Background    The sector of the Organization in which I work, provides technical assistance to its Member States  mainly from developing countries. The technical assistance programs are focused on building the  capacity of creators, entrepreneurs, research institutions, and users of intellectual property (IP) as a  whole, to leverage IP for their economic social and cultural development, with a view to stimulating  economic growth and job creation. Given that intellectual property is embedded in innovation and  creativity, some programs are run in partnership with other entities so as to encompass the innovation  as well as eventual funding aspects.  The Organization has a lot of experience and knowledge dealing  with developing countries in different regions. and has region specific divisions that cover different  regions of the world. The programs are sometimes reactive/adhoc and do not necessarily turn into  long-term projects. The Organization has a new thrust of trying to be more impactful in its technical  assistance programs. It has recently received a request from a University for assistance in building IP  and innovation capacity in the Blue Economy sector, so as to address climate change and other  sustainability problems of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in that part of the world.     The Challenge    My challenge is to conceptualize and lead a capacity building Project on the Blue Economy Sector for  SIDS that would keep in focus three core elements that the Organization wants to prioritize:  sustainability, empowering entrepreneurs in the blue economy space and connecting the dots between  the different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. More specifically, I have been asked to  conceptualize, design and implement a project/platform that  would: 1) serve as a tailorable  methodology for: building capacity and providing skill sets for entrepreneurs/research institutions to  generate  ideas and come up with solutions to address sustainable development problems; 2) connect  the dots between the different stakeholders so as to facilitate access to ecosystems of talent, ideas,  technology and information and 3) foster the creation, protection and commercialization of IP and  provide sustainability to endeavors in the blue economy space.       The Problem

  Limited access for entrepreneurs and researchers in the region to IP, entrepreneurial and  innovation capacity building from academic and business support institutions

  Inadequate capacity to generate innovations and to capture value from IP, at national and  regional levels to address climate change and sustainability challenges

  Venture capitalists and Development Agencies in the region are providing grants and access  to funding mainly for entrepreneurs at the investment ready level

  There is a high number of entrepreneurs/researchers who don’t meet the investment  readiness levels/requirements to qualify for funding/grants from Development Agencies and  Venture capitalists

  There is a need for coming up with solutions at the national and regional levels to address  climate change and sustainability challenges

Selection    In order to answer the ‘what is’ question and gain insights for the idea generation phase, I have  proceeded to have the Organization hire a consulting team (consisting of two consultants) from the  region, to carry out a mapping exercise of all the innovation and entrepreneurial activities being carried  out by all stakeholders(institutions, companies, projects and individuals) in the Blue Economy space of  that region. The tool chosen for ascertaining the current state and gaining insights of the Blue  economy space was a mind map. The mind map is used to analyze  the data gathered during the what  is phase, create trends/themes/clusters of the data and establish criteria for better reframing the  problem and transitioning to the what if stage. The tool used to gather data was the empathy map. The  empathy map is used to gather information on the pain points and gain points of stakeholders in order  to identify/uncover their needs and problems.

Application    Prior to using the mind map, an empathy map was used to gather a better understanding of the pain  and gain points of all the stakeholders. That is to say: what are their fears, problems, obstacles,  frustrations and opinions in the blue economy space as well as their needs and wants; what they want  to achieve; how eventually they would measure their achievements and success; and to generally help  reframe/define the problem. The empathy map questions were carried out in the form of  questionnaires and interviews with all stakeholders. A mind map was then used to glean insights from  the data gathered, to ascertain what trends there were in the data and organize them into clusters for  the moving on to the “what if” phase and, start asking the questions of “how we might” for idea  generation. In the case of interviews with projects, the consulting team also used a business model  canvas. The idea here was to get a better understanding of in particular, the state of investment  readiness, market segmentation, business architecture and other downstream issues of these  projects, as well as which of their hypotheses had been validated. The sort of information coming out  of the business model canvases has also provided us with more granular insights for the mind map,  which could bode well in the idea generation phase as it pertains to capacity building needs and  opportunities for the projects. For example; combining tools such as Lean innovation and Design  Thinking. Given the broad scope of the challenge, the aim was to try to use as many tools as possible  to uncover as thoroughly as possible, the reality and potential opportunities of the blue economy space  in the region.     A total of 74 unique stakeholders, which included Development Agencies, Research Institutions,  Universities, NGOs, Governmental Agencies and independent private companies were identified in the  space. Roughly, 45%, which equates to 33, of those unique participants responded to the  questionnaires and were interviewed. It is important to note that there are a number of Development  Agencies, Research Institutions, Universities, and  NGOs also running projects/supporting startups in  the region and a sample of 10 of these projects/entrepreneurial activities were interviewed using the  business model canvas in addition to the empathy map. The consulting team was given a 5-month  period to send out questionnaires and carry out interviews with the stakeholders. The consultants have  submitted a draft report and will submit the final report with insights and criteria for the what if /idea  generation phase on April 30.    Insights    The insights gathered so far have allowed for validation and reframing of the problem, in particular  those such as: Limited access for entrepreneurs and researchers in the region to IP, entrepreneurial  and innovation capacity building from academic  and business support institutions; a high number of  entrepreneurs/researchers who don’t meet the investment readiness levels/requirements to qualify for  funding/grants from Development Agencies and Venture capitalists; and inadequate capacity to  generate innovations and to capture value from IP, at national and regional levels to address climate  change and sustainability challenges. In addition, the insights have already allowed for  envisioning/obtaining a clearer picture of what the idea generation phase (what if session) could  look  like, as well as some early ideas of an appropriate forum for running a learning launching. The next  step in the process will be the idea generation phase which together with the consultants we believe  could be in the form of two workshops with the stakeholders, so as to ensure the co-creation element  for an eventual tailorable capacity building program. Based on the insights so far, we have also been  hypothesizing that a workshop style forum with all stakeholders, could be the learning Launch.  However, those what if?, what wows? and what works? questions are still to be elucidated and  validated.    Approach    Although the mind map and the empathy map have given a fairly clear picture of the what is, and  insights for what if questions, in hindsight, I believe that using a journey map for the  projects/entrepreneurial activities and an empathy map for the other stakeholders might have been a  more refined means for the consultants to gather data for the what is phase and thus provided richer  insights for the mind map. Given that the journey map places great focus on jobs to be done, it would  have been a good compliment to the business model canvas and possibily contributed to uncovering  more opportunities.


Background The sector of the Organization in which I work , provides technical assistance to its Member States mainly from developing countries . The technical assistance programs are focused on building the capacity of creators , entrepreneurs , research institutions , and users of intellectual property ( IP ) as a whole , to leverage IP for their economic social and cultural development , with a view to stimulating economic growth and job creation . Given that intellectual property is embedded in innovation and creativity , some programs are run in partnership with other entities so as to encompass the innovation as well as eventual funding aspects . The Organization has a lot of experience and knowledge dealing with developing countries in different regions . and has region specific divisions that cover different regions of the world . The programs are sometimes reactive / adhoc and do not necessarily turn into long - term projects . The Organization has a new thrust of trying to be more impactful in its technical assistance programs . It has recently received a request from a University for assistance in building IP and innovation capacity in the Blue Economy sector , so as to address climate change and other sustainability problems of Small Island Developing States ( SIDS ) in that part of the world . The Challenge My challenge is to conceptualize and lead a capacity building Project on the Blue Economy Sector for SIDS that would keep in focus three core elements that the Organization wants to prioritize : sustainability , empowering entrepreneurs in the blue economy space and connecting the dots between the different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem . More specifically , I have been asked to conceptualize , design and implement a project / platform that would : 1 ) serve as a tailorable methodology for : building capacity and providing skill sets for entrepreneurs / research institutions to generate ideas and come up with solutions to address sustainable development problems ; 2 ) connect the dots between the different stakeholders so as to facilitate access to ecosystems of talent , ideas , technology and information and 3 ) foster the creation , protection and commercialization of IP and provide sustainability to endeavors in the blue economy space . The Problem  Limited access for entrepreneurs and researchers in the region to IP , entrepreneurial and innovation capacity building from academic and business support institutions  Inadequate capacity to generate innovations and to capture value from IP , at national and regional levels to address climate change and sustainability challenges  Venture capitalists and Development Agencies in the region are providing grants and access to funding mainly for entrepreneurs at the investment ready level  There is a high number of entrepreneurs / researchers who do n’t meet the investment readiness levels / requirements to qualify for funding / grants from Development Agencies and Venture capitalists  There is a need for coming up with solutions at the national and regional levels to address climate change and sustainability challenges Selection In order to answer the ‘ what is ’ question and gain insights for the idea generation phase , I have proceeded to have the Organization hire a consulting team ( consisting of two consultants ) from the region , to carry out a mapping exercise of all the innovation and entrepreneurial activities being carried out by all stakeholders(institutions , companies , projects and individuals ) in the Blue Economy space of that region . The tool chosen for ascertaining the current state and gaining insights of the Blue economy space was a mind map . The mind map is used to analyze the data gathered during the what is phase , create trends / themes / clusters of the data and establish criteria for better reframing the problem and transitioning to the what if stage . The tool used to gather data was the empathy map . The empathy map is used to gather information on the pain points and gain points of stakeholders in order to identify / uncover their needs and problems . Application Prior to using the mind map , an empathy map was used to gather a better understanding of the pain and gain points of all the stakeholders . That is to say : what are their fears , problems , obstacles , frustrations and opinions in the blue economy space as well as their needs and wants ; what they want to achieve ; how eventually they would measure their achievements and success ; and to generally help reframe / define the problem . The empathy map questions were carried out in the form of questionnaires and interviews with all stakeholders . A mind map was then used to glean insights from the data gathered , to ascertain what trends there were in the data and organize them into clusters for the moving on to the “ what if ” phase and , start asking the questions of “ how we might ” for idea generation . In the case of interviews with projects , the consulting team also used a business model canvas . The idea here was to get a better understanding of in particular , the state of investment readiness , market segmentation , business architecture and other downstream issues of these projects , as well as which of their hypotheses had been validated . The sort of information coming out of the business model canvases has also provided us with more granular insights for the mind map , which could bode well in the idea generation phase as it pertains to capacity building needs and opportunities for the projects . For example ; combining tools such as Lean innovation and Design Thinking . Given the broad scope of the challenge , the aim was to try to use as many tools as possible to uncover as thoroughly as possible , the reality and potential opportunities of the blue economy space in the region . A total of 74 unique stakeholders , which included Development Agencies , Research Institutions , Universities , NGOs , Governmental Agencies and independent private companies were identified in the space . Roughly , 45 % , which equates to 33 , of those unique participants responded to the questionnaires and were interviewed . It is important to note that there are a number of Development Agencies , Research Institutions , Universities , and NGOs also running projects / supporting startups in the region and a sample of 10 of these projects / entrepreneurial activities were interviewed using the business model canvas in addition to the empathy map . The consulting team was given a 5 - month period to send out questionnaires and carry out interviews with the stakeholders . The consultants have submitted a draft report and will submit the final report with insights and criteria for the what if /idea generation phase on April 30 . Insights The insights gathered so far have allowed for validation and reframing of the problem , in particular those such as : Limited access for entrepreneurs and researchers in the region to IP , entrepreneurial and innovation capacity building from academic and business support institutions ; a high number of entrepreneurs / researchers who do n’t meet the investment readiness levels / requirements to qualify for funding / grants from Development Agencies and Venture capitalists ; and inadequate capacity to generate innovations and to capture value from IP , at national and regional levels to address climate change and sustainability challenges . In addition , the insights have already allowed for envisioning / obtaining a clearer picture of what the idea generation phase ( what if session ) could look like , as well as some early ideas of an appropriate forum for running a learning launching . The next step in the process will be the idea generation phase which together with the consultants we believe could be in the form of two workshops with the stakeholders , so as to ensure the co - creation element for an eventual tailorable capacity building program . Based on the insights so far , we have also been hypothesizing that a workshop style forum with all stakeholders , could be the learning Launch . However , those what if ? , what wows ? and what works ? questions are still to be elucidated and validated . Approach Although the mind map and the empathy map have given a fairly clear picture of the what is , and insights for what if questions , in hindsight , I believe that using a journey map for the projects / entrepreneurial activities and an empathy map for the other stakeholders might have been a more refined means for the consultants to gather data for the what is phase and thus provided richer insights for the mind map . Given that the journey map places great focus on jobs to be done , it would have been a good compliment to the business model canvas and possibily contributed to uncovering more opportunities .