Future On Wheels

Driving Forward - Thinking On Wheels

Automation. Digitization. Artificial Intelligence. What does one imagine when hearing these words? Images of machines in a production line usually come into mind. Or even examples from science fiction with every facet of our lives being serviced by robots or AI. Some would write this off as pure fiction. However, with the ever-increasing advancements of the technological sector, the economy, in turn, is relying more and more on automation, digitization and artificial intelligence, these fictional stories are becoming the reality we will live in. There is a domino effect that we are now seeing due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The effect that we are focusing upon and view as imperative to tackle is the labour force. It is projected that within 12 years, approximately 14% of the global workforce will need to shift to digital occupational categories. The issue is in these individuals not having the necessary resources to retrain themselves. This is particularly exacerbated in developing countries where the polarisation in the labour force is already severe, and is coupled with the the lack of local mechanisms to equip workers with the necessary digital skills.

This is where Future on Wheels comes in, directly bringing the training to these individuals. Working in partnership with the companies in need of workers with digital skills, Future on Wheels develops training programs of skills most requested by businesses and specific sectors. The language of digital technology and particularly project management will be taught as to facilitate the communication and teamwork now required in this labour landscape. We will Future on Wheels is built on the fact that lifelong learning is the key for successful redeployment of the labour force.

At its fundamental core, Future on Wheels will bridge the needs of employers in a knowledge based economy with underskilled, undereducated members of low-income and disenfranchised communities seamlessly, closing the work disparity widened by advancing technology

The mobile school concept is not new, but we are using it to deliver vocational training and upskilling services directly to communities that lack access to career centers and vocational schools. It will require us to use electric energy as our main power source for the school to drive quietly with a low-carbon footprint and require recent developments in IT to offer training sessions to the trainees.

It will be in the workstations installed in the mobile school, it will be in the digital lessons pre-installed in those workstations, it will be in the form of smart tablets kept on board, it will be in the virtual reality headsets used by the trainees to simulate work environments and equipment, and it will be in the communication systems that connects the school to the internet and to the database of local career centres to facilitate job applications at a kiosk in the school itself.

Develop a prototype that can be tested in the local communities and then continually evaluate and revise the solution design to further develop it into the pilot phase.

To be able to deploy 5 mobile schools catering to 350+ trainees within 3 years, and then expand the fleet to 10 catering to 450+ trainees.

To garner trust and rapport as an upskilling program provider among local communities and corporations.

Depending on our success with the pilots in the initial 3 years, we will aim to improve our concept until we are ready to deploy the schools in other countries within our target regions and incorporate the concept into other modes of transport i.e. training programs aboard boats/amphibious vehicles for communities living around bodies of water.

As a mobile vocational school, trainees do not have to leave their communities as we will directly station at target areas.

Our target communities may lack access to the internet, so we will rely on word-of-mouth and advertisements via cable, radio or test visits to potential areas. We will also exploit promotions at local job fairs.

As for companies, we may approach SMEs in the IT industries seeking upskilling efforts to enhance productivity and drive internal growth via social media, future jobs and investment conventions.

For the first 3 years, we will stick to local communities to perform pilots. We will collaborate with the Ministry of Human Resources & Emiratisation (the new Ministry of Labour) and other SMEs specialising in skills-based training for guidance and formalities. As the buses are being built for prototyping during 2019, we will start pilots by winter 2019 with around 50 people then slowly scale up to 100 into 2020, and then 250-350 trainees by the year 2021.

Not-for-profit social enterprise

Our services can be availed by trainees by paying a fixed fee upon registration or by paying the fee after securing a source of income upon employment

Service fees will also be paid by companies interested in implementing our schools to their upskilling programs.

All revenue will be directed to operation costs and for the research and development of the concept

We believe it is an idea that needs to be considered as a viable business model. Even if we do not have the resources ourselves, we believe that there is someone who needs to lay the ground work for this idea to reduce the skills gap prevalent in regions with work and economic inequality.

We lack the various resources and know-how to produce a viable product for prototyping. Even if there is no financial and technical support available, we believe the Solve community can provide professional advice and guidance to help the idea come to fruition.