Innovation in Design- Convenience and Incentive

There are several things that seem to be leading the innovation world all seem to be around convenience and incentive. Currently mobile apps are location, location, location based (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_20/b4178034154012.htm), like Four Square and Anttenna. And there is power in convenient mobile transactions as seen in text-to-donate programs for Haiti relief and with micro transactions in Africa as seen on the Ethiopian Commodities exchange. I received the following message from a co-worker about an Accenture executive who was helping the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange accommodate transactions without a central clearing house and in the most remote locations.

About two years ago, I took a leave of absence to come to Ethiopia and serve as Chief Technology Officer with a mission to build the first Electronic Commodity Exchange platform for the country. Since the start of trade about a year and a half ago, transaction volume exceeded 5 Billion Ethiopian Birr (~$400M USD) paying out every seller electronically in less than 24 hours after trade, in a country where there is no central payment system or clearing house and, where power used to go out every other day and the telecom network has been unreliable.

This has truly been a place where I can never say I got it all figured out which makes it always interesting, challenging and demanding. I will never forget the day when about 30donkeys showed up at one of our warehouses carrying contraband coffee – I thought we built a great in-house system that tracked over 200,000 tons of commodities arriving by truck, but little did I know that I needed to have a flexible system that could also uniquely register donkeys as means of transporting commoditiesJ.

While the accomplishments made thus far has been good, there is still more to do including implementation of an online trading platform to take the Exchange to the rural parts of the country and small farmers. This is yet another massively challenging effort given the lack of reliable telecom, power infrastructure and steep learning curve. God willing, I am sure we will work around these challenges and make this a reality as well. I can’t wait to sit next to a farmer or a village trader selling his/her commodity online using a computer or a cell phone - promise to send a picture about a year from now :)

I must say this whole experience has been so rewarding in ways words cannot adequately describe. I realize the enormous potential financial gain had this been a startup business but I consider building an institution that would make a difference in the lives of many hard working farmers in my native land far outweighing the personal gain.

Aside from the business of the Exchange, I am determined to build a successful technology outsourcing company and other businesses in the near future. This will allow me to create a better future for talented young African professionals while promoting sustainable and dignified future for communities in Africa. I believe this will also contribute towards building a better and safer world for us all. It is my hope that there are many leaders out there who would join this cause.

While I never wanted to say goodbye to my Accenture family, the time has come for me to do just that, for now. I will send updates periodically to let you know how things are going. I am on LinkedIn or can be reached via email at soecex@gmail.com or on AIM at SoACN.

Looking ahead, always.

Solomon Edossa (http://www.ecx.com.et)

These mobile applications have these two things in common; they are convenient our mobile phones are practically an extension of our hands and there is incentive in the transaction. Four Square you can become a mayor of an establishment, as I am writing this blog the Four Square mayor of the Starbucks in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA checked in at the Starbucks. Come to find out the Starbucks employees have instructions to congratulate the mayor everytime he comes in and off her/him a $1 discount off of their order. Or text-to-donate one gets the immediate satisfaction of donating or immediate altruistic response (IAR) as the Wired.com writer notes in http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/04/pl_brown_karma, with out the inconvenience of finding your credit cards and going online to donate.