The G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation: An ideas competition to uncover new and innovative business development models with wide-reaching impact
As a partner of Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Siemens Stiftung (Foundation) is supporting several days of workshops for the ideas competition winners.
Between December 1, 2011, and February 29, 2012, companies were invited to submit their entries for the G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation (www.g20challenge.com). A jury made up of representatives of the G20 member states, international organizations, the private sector and the sciences chose 15 winners who were presented with their awards at June 2012's G20 summit in Mexico. A key criterion for the selection of the winners was the effective contribution the entrepreneurial approaches made towards social and economic inclusion. In several of the upcoming post-competition workshops these entrepreneurs will be able to exchange experiences, meet relevant stakeholders, find new partners and together learn how their business models might be transferred to other markets.
Participants of the G20 ideas competition workshop
As a co-facilitator of the G20 development pillars, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is also taking on a leading role in the promotion of inclusive business models at the international level. For the G20 Challenge the Siemens Stiftung is also partnering with the BMZ at the competition winner workshops, which have been put together with the help of the GIZ and are scheduled to take place in 2012 and 2013; each workshop session will last several days. The kick-off workshop was held in Berlin on September 19-20, 2012 (to news).
The ideas competition winners hail predominantly from Latin America, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Their business models specifically include 40 million people who live at the low end of the income scale, either as suppliers, producers or customers. At the initiative of the Siemens Stiftung and Ashoka, eight members of the CIDG (Community Impact Development Group) international network of social entrepreneurs will also be attending the workshop. The aim is to stimulate the exchange of information between companies, including how entrepreneurial approaches can help increase development and reduce poverty in a sustainable manner.
Ulrike Wahl, Managing Director for the Siemens Stiftung: "The G20 Challenge on Inclusive Business Innovation provides an effective stimulus not just for economic development but also for strengthening social structures. In its project work the Siemens Stiftung supports socio-entrepreneurial approaches with the aim of making innovative models scalable. The main objective is to maximize community impact, in other words improve overall quality of life. First and foremost we want to incorporate the experience we have into the content design of the workshop."
* until September 30, 2012
