Ideating Technologies for Emerging Markets

INSTRUCTOR: Barbara Cotto Jimenez

SECTION: U34

SCHEDULE: Wednesdays, 1:00PM-3:30PM

This course focuses on the need for innovation in technologies and access to information in emerging markets. The practice and groundbreaking processes used to design, test, and experiment with innovation effectively are key to understand the need of access to technologies on this market. Over the semester we will examine six aspects of social innovation: exploring, defining, ideating, implementing, testing, and renewing innovation. We will do this by using a variety of methodologies including design thinking, systems thinking and lean methodologies.

This project-based course is designed to provide a deep understanding of social innovation by guiding students in testing their ideas and the process required to turn their ideas into reality. This course will provide students with a safe space to develop their entrepreneurial skills and to learn how to apply design thinking and systems thinking to social innovation. Students will also be taught how to use tools and frameworks in order to measure the impact of their social venture models.

During the semester, students’ work will center around, and culminate in, a group project where teams will develop a new social venture concept to submit and compete in a local or national competition (ie. MIT SOLVE).