Akí

The municipality of Soledad located in the Colombian North Caribbean Coast is characterized by having a high number of informal businesses, high unemployment rates accompanied by low access to higher education programs or business training.

"Akí" as a mobile solution will provide a simple management digital platform, to visualizes the ventures located in the municipality of Soledad in order to increase their commercial activity and create a distribution network for its products and services. Likewise, it will work as a media for training strategies supported by the ITSA University Institution through brief recommendations to improve the customer and consumer experience.

This will help to improve sales volumes of the businesses registered in the app, increasing income for the families of Soledad, generating a supporting network for entrepreneurs and facilitating the access of inhabitants to products and services generated by themselves.

According to data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) the unemployment rate in the Barranquilla metropolitan area, which includes the municipality of Soledad, has rised up to 12.1% in april 2020 in comparison to 9% in Janaury 2020.

Likewise, 50,8% of workers in the metropolitan area of Barranquilla are engaged in self-employment activities. Unfortunately, there is no consolidated information for Soledad, a municipality with a population of 632.014 personas (2018)

Furthermore, 70% of Colombian GDP depends on non-renewable resources, a source that is not as sustainable on timed the Global Entrepeneruship Monitor in its 2016 report indicates a dropout rate of 66% of the entrepreneurial potential.

Factors such as educational levels, informal employment and the absence of platforms for entrepreneurs coupled with the current pandemic situation by COVID 19 have negatively impacted the income of this population with a $ 6,667 GDP per capita (2018).

AKÍ as a mobile solution will be a digital platform simple to manage, which will make visible the enterprises of the municipality of Soledad to increase its commercial activity and create a distribution network for its products and services.

We seek to help entrepreneurs in the municipality of Soledad to be more effective in generating sales and income, improving the quality of life of citizens and promoting entrepreneurship.

It will be a platform for free use for small businesses and with a monthly fee of 10% profit for companies that achieve a sales income via AKÍ greater than $270 usd. This funds will be used for maintenance expenses and technological support of the App.

Furthermore it will include brief training strategies supported by the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the University Institution ITSA through recommendations to improve the user experience and consultancy.

The ITSA University Institution is a Public Higher Education Institution, committed to the training of enterprising, ethical people with a sustainable vision. The location of its headquarters in Soledad makes the institution a reference of importance for the community and its development

With AKÍ we seek to impact Development Goal #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth. Promote sustained economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Among its beneficiaries are:

1. Inhabitants: 632,014 people (2018) who will find nearby services
2. Students and employees from ITSA: Due to its great impact on the municipality, students and ITSA workers will be able to make use of the platform and also be a spokesperson for it.
3. Entrepreneurs from the municipality of Soledad: Consolidated businesses and natural persons who offer legal businesses will be able to register on the platform.  These statistics are not yet fully established, therefore the application itself would give us an estimate number and a classification of those bussiness based on their offer.

According to theColombian Ministry of Labour, micro-enterprises have 91% participation in the municipality’s productive structure and are the largest source of employment. According to statistics from info Unidos para Soledad, of 40% of the employed population, 28% are self-employed.

AKÍ seeks to consolidate as a digital platform with easy access and free use for the visibility of small businesses in a municipality like Soledad where we have factors that impact on the quality of life such as unemployment, low access to higher education, economic detriment and informality.

As promoters of an entrepreneurship network, we aim to generate a space for sharing good practice experiences and to recognize the entrepreneurial potential, by making use of a technological tool such as the app. We want to contribute to Development Goal 8 "Decent work and economic growth"

This application is innovative because there is no a digital space for the exchange of goods and services for the municipality of Soledad, a useful tool adapted to the challenges of economic globalization and the current pandemic by COVID 19.

It also has a pedagogical component supported by the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences through which educational support will be provided through the application delivering brief ideas on how to improve their business and sales to entrepreneurs and opening the opportunity to consultancies to businesses registered in the application

By being a hybrid mobile application, AKÍ will count on support for

Machine learning: to establish statistics and data that facilitate the service of the same

Small data: for small-scale data recording and its ordering for decision-making.

Blockchain: For the recording of digital operations

Augmented reality and audiovisual resources: for the promotion of goods and services inside the app.

The technologies proposed for the app are widely used by other similar applications.

ITSA has experience in developing mobile apps and possess a set of profesionals for developing native apps for Android and iOS. An example of this is the ITSA application, through which students of the institution consult notes, listen to the institutional station and watch the news published on the official webpage.

On the other hand, the application "Mi Amiga" was also developed for the Barranquilla district as an initiative for the District Women’s Office.http://www.itsa.edu.co/index.p...

Activities

1. Design of a mobile application to facilitate quick and easy exchange of goods and services in the municipality of Soledad.

2. Design of pedagogical strategies to improve the capacities of the entrepreneurial potential in the municipality of Soledad.

3. Support for entrepreneurs to promote  and manage businesses registered in the app.

Outputs 

1. AKÍ: Easy-to-access mobile application for the acquisition of goods and services delivered by entrepreneurs located in the municipality of Soledad 

2. Messages with brief  and easy to read information on marketing, innovation and management to improve the capacities and performance of entrepreneurs

3. Free consultancies to companies registered in the application 

Outcomes 

1.1 Increase in sales and revenues for businesses registered in the application

1.2 Inhabitants of the municipality of Soledad with solutions to their needs of products and services in a shorter time.

1.3 Decrease in unemployment rates

1.4 Gradual decrease of business informality in the municipality of Soledad 

2.1 Entrepreneurs better able to show and market their products in an attractive way

2.2 Improvements in the management of material resources, Logistic and financial solutions by entrepreneurs

3.1 Tailor-made solutions for enterprises in the municipality of Soledad

3.2 Generation of a support network for entrepreneurs

3.3 Business case studies and research projects, mentoring and internships opportunities for ITSA students

The application is not yet developed, however we hope in its launch to impact approximately 50 different businesses on which depend on a regular family group composed between 3 and 5 people and between 1 and 2 employees with their respective family groups. (300 to 400 people) 

A year later we expect to be impacting approximately 300 businesses (1,800 to 2,000 people)

In 5 years we expect to impact between 700 and 1,000 micro-enterprises in the municipality and its area of influence (approximately 4,200 to 6,000 people)

These numbers may grow exponentially if we broaden the mobile application and its model to other municipalities in the Colombian Caribbean Region.

As mentioned above, in 5 years we expect to impact between 700 and 1,000 micro-enterprises in the municipality and its area of influence, which corresponds to approximately 6,000 people.

However, we want the model to be replicable to other vulnerable and low-income municipalities of the Colombian Caribbean Coast 

We aim to create also support network for entrepreneurs initially from Soledad and later in different areas of the Colombian Caribbean Region. We hope to have business that may help to create case studies for research or consultancy, as well as create scenarios for sharing experiences and good practices with other entrepreneurs.

The main barriers that could limit the fulfillment of our goals as a team are 3.

Colombia does not have a strengthened entrepreneurship culture. Most entrepreneurs emerge out of necessity and not out of will, so as groups we will have the task of constantly motivating real and potential users of the application to start innovating in their process.

The lack of education and technological access for clients and users in some cases could slow down the impact of the project.

Finally the access to a financial capital to support the mobile app development and maintenance.

We plan to overcome these barriers through pedagogical strategies and the socialization of positive experiences, motivating more users to become part of the entrepreneurial community in vulnerable areas.

On the other hand we will seek to make an intuitive application with a simple language that allows the user and the client to familiarize themselves with it despite the low educational levels presented in the community.

Finally, we will chase for alliances through international cooperation and government support to maximize the benefits of application to the community and of course achieve its sustainability over time

ITSA University Institution is a public higher education institution in the district of Barranquilla and its metropolitan area with operations in Barranquilla and Soledad, Colombia.

The proponents of the Challenge are a full-time faculty members for Economics, Management and Accounting sciences.

Full time staff: 7 teachers from ITSA and 1 Systems Engineer

Part time staff: 2 Students and 1 Publicist

Itsa has a team of professors with Masters and Doctorates in topics such as Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility, Logistics and Business Administration.

Its Systems Department has already designed 2 mobile applications that are currently in use by students of ITSA and citizens of the metropolitan area of Barranquilla.

Additionally, we are located with one of our headquarters in Soledad where ITSA emerged and is highly and positively recognized

None at the time, however we plan to introduce the project to the Mayor of the Municipality of Soledad in order to carry out a coordinated work through synergies that facilitate the realization of results for the community.

This application will have two types of users

Subscribers: Formed by the businesses that will offer their goods and services in the platform

Consumers: Formed by the clients of the subscribing businesses that will enter the application for searching goods and services of interest

The service to provide is a digital platform through a mobile application for the visualization and exchange of goods and services carried out by local businesses, generating economic movement and income to multiple families dependent on informal activity and regularizing their business.

In addition to being an option for the visibility of products and services, the application will allow Itsa to work on the generation of a network for micro-entrepreneurs

The application will be for free for most of the users. For the purpose of sustaining the activities required to drive the application, a monthly collection of 10% of the revenues from sales made through application will be established for those businesses that exceed an amount of $1.00.000 COP (approximately $270 USD)

This will serve to support the payment of a publicist and an application support engineer as well as the development and maintenance of licenses for the application.

Teachers and students of ITSA will work on the enrichment of the platform as well as on the research processes generated from application information, business consultancies and business case studies

We plan to have access to financial capital to support the development and dissemination of the application as well as the support of an institution as MIT for the collaborative process of generating the application.

MIT’s support will help the application be developed to high technological standards, as well as monitor the results of the application to continuously improve it and expand it to other vulnerable areas in Colombia.

Also the generation of a striking advertising concept and image for entrepreneurs and consumers.

Having the support of the Mayor’s Office in Soledad would be of great asset for the project, since it would be possible to coordinate actions that would facilitate the economic advancement of the community.