepreneurship
Critical Attributes for Rural Entrepreneurs
The Technology and Economic Context for Rural Enterprises
Team Building in a Rural Scenario
Examples of Frugal Innovations
Technology Acceptance Model & Rural Innovations
Grassroot Entrepreneurship & the Technology Diffusion Model
Case Study of Rural Sanitation
Case Study of Rural Health
Case Study of Rural Housing
Developing creative and community solutions to address social issues
Understanding Sustainable Business Models in practice
Ideation, Prototyping, Testing &Validation
Understanding the role of Design thinking for Rural Enterprises
Tools & Frameworks of Human-Centered Design
Uncovering latent needs & expectations of Customer / User Needs
Ethnography & Mental Models to understand Rural Market
Learnings from African Experiences
Learnings from South American Experiences
Agricultural enterprises
Forest and Women-led enterprises
Artisanal enterprises
Reflections & Learnings from Unsuccesful Attempts
Setting up a Rural Enterprise
Using a Lean Canvas & Developing Business Plan
Storytelling and Impactful Pitch Decks
Creating Impact through Partnerships
Leveraging on support from Rural Business Incubators
Grants, Equity, Seed fund, Angel Investors, Crowdfunding
Scaling Up