Prottech

Accessibility barriers for the 16+ million disabled Bangladeshis contribute to an extensive annual US $1 billion forgone national output loss. Undocumented disability cases raise the figure higher. Lack of data on structural accessibility, beneficiary needs assessment and disabled supporters’ burdens hinder proper economic participation of disabled communities to the nation.  

Utilizing technology, Prottech will introduce an Accessibility ‘Super App’ that provides information, mobility and opportunity solutions for disability inclusion. It aims to create a Dynamic Disability Database by integrating Location Accessibility Information with a ‘For the Disabled and By the Disabled’ Online Marketplace.

Prottech will pioneer the first ‘Organizational Accessibility Compliance Ranking System' on a GPS web map with field assessments done by the equal participation of trained disabled surveyors. For scaling, targeted user data will be leveraged for developing a dedicated Disability Marketplace in the 'one-stop' offering. 

Prottech envisions accessibility compliant business practices, equal economic opportunities for the disabled and realization of Bangladesh’s growth potential from inclusive societies.

90% of disability occurs in developing nations like Bangladesh where accessibility barriers for the disabled 10% disabled population directly result in US $1 billion national output loss. Social stigma and lack of awareness compel other disabled individuals to remain undocumented. Elderly and temporarily disabled in addition to the disabled’s supporters are hindered in their everyday contributions to society, economy and self development. With the population expected to cross 200 million by 2040, the costs of disability will be greater than official predictions.

National and municipal legislation to ensure accessibility enactment in 2013 and 2008 respectively have been ineffective due to public and private sector non-compliance. 90% of public buildings are inadequately accessible in Dhaka and Chittagong alone as there is  presently no compliance business case. 

With 80 million Bangladeshis having internet access, non-existence of one-stop digital accessibility database results in asymmetric information for equal opportunities. This has led to market failure for disability inclusive practices especially education, healthcare, utility, compliant business policies, decent employment or other beneficiary IGAs.    

As such these market imperfections cause mainstream society to recognize the disabled community as burdens rather than resources and result in collectively lowering Bangladesh’s economic potential.

Prottech’s primary beneficiaries are the recorded disabled Bangladeshis. Individuals suffering from temporary and aging induced disability as well as supporters can also benefit from Prottech’s services. Piloting in Dhaka, Prottech will expand strategically to beneficiaries of 7 other divisional headquarters.  

As a joint initiative of Identity Inclusion (II) and Wheelchair Cricket Association Bangladesh (WCWA) Leadership Team members, Prottech benefits from both organizations’ 13 year combined experience on disability welfare. Psycho social disability projects initiated by II for the last 4 years in addition to WCWA’s 200 members, 170 (of which are disabled cricketers) provide Prottech practical beneficiary insight. Furthermore the leadership team of Prottech have over 20 years of combined work experience in disability empowerment, social service programs and organizational management. They boast a proven track record of ensuring accessibility compliance in various national organizations like Brac, Bata, etc.  

Prottech develops solutions that promote skill enhancement, income generation opportunities and market offering innovations for beneficiaries.

Furthermore Prottech’s inclusive private sector approaches resolve market failures by incentivizing beneficiary participation with relative anonymity where state initiatives fail. It acts to initiate non existent but essential markets for accessibility data and compliance which is vital for empowerment.

Prottech is pioneering the ‘one stop’ accessibility ‘Super App’ in Bangladesh to deliver information, mobility and opportunity solutions for the disability inclusion ecosystem. 

Understanding relative anonymity incentivizes beneficiaries to engage with dedicated disability offerings, Prottech believes sustainable technology approaches solidified with beneficiary needs data can overcome existing market failures.  

The Prottech business model to ensure equal economic contribution of disabled Bangladeshis and their supporters comprises of the following integrated offerings:

1. Training, Assessment & Compliance (TrAC) 

An employment model of phasal training of new teams (comprising 50% disabled members for practical accessibility inputs) by existing teams to become Structural Compliance Consultants. This ensures sustainable employment of the direct beneficiaries with skill development and fair compensation in addition to practicing internal compliant practices. 

Following this the first Structural Accessibility Assessment and Compliance System based on the Universal Design Guideline will be introduced as the pilot fee-for-service product. Quarterly assessments of structures will be carried out by the Trained Teams and if found non compliant will be targeted for compliance in the following quarter against a consultancy fee.

2. Promotional Activations

Quarterly events to publish findings will be organized to generate accessibility awareness and promotion with strategic and sponsor partners will be organized.

3. One Stop Application

The application will be developed on both Android and iOS platforms for maximum reach. Prottech will introduce the Structural Accessibility Web Mapping system followed by the Disability Marketplace extension. Sign up information will customize the UI and UX against different disability/supporter requirements. Upon scaling push & in-app notifications and ads can promote strategic objectives and spread disability awareness information. 

• Web Mapping of Location Accessibility and Offerings

The first ranking of accessible structures on a digital map platform will be on boarded by the collected structural accessibility data through exclusive staff back end. Eventually after standardized expansion disability relevant offerings, route planning, crowdsourced user ranking data may be integrated into the map. 

• Disability Marketplace 

Disability goods, services and promotional offerings for the dedicated e-commerce platform will be developed with delivery partnerships and a third party payment transaction gateway. Exclusive vendor backends for disabled producers or their goods will be available promote ‘made by the disabled’ products. Commission margins and ad revenue will drive revenue.

• Database Creation and Data Mining

The accessibility data will assign band scores per structure that will be processed for the database of the application. User data can also be mined for strategic purposes.

Prottech is proposing an innovative and sustainable ecosystem not-a-one off solution. The individual components can work independently but are integrated into an iterative process to cause a ripple effect and change the market momentum for inclusion:

TrAC: Trains and employs direct beneficiaries to make compliant structures that they can practically verify, engaging them in the process of sustainable change. 

Compliance: Currently no viable accessibility compliance market exists and Prottech is initiating it with the mix of national promotional events and the first digital ranking system. 

Accessibility Map: This will be the 1st  accessibility ranking system in Bangladesh on  a digital map. The assessments themselves incorporate marketing for compliance.

Market Place: This is will the 1st dedicated online marketplace for disabled product offerings as well products by the disabled for their IGAs.  

Private Super App: With incentive to benefit manyfold from a single source the disabled community will be encouraged to come under the net of a single solution that they register online to get vital data in a few easy steps without leaving the comfort of their home or while they are on the move. They do not need to register at a specific location or risk exposing their privacy to public databases.  

Customized UI and UX: The UI and UX of the application interface will be customized for Bangladeshi audiences with language as well as requirements for visual, hearing or movement disability. 

Database: A representative database can established with free registration of users.

Prottech’s ‘Crossroads” Theory of Change is quite literally based on ripple effect principles. Just as more pebbles causes larger ripples in a pond, Prottech understand that iterative and integrated processes need to be incorporated to create lasting change and greater opportunities for the complex problems of the disabled community in Bangladesh. Prottech believes Bangladesh is on the brink of economic greatness and at this crossroad it must deploy market approaches to solve market problems i.e. an indifference or reluctance to include the disabled community in economic activity. Therefore Prottech has taken multi layered approaches under its project namely: TrAC (skill development, assessment ranking and compliance), Promotional Activations (awareness), Accessibility Mapping (information), Dedicated Disability Marketplace (consumer utility and IGAs) and Database Creation (needs assessment and mining). Prottech believes if market solutions are given for enhancing beneficiary skills, generating income, creating compliance business cases and understanding unique needs they can sustainably participate and realize their opportunities from society and the economy. As the disabled grow as individuals locally and globally, Bangladesh reaches its forgone potential. This is the Prottech promise highlighted in the Crossroads Theory of Change: 

1. Currently: 0

2. Training: 16 Team Members (50% direct beneficiaries)

    Assessment and Compliance: 50 000 Beneficiaries (estimated)

    App: 50,000 Users

3.  Training: 380 Team Members (50% direct beneficiaries)

    Assessment and Compliance: 465,000 Beneficiaries (estimated)

(estimated)

    App: 5,000,000 Users (estimated)

In the next one year Prottech wishes to: 

• Train 16 new volunteers (50% direct beneficiaries)

• Assess 100 buildings in Dhaka for Compliance 

• Hold 4 quarterly press and publication events for displaying our findings in Dhaka. 

• Make 25 structures compliant from the assessed. 

• Develop the beta version of the location Map. 

• Initiate the groundwork for the dedicated disability marketplace. 

Prottech believes the assessments in coordination with the public events will generate buzz for the compliance market especially with the announcement of the disability app may. Prottech wants to take the first mover advantage but will encourage organizations to follow suit. 

In the next five years Prottech wishes to: 

• Train 380 new volunteers (50% direct beneficiaries)

• Assess 4000+ buildings in all 8 District Headquarters for Compliance 

• Hold 4 quarterly press and publication events for displaying our findings in District Headquarters. 

• Make 900+ structures compliant from the assessed. 

• Have a fully functioning Disability Super App based on Accessibility Web Mapping and Dedicated Disability Marketplace.

• Have commodities produced by disabled available to be exported via international e-commerce partnerships

• Data Mine the specific needs of actual users and supporters of disabled. 

• Build a self reliant market ecosystem that can support the disabled.  

Prottech believes that the economy would not only benefit from the opportunities realized by integrating the excluded disabled from 8 divisional headquarters but offer them new opportunities to contribute to the Bangladesh economy as viable economic resources. In 5 years Prottech wants to be the trusted authority for Disability Inclusion in Bangladesh.

Financial: Grants, Loans and Equity options will be pursued from multiple sources and if targets are not met, project targets will be lowered proportionately. Furthermore sponsorship partnerships from events can give small start up revenues in addition to eventual revenues from active services. Different revenue models can be tweaked as per individual offerings. 

Technical:Transition needs to take place ahead of time and all cost options will to be analyzed for smooth transition from vendor to in house team. 

Legal: Government and media lobbying will need to take place to ensure access and that services remain competitive in light of a growing market. 

Cultural: Awareness is vital and promotional activities for initial mass awareness is vital. 

Market: The products compliment one another but are not reliant on one another. Hence different strategies maybe used to counter the status quo issues.

Financial: Development of the integrated tasks is an expensive initial investment and needs more to scale, especially in light of market competitors. Primary App Development will cost 4 00 000 BDT and there is an additional 4 00 000 for training of assessors. Due to market inertia promotional budgets need to be substantial for generating traction.  

Technical: Outsourcing to vendors make sense primarily but as the project scales Prottech will have to establish internal technical teams which require more investment and larger overheads. 

Legal: Apart from public places we may require permission for accessing schools and universities for ranking. National law supports task but taxation on services in future may hinder clients for taking part. 

Cultural: Organizations are ambivalent notions regarding compliance. Their mindset for change is difficult. This is true for all time periods. 

Market: The market is there has inertia. Competition in the future may drive down revenues for financial sustainability. 

4 full time staff work on the project development including: 

1 Operations Lead 

1 Communications Lead

2 Disability Inclusions Leads (Equal Representative of Abled and Disabled)  

The Prottech team have experienced mental or physical disability in Bangladesh through personal hardships or family sufferings. The founders are thus extremely empathetic to the magnitude of the cause i.e the issues faced by beneficiaries and their supporters due to accessibility barriers. Moreover the founders have been professionally working for disability inclusion and empowerment for a combined 20+ years through their capacities in organizations like BRAC, International Council of Wheelchair Cricket, Wheelchair Cricket Association Bangladesh, Identity Inclusion and OGGRO Ventures. Additionally the founders, individually or as part of organizations, have carried out trainings, seminars, awareness creation on disability (via events as well as media publications), accessibility compliance initiatives and international sporting events for disability empowerment. Furthermore the team has expertise in the management of business segments such as activations, media, telecommunications, technology innovation, business development, social enterprise operations and B2B & B2B marketing. These competencies are directly linked to the deployment of the segmented solutions.  

As a joint initiative of Identity Inclusion (II) and Cricket WheelchairWelfare Association Bangladesh (WCWA) Leadership Team members, Prottech benefits from both organizations’ 13+ years of combined experience on disability welfare. Psycho social disability projects initiated by II for the last 4 years in addition to WCWA’s 200 members, 170 (of which are disabled cricketers) working for disability rights inclusion,  provide Prottech practical beneficiary insight. Possessing the necessary leadership qualities and experiences, the Prottech team has the edge to be best placed for sustainable development and delivery of the solution, technology and business proposition promised. 

Prottech is directly partnering with Identity Inclusion and Wheelchair Cricket Welfare Association Bangladesh. The founders of the initiative are leadership team members of both organizations which make way for seamless and dynamic functionality. The project benefits from the 52 trained volunteers of II as well as the 200 strong memberbase of WCWA, 170 of who are direct beneficiary wheelchair cricket players. With the experienced in-depth knowledge of working with and input of direct beneficiaries from both organizations, Prottech has been able to gather valuable insight for research and development of the unique disability hurdles faced by the community. The 250+ volunteer/member base also makes it convenient to reach out to communities to participate in the TAsC program from training, assessment and compliance of structures. The combined 8+ years of official disability related work experienced of II and WCWA provides realistic case studies for Prottech to analyze and receive takeaways. Additionally the projects benefits from the existing goodwill or third party private organizational partnerships, other non profits and Bangladesh government institutions.

The Prottech Business Model integrates multiples social enterprises components. 

As Prottech is an integrated offering it will vie for grants, investments or loans for the entire component or individual segmented with diversified revenue modalities for risk diversification as given below: 

TrAC: 

Training: An investment on every disabled workers will enable Prottech benefit from a 5% corporate tax exemption for practicing disability compliant employment practices. 

Assessment: As a full investment initiative Assessment will require funding. However this is also a branding and training activity for our compliance model and may in itself be seen as an investment. Organizations will be assessed free of cost for ranking on digital map. 

Compliance: Assessed organizations will be approached for compliance services if found to be non-compliant. Depending on organization size they will be charged  consultancy fees.

Promotional Activations: 

Quarterly publication of assessment data with sponsorship partners may drive valuable sponsorship revenue

Digital Mapping: This will be a free of cost service to the beneficiary. However in app ads and notifications of strategic partners will help to drive revenue. Furthermore general data from users can be shared with third party research companies for a fee. 

Dedicated Disability Marketplace: Goods and services sold on the marketplace will give a commission to Prottech. Only producers will be charged. This digital cooperative.  However in app ads and notifications of strategic partners will help to drive revenue. Furthermore general data from users and usage can be leveraged for targeting commodities. Data also be shared with third party research companies for a fee.

Great changes snowball from the slightest push. Initiating an entire disability inclusion ecosystem is a monumental task but it is one that can be achieved with the support of partners with vision. The Tiger Challenge financial’s support would accelerate Prottech’s seed funding for implementation of removing accessibility barriers for economic inclusion of the disabled. Selection would also provide much needed local and global recognition for gaining momentum of an issue that is highly neglected albeit impacts a significant portion of Bangladesh’s population. 

As the majority of Prottech’s funding is needed for engagement in the beneficiary economy, Bangladesh, the Tiger Challenge fund would be utilized for service innovation and scaling. Additionally the partnership support promised by the Tiger Challenge, will benefit Prottech by strengthening its  strategic objectives of sustainable operations. Moreover as the solution provides direct and indirect employment and IGA opportunities for the disabled, the funds would enable Prottech to lead by example and be a compliant organization offering fair compensation and training. 

With integrated yet relatively integrated business models, Prottech's sustainable solutions provides market and technology approaches to ensuring long term opportunities for disadvantaged disabled communities. The Tiger's Challenge recognition would go a long way to solidify Prottech's commitment to opening prospects for this neglected group and Bangladesh as whole.  

Prottech would benefit from additional strategic partnerships with Disability Promotion Organizations and other fundraising partnerships in the form of grants, equity and debt for scaling.

Prottech believes the following partnerships will be essential for sustainable growth of the project:

Strategic: 

Disability Promotion Organizations: Point Foundation, NGDO, NCDW

NGOs: BRAC, UCEP

Promotional 

Media Outlets: National and International

Financial: 

Individual Private Investors: (Equity Investments)

Global Venture Capital Firms: (Equity Investments)

Banks: (Local SME Loans)

International Private Grant Organizations: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Grant Funding)

Business Development and Supply Chain

Technology Vendors: Google Maps, BariKoi, App Development Vendors, Payment Gateway Partners: SSL Commerce, Portonics

Marketplace Product & Service Suppliers (Connectivity)

Courier Partners: (Product Delivery) Pathao 

Activation Companies: (Events)

Global E-commerce Platforms (“Made by Disabled” USP Product Export): Amazon, Alibaba

Compliance/Assessment Service Usage

International Organizations: UN Organizations, World Bank, ADB, IMF, Embassies, International Aid Organizations, CARE, Grameen, etc

Educational Organizations: Schools, Colleges, Universities

Consumer Commodity and Service Providers: Restaurants, Hotels

Healthcare Providers: Hospitals, Nursing Homes