Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Digital artisan
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
BIG BET
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is to introduce more digitalization into the craft sector in Senegal targeting in priority informal wood and metal carpenters of Dakar
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
Artisans in Senegal hardly manage to make a living from their work. Their revenues and income-generating activities often remain within the informal sector, leaving these groups highly vulnerable from a socio-economic viewpoint, especially for youth at the early stage of their professional life. The majority of children who fail to complete primary education are sent into informal craft enterprises to learn a way of living. As a result, most of them find themselves working in the informal sector, particularly in crafts.
Handicrafts ( jewelry, sewing, carpentry, etc.) in Africa, and particularly in Senegal are today largely on the margins of the technological evolutions of the digital age. It is commonplace, however, to see everywhere else in the world that technology is bringing a new touch to craftsmanship. The introduction of digital craftsmanship is therefore at the heart of this project, which is justified by the factors mentioned above. The use of new technologies, such as numerically controlled machines, should facilitate the work of craftsmen and promote innovation. However, artisans do not have access to digital tools and equipment which is very expensive for them.
The digital craft experimentation in Senegal aims to build, test, and validate a model for training and integrating artisans into digitally-based productive value chains. It will support young professionals in this sector to increase their productivity and generate strong economic growth through access to new technologies and high-precision tools, digital capacity building, and access to digital and international markets.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
There is not so much data from the craft sector. However, for UNESCO the craft sector is the second employer after agriculture. The sector attracts principally young men who drop out of school earlier for many reasons.
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
They are generally sent by their families to informal Small and medium enterprises to learn how to become apprentices. Their training often lasts more than a decade, after which they can set up on their own. In turn, they may also take on several other young people who have left school very early. As a result of this apprenticeship cycle, the sector is underdeveloped, particularly in the area of digitization and modernization. This limits the companies' chances of performance, but also the number of jobs they could create.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
Accelerator lab leads this experimentation to learn if informal artisans can integrate digital tools and skills into their work and evolution. The solution is being tested with a different range of stakeholders the Accelerator has connected through this initiative. Those include the disruptive innovators particularly a specialized technology University, and national partners and SMEs working.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
Digital inclusion, we should not leave behind informal artisans
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
Dakar American University of Science and Technology ( DAUST)
What sector does our partner belong to?
Academia
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
DAUST is a private University that promotes technological and disruptive innovations
It was the first partner with whom Accelerator Lab designed the project. DAUST is responsible for designing local prototypes that will demonstrate if is possible to promote them for widespread use.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
3FPT ( Fonds de Financement de la Formation Professionnelle et Technique)
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
3FPT ands the national agency responsible to promote equal access to training for all
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
3FPT is the national agency that has the mandate to facilitate access to professional training for young people and organizations in different
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
ensure equity for access to training
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
Innov Up
What sector does our partner belong to?
Private Sector
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
Is a consulting firm that helps small and medium enterprises accelerate and develop their digital skills, and tools, particularly in the field of marketing and management. Its role is to train the artisans and develop a digital marketplace for their use.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
How can we leverage digital tools to create more opportunities for the informal craft sector in Senegal?
How can artisans adapt to digital tools to increase their creativity and productivity?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Sense, Explore, Test
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Cocreation, collective intelligence, and sensemaking allow us to better map the system, the different actors the work they are doing, and how they interact between them. We will learn along the process how the prototypes are adapted to the needs of artisans themselves and if our choices to work with wood and metal carpenters are the best ones. The proof of concept intends to help design a broader portfolio in which we bring the private sector, academia, innovators, and the Governments actors.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Behavioral insights and observation will help us better understand the best ways of promoting the adoption of digital tools by artisans.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
the results and learnings of this experience will help design the scaling up phase
END OF ACTION LEARNING PLAN: Thank you! The form saves automatically and your submission has been recorded. You may now exit this window.
1No poverty
8Decent work and economic growth
9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
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