Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Supporting emerging entrepreneurship in informal settlements with digital services (Namibian informal settlement of Havana)

Slummien nousevan yrittäjyyden tukeminen digitaalisilla palveluilla

Auteur : Keskinen, Pietari

Université de soutenance : Aalto University

Grade : Master’s Thesis Degree Programme in Information Networks 2016

Résumé
Digital services have been used to solve social issues in the informal settlements of the global south with varied results. One of the most serious issues facing the informal settlements is the unemployment, which has commonly been mitigated by supporting entrepreneurship. The digital services have focused on solving the individual issues hindering the entrepreneurship, such as lack of training or funding, but a more holistic view to the topic has been missing.

The objective of this thesis is to explore, how the emerging entrepreneurship in the informal settlement could be best supported with the digital services. This problem is divided to two research questions, “How is an emerging entrepreneur from the informal settlement ?” and “What are the user requirements of the entrepreneurs for digital services ?”. To answer these questions, we have used various qualitative methods, such as interviews and workshops. The field work was done in the Namibian informal settlement of Havana.

The results indicate, that the people of Havana are interested about the entrepreneurship, but the problems in their environment, for example the bad infrastructure and the lack of successful examples, hamper the creation of the enterprises. The entrepreneurs also operate with various motives, which has to be considered before any supporting actions. The locals are interested about the digital services, but the accessibility to those is often problematic.

Based on these observations, a framework for guiding the usage of digital services in supporting the emerging entrepreneurship is presented. The framework is generalizable, and thus applicable for other similar locations also. The framework aims to better direct suitable actions to be taken with the right entrepreneurs. The digitalization offers many opportunities for the developing countries, but harnessing these opportunities requires designated measures to be taken.

Mots clés : digital services, entrepreneurship, infromal settlements, ICT4D, Namibia

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