KJAER ADVICE | News
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News

New initiative in support of Ukraine’s recovery

Denmark/Ukraine:

As Ukraine is trying to recover amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, in a new initiative, KJAER ADVICE takes a key role as Special Advisor to the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), in its efforts to support economic recovery in Ukraine.

Through innovative forms of engagement with the private sector it will be the main scope of work to create jobs and sustainable economic income opportunities for civilians affected by the war, be it women left behind as single providers of their families, war veterans or internally displaced.

Recognizing the demand for skilled labor in various sectors due to the conflict’s impact on the male population, there is a need for re-skilling or up-skilling, small-scale business advice, and psychosocial assistance to get a new labor force to play.

 

Collaboration for Change

The ambition is to create shared value through public-private partnerships that will involve partners from within civil society, international and national private companies, and the public sector within Ukraine. It is the assumption that the recovery process in Ukraine can greatly benefit from uniting the strengths and insights that each of these sectors may bring; By joining forces all accomplish more than by ‘going it alone’.

 

Stay tuned for more updates on this new and exciting initiative about Ukraine’s recovery.

 

>> Find out more about the Ukraine Recovery initiative <<

Expert Workshop on Human Rights and Digital Business Activities in Copenhagen Denmark

Copenhagen, Denmark:

Expert Workshop on Human Rights and Digital Business Activities gather global experts from global tech corporations, international policy organizations and academia.

The Danish Institute of Human Rights (DIHR) has commissioned KJAER ADVICE to perform a trend analysis and mapping exercise to identify necessary efforts to address issues of negative impacts caused by technological and digital solutions.

One of the outcomes has been the two-day Expert Workshop on Human Rights Impact Assessments of Digital Business Activities convening 28 global experts within the field of human rights and tech, incl. global tech companies, international policy organizations and academia.

The significance of addressing human rights issues caused by digital business activities has received increased attention over the last couple of years. As more and more individuals have internet access, and the private sector and public institutions alike are going through digital transitions, the potential and actual human rights impacts of digital business activities are increasing.

Currently there is a lack of guidance for assessing and addressing the kinds of impacts that digital business activities can cause, whether by technology companies themselves or other entities conducting digital business activities. This include, but is not limited to, data collection and sharing, automated decision-making, artificial intelligence and algorithms, management and moderation of user-generated content, and provision of digital and internet infrastructure.

It is DIHR intention over the coming years to use its expertise on human rights impact assessment methodology to develop – jointly with global experts – a set of publicly available human rights impact assessment tools and guidance specifically in relation to digital business activities. This to ensure that companies are developing, deploying, and operating digital activities in full respect of human rights.

Advising the World Bank on its ‘Digital Moonshot Africa Initiative’

Washington, US:

World Bank Group kick-starts digital transformation across Africa! Working for BLUETOWN, Louise Kjaer has been invited to form part of the ‘Digital Moonshot Africa Initiative’ Consultation Group.

Working for BLUETOWN, Louise Kjaer has been invited to form part of Consultation Group to advise the World Bank on its ‘Digital Moonshot Africa Initiative’. The objective is to double broadband connectivity by 2021 and reach full coverage by 2030.

By the Annual Meeting of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund the resulting report “Connecting Africa Through Broadband: A Roadmap for Inclusive Growth” was launched in Washington DC.

The expected investment is 100 billion USD over the next 10 years. Achieving the Digital Moonshot means having every African citizen, business and government being digitally enabled by 2030. The initiative is going to be vital, not least in terms of job opportunities for the youth.

“The fact that a Danish company is part of ‘Moonshot’ shows that Denmark and our innovative companies are at the front when it concerns development and promotion of the SDGs,” says Danish Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs. The new role positions BLUETOWN as a global expert within internet connectivity in rural areas.

Louise Kjaer speaking at the African Green Revolution Forum

Accra, Ghana:

Louise Kjaer is speaking under the theme “Grow Digital” at the annual convention of the African Green Revolution Forum, one of the world’s most impactful fora for African agriculture.

To leverage digital transformation to drive sustainable food systems in Africa, internet connectivity in rural areas across the continent is needed. That is why BLUETOWN’s solutions are at the heart of this important topic. Working for the DK-headquarted company BLUETOWN, Louise Kjær spoke in the panel debate “What’s Needed to Grow Digital? Digital Agriculture Infrastructure” together with experts on mobile networks coverage, access to digital media, data and digital policy, and satellite crop mapping.

Preparing partnership project “Connecting the unconnected” with BLUETOWN and CARE

Goaso, Ghana:

Fact-finding Mission with BLUETOWN and CARE preparing partnership project ‘Connecting the unconnected’. Digital innovation may be the key for youth in Africa to create new jobs and a more prosperous future. Read more and see video in the Linkedin post below.

 

 

On behalf the DK-based internet connectivity providing company BLUETOWN Louise Kjaer initiated and has developed this 5-year partnership jointly with the non-governmental organization CARE; With support from Danida the two organizations join forces to help particularly young African farmers build capacity and ownership of their own destiny.

This video is a snapshot of inputs gathered when travelling together across Ghana to listen and learn how best to assist in co-creating sustainable, tech-enabled job opportunities; it shows our conversation with youth at a local senior technical high school in Western Ghana, an area where the majority of people are cocoa farmers.

We wanted to learn how internet access and digital solutions can improve prospects for youth. It is the assumption that by increasing use of technology in agriculture, it becomes more attractive and rewarding for young people to go into agro-business and thereby increases their standard of living. individual, supports national growth, and strengthens BLUETOWN’s Wi-Fi connectivity business, working with the vision to make modern connectivity accessible and affordable for everyone.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The debate article ”No SDG progress without collaboration”  written by Louise Kjær from KJAER ADVICE together with Mette Boye from DIEH was published in Altinget. Join the debate and read the full article here.

Copenhagen, Denmark

KJAER ADVICE has proudly conceptualized and incubated this partnership between IBM, the Danish Refugee Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

Read more here.

Copenhagen, Denmark

The need for change and for sharing of our joint potential

Danish Ethical Trade Initiative (DIEH) and KJAER ADVICE together hosted a book-launch dinner and debate with prominent guests from business, public and private organizations, academia and media. Prompted by Neil Gaught presenting his book: “CORE: How a Single Organizing Idea Can Change Business for Good” attendees debated how to move affirmation of sustainability goals and visions to the next level in terms of real action and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

 

The speed of change in our global and interconnected society is unprecedented. Should we be fearful or optimistic about the future, was one of the questions that participants debated. One of the novelties in our time is the UN Global Goals that call on business as ‘a force of good’ to assist in tackling global challenges. But is the demand for businesses to be a central part of the solution to global challenges too demanding? And does the focus on business move focus away from the obvious responsibility and authority away from governments? And where does it leave the NGOs?

 

Partnership collaboration, experimentation and long-termism were among the recommendations coming from participants who were generously sharing their experiences, aspiration and ideas:

 

Too often do we look at traditional solutions – instead of challenging our perception of how to make profitable business or best social service provision. But thankfully, stories shared by e.g. IKEA, Arla Foods, Novo Nordisk and A.P. Moller Maersk gave evidence of many experiments ongoing, where partnering with new players from both civil and public sector represents an innovative and risk taking approach. “We need to get our hands dirty” and allow for more experimentation, was a comment repeated in the group. Because there is so much more potential waiting to be reaped if organizations (public and private) would encourage cross-sector partnerships and allow a different time perspective for ‘return of investment’.

 

But there are barriers to change-making and innovation within organization: Lack of incentive structures, traditional focus of shareholder expectations, concerns of brand safeguarding etc.

If, however, we are to move beyond sporadic CSR initiatives and obtain the promise of the UN Goals we need to get our organizations fit for transitioning into the future.

 

This is where Neil Gaught inspired the audience by explaining how a Single Organizing Idea’ may help businesses ‘think smarter’ about the long-term and more clearly organize around a strategy set at the core of the business. “By translating your purpose into a clearly defined Single Organizing Idea (SOI), you can expect to be able to set goals, objectives and targets with greater ease across all the functions of your business. And you can expect to see greater clarity in decision making to see new possibilities and opportunities to deliver greater and different types of value to your key audiences”, Gaught argued.

 

Creating the most successful partnerships

The group was generally enthusiastic about opportunities and potential for creating greater impact in multi-stakeholder collaboration. It is time to cross-fertilize from different sector resources and contributions.  The group acknowledged, however, that there are oftentimes cultural barriers to overcome. We know too little about what’s going on in terms of strategic thinking and change potential within sectors different from your own. We must learn to more clearly articulate our respective ‘value propositions’ and to listen more carefully and be inspired by those who think differently from us. It may be useful to invite on board a professional challenger and facilitator helping you look at your business or organization to help you quickly uncover how best to build new initiatives in collaboration with others.

The dialogue across sectors and positions left us with an even stronger belief in multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration as a direct route to accelerating fruitful partnerships and innovative work contributing to the global goals.

 

Summing up and while finishing dinner and wine it was agreed that:

  • We need strong leadership
  • We need clear purpose, strong values and long term perspectives in our work
  • We should encourage and advocate for more experimentation within our organizations, executive boards and committees.
  • Also take a look at Incentive structures – companies respond to incentives, so for successful implementation of sustainability strategy, there must be relevant incentives/KPIs in
  • Learn from each other

 

Bonus info:

Neil Gaught is on a world tour to promote and debate his idea of a Single Organizing Idea within organizations. Until now he has held similar dinner-debate events in Seattle, Boston, Washington, Montreal, London, Oslo, Beirut, New York and more to come.

Find the CORE book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Core-Single-Organizing-Change-Business/dp/178353785X

Oslo, Norway

Featuring in Norwegian Innovation Magazine is an exclusive interview with Louise Kjaer and the work of KJAER ADVICE in brokering innovative partnerships that maximize business potential while yielding better social solutions.

Invited as a member of the Open Innovation Advisory Board Louise will be offering an executive workshop for Norwegian business leaders in early 2018.

Read full interview here: 

http://www.innomag.no/shared-value-ekspert-partnerskap-er-nodvendig-lose-samtidens-utfordringer/

Copenhagen, Denmark

Outthinking migration challenges

Tech-giant IBM and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) are discussing innovative solutions to better forecast and respond to the global phenomena of mixed migration.

Brought together as the result of a KJAER ADVICE ideation process, the two partners have over the past 6 months been discussing how to blend their respective competencies and co-create forecasting models that can predict future mixed migration flows and the drivers of the same: The purpose is to be able to prepare better and preventive measures.

The partnership is building upon IBM’s position as world-leaders within predictive analytics and machine learning, i.e. making sense of multiple data sources ranging such diverse data sets as weather forecasts, news, social media or country specific statistics on a scale that would normally be out of reach of human analysts.

DRC’s presence on the ground in 40 refugee producing countries across the world provides first-hand data about drivers and consequences of migration.

A design-thinking workshop took place on August 9th at IBM’s premises to explore potential longer-term collaboration models.