Kopernik is excited to announce the launch of See-D contest 2010, in collaboration with D-Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, enmono, ETIC., i.school at University of Tokyo, Music Securities Inc., and Nippon Foundation. We are currently accepting applications for the first phase of the contest: See-D innovation workshop[1].

Poverty is one of the most devastating problems in the world. Out of the 6 billion world population, more than 80% live under $10 a day, 20% under $1 a day. Many of them do not have adequate access to safe drinking water, health services or basic tools to create sustainable livelihoods (such as farming tools). Such basic essentials may be unavailable to the poor not only because they cannot afford them but also because of a lack of availability of appropriate products. After all, most goods and services are designed for the richest in the world (top 20% of the population), not for those who are most in-need (the rest of the 80% of the world). In Japan, a country with most advanced technologies, engineers and designers have difficulties designing products for those most in-need because of scarce information available about their lives. It is virtually impossible for a single engineer to go beyond the geographical, cultural, and language barrier to understand the lives of the poor well and design the right products for them.

See-D contest aspires to fill the gap between those who need the products (80% of people living in developing world) and those who can offer technologies (Japanese engineers and designers). By creating an online interactive platform, we enable engineers with the technical knowledge and users with the local knowledge to work together to develop transformative and appropriate products. (Specific Details to be announced at the launch of the 2nd phase of this initiative: See-D Design Competition in October, 2010).

The theme for 2010 is product development for villages without access to electricity.

The development theme for year 2010 is product development for villages without electricity access.

The contest is conducted in three phases:

In the first phase: See-D Innovation Workshop, we aim to help engineers/designers to learn about the lives of the poor through “human-centered design” workshops, symposiums, and a one-week field trip to East Timor.
In the second phase: See-D Design Competition, the main part of the contest, we aspire to create an online platform enabling engineers with the technical knowledge and users with the local knowledge to work together on the product design and prototyping.
In the third phase: See-D Incubation, we plan to incubate promising prototypes from the second phase into commercial products.
The goal of the See-D Contest is to design and market a commercial product for developing world.

We do not start by “pushing” certain technologies or products. We start by seeking out what is truly needed by the users.

Innovation takes place at the intersection of different disciplines. During workshops and throughout the competition, we encourage collaboration among people from engineering and design background to business and social science background.

A successful product for the developing world can never made alone. Through the online competition platform, we encourage open collaboration among those who can make micro-contributions (e.g., information sharing, resource giving, or as simple as cheering a product on) to the process.

[1] The event will be conducted in Tokyo, Japan, using Japanese as a main language. Although we are currently not accepting applications from overseas, we plan to broadcast the workshops via YouStream. Check our website after August for more updates. If you are a non-Japanese speaker living in Japan, we would like to consider your application. Please contact us at info@see-d.jp for more details.