Digital Technology-based New Business Model for Inclusive Development

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"Leave no one behind" has been a key objective of the recently agreed UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the poor, in particular the youth and women, are often being marginalised and excluded from market participation due to unequal access to education, resources and information, empowering and including these segments into the main stream market and income creation activities turns out to be an important imperative to achieve SDGs and build an inclusive society. This is important as developing countries are witnessing an upsurge of young people in rather inadequate labour market. While emerging digital technologies can become both an equaliser and a disruptive factor in labour markets, they can empower both women and youth. The decreasing cost of digital technology should thus foster and support new exchange mechanisms that will generate new models of value creation (Amit and Zott, 2012) and will lead business organisations towards network based systems (Dafe & Lewin, 1993; Dunbar & Starbuck, 2006). Many new digital technology-based business models have already been developed. These developments not only create new drivers for economic growth, but also lead to upgrading of capabilities of small business owners. Such increased capabilities will in turn enhance the welfare of the poor (Sen, 1999). However, there are a number of gaps to fill in order for this potential to fully materialise. (1) Most of the research focuses on the evaluation of the impact of technology on development. Little is known about the business models that are needed to transform the benefits of technology into jobs, income and a driver for growth for the poor (Seelos & Mair, 2007). (2) The existing studies mostly focus on e-trading businesses that sell products or services online, and normally require considerable initial capital investment to start the business. What type of new business model can help the poor to benefit from digital technology? This is an under-explored area for inclusive development. (3) Some research is available on how to use business models for digital innovations to support growth of new businesses and employment. How is it possible to design a business model to empower the poor who have no initial capital to benefit from technological progress is missing. What underlying institutional, regulatory and capability conditions are needed to ensure the success of such digital technology-based new business model? What role can the state and Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) play in this process? These questions will fill the significant gap and provide important policy and managerial implications.Drawing on inter-disciplinary research from technology, development studies and responsible business studies, this project aims to fill in the gap in the literature with an Inclusive Digital Model (IDMODEL) that will particularly include deprived youth and women. In particular, it will:1) Develop, test and finalise a digital technology-based new business model which enables poor people to start a business based on their skills and experiences, while requiring minimum capital investment. 2) Evaluate the impact of this DT-based business model on jobs, income creation and capabilities building. 3) Analyse the underlying regulatory and capability conditions that are needed to ensure its success and scale up, and the possibility to replicate in other developing countries.4) Examine how the state, MNEs and civil society can collaborate for inclusive development.The project will be supported by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from the universities of Oxford and Birmingham, and collaborators in Bangladesh and China from both the private and public sectors. It will contribute to the literature by filling current gaps on technology, business model and inclusive development and its impact as well as producing novel datasets and robust empirical evidence to elaborate relevant policies for development.