SAP Research Living Labs
Technologies for Emerging Economies
Unlike SAP's three other living labs that exist as actual locations, researchers at SAP Research CEC Pretoria in South Africa are conducting projects in the field using the living labs methodology – working directly with end users in emerging economies to improve their livelihood.
SAP Research South Africa and the SAP Meraka Unit for Technology Development are addressing SAP product and service improvement and/or adaptation and the initiation of new services and products that are likely to unlock the vast market potential of emerging economy countries. Researchers pay special attention to technology infrastructure, usage, application, and economics.
The following projects are two major examples of how the living labs methodology is being applied to the area of emerging economies:
|
Collaboration@Rural
|
PatHS
|
|
The C@R project (Collaboration at Rural Areas) aims to work with small and micro enterprises to stimulate local economic development using information and communication technologies.
A collaborative platform will help small enterprises become more profitable with a mobile delivery system. The idea is to reduce transaction costs through virtual buying cooperatives consisting of a large number of small spaza shops and coordinated by local information service providers, or infopreneurs. As a result, the availability of basic goods for rural communities in South Africa will increase.
|
The objective of Project PatHS (Patient Health System) is to develop a user-friendly patient health solution for managing chronic diseases to improve primary healthcare systems in rural communities.
In collaboration with the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Public Health, and with the support of the Provincial Department of Health in Mpumalanga, South Africa, the project is centered on three primary healthcare clinics – Agincourt, Xanthia, and Thokozani – in the Bushbuck Ridge Municipality in South Africa. The larger ecosystem includes neighboring clinics, private healthcare providers, and a district and regional hospital – making it an ideal environment for developing, testing, and evaluating new primary healthcare systems.
|
Learn More
To find out how your organization can participate in the technologies for emerging economies research field, contact:
SAP Research CEC Pretoria
Building 12
Boardwalk Office Park
Faerie Glen
Pretoria
South Africa
E-mail: research.pretoria@sap.com