Innovating for Emerging Markets: The importance of the social and cultural contexts

Tony Salvador, Intel Corp.,
Nirmal Sethia, CalPoly, Pomona,
LiAnne Yu, Cheskin

Emerging markets like India and China present highly promising frontiers of opportunity for entrepreneurs. The opportunities are not only for financial rewards, but for improving the quality of life for vast and underserved segments of humanity. To realize the full potential of such opportunities, entrepreneurs have to not only harness new technologies, but act with proper understanding of the social and cultural context of their offerings. To highlight the critical importance of social and cultural factors in innovation directed at emerging markets, this panel will examine the key lessons from two case studies. One case is from Intel about a Community PC developed for India and other emerging markets. The second case draws upon the work done at Ericsson Cyberlab in Singapore to better understand design parameters for mobile devices and applications to suit China's communication culture.