Technologies for emerging economies: encouraging sustainable development

Farmer in South Africa talking on a mobile device

Unlike SAP's five location-based living labs, Global Research and Business Incubation Pretoria in South Africa is conducting projects in the field – working directly with end users to develop and test new technologies aimed at improving the livelihood of the region. Together with the SAP Meraka Unit for Technology Development, SAP Researchers are tackling the challenges that small, medium, and micro enterprises face in emerging economies – with special attention to technology infrastructure, usage, application, and economics.

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  • GaRO: Business in Your Pocket

    GaRO is an SAP flagship project based on extensive research – as well as results from the Ganges, Rustica, and Overture projects. Part of SAP's Business Web initiative, the project combines enterprise software and business services with mobile technologies to enable on-demand, on-device, and real-time business services for very small enterprises in emerging economies. The GaRO prototype focuses on key services, such as procurement, cash flow, customer, sales management, deliveries, and micro-financing. All of these activities are carried out on a mobile device, supporting GaRO's "business in your pocket" motto.

    The goal of the project is that millions of small business owners will be able to conduct their daily operations using a mobile phone. SAP will focus on making these applications affordable and accessible – even to the smallest retailers, utility units, and family businesses. These vendors are the backbone of their economies, and their profits will dramatically energize the markets of developing regions.

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