World Digital Trader

Supporting and embracing e-Commerce can help to modernise local economies and stimulate growth. e-Commerce is a channel to directly connect business with consumers in global markets. e-Commerce therefore acts as a mechanism to open markets and ensure stable and regulated trade relationships with other economies. e-Commerce also functions to make economies more inclusive by allowing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to participate in domestic and global trade. Due to the ease of access and relative anonymity of e-Commerce, it especially favours women-owned and operated businesses, and those owned and operated by youth groups. Our solution is to build an accessible tool to improve the capacity and capability of businesses and individuals in digital trade. If scaled globally it will provide a sustainable solution to least developed economies where access to tools and solutions can be a barrier.

e-Commerce is also a way to actively engage the diaspora of and in any country, leveraging knowledge and strengthening ties with countries of origin. On the flip side, e-Commerce gives a higher number of consumers in rural and urban areas access to a wider range of goods and services at a lower price point, increasing purchasing power and boosting local economies. Our solution will help to educate business in a fun and interactive game and work to build businesses capacity to grow a business through e-Commerce and digital trade.

Play the game! A fun and interactive experience that allows players to build, trade and learn the ins and outs of doing business via e-Commerce. The game is a fun and engaging game that allows players to build up a range of business types, in multiple disciples. Players are presented with a range of options and uprages that require choices made upon reading and understanding key facts from the perspective of selling online. 

The game can be played on a specific business type in a specific industry in a particular country that has its own challenges, learnings and requirements. With rewards and achievements and negative outcomes for the specific path.

The game can also be played across all industry types, industries and countries, where ‘winning’ or doing well in the game requires a well-rounded learning of how the free trade agreements work, and the key principals involved in each.

Outcomes:

• Raise awareness of how to take your business global selling online
• Teach the concepts of basic digital and e-Commerce requirements and basic exporting
• Gamify learning experience with choices and rewards

Describe the target population whose lives you are working to directly and meaningfully improve. Who are they, and in what ways are they currently underserved? What are you doing to understand their needs, and how are you engaging them as you develop the solution? How will the solution address their needs? 

This is targeted to markets across continental Africa and can service business owners, education institutions, general public and government agencies. It covers all industry sectors.

We have done much research on the barriers facing business in Africa when it comes to training but also in terms of how to unlock business participation in global trade and particularly leveraging online opportunities. We have a network of contacts across Africa who work direct with business on the ground. We would partner with local based industry and chambers of commerce to provide access to their network.

 Digital businesses: 

• Are customer-focused, putting the customer at the centre of everything they do;
• Value and understand data and effectively use the information gathered to improving the business’ processes and to better serving the needs of customers;
• Are innovators, constantly staying ahead of the curve;
• Use digital tools to collaborate and spread the decision-making process across the entire business thereby becoming more responsive to the needs of their customers;
• Are lean and agile, using just the cloud-based digital services they need, when and how they need them, without massive investment in IT infrastructure;
• Understand the importance of being mobile to reach customers who increasingly purchase via their mobile phones. 

Working to support digital transformation leads to: 

• Empowered employees who share responsibility for the business’ success and are invested in its growth;
• Increased profits through increased sales, improved productivity, and cost saving on IT infrastructure and staff turnover;
• Greater resilience and the ability to adapt to ever-changing market and customer demands.
• Participation in e-Commerce and the broader trade environment.

 Features:

• Play as an exporter or local business expanding globally
• Learn information about e-Commerce and select upgrade options to grow revenue.
• Reward driven system for learning concepts.
• Graphics that represent growth for correct choices, events for incorrect choices
• Game is success is driven by e-Commerce knowledge.
• Colourful infographic style dashboard of global operation.
• Options unlock as understanding and progress is achieved.
• Score system with achievements and progress bars to show progression

Our solution will contribute to extending digital transformation to SMEs in LDCs.

Our solution targets individuals and micro to small to medium business communities across Africa regardless of age, gender, education, location, or ability, with culturally relevant digital literacy skills to enable participation in the digital economy. The solution is about empowering and supporting business to engage in the global market through e-Commerce. 

On of the biggest challenges across Africa is access to the right and secure technology and internet to allow participation in not only training programmes but also in global trade. We have experienced this when delivering training initiatives across South East Asia and the Pacific. 

As a an NGO start up we are seeking ways to scale up sustainable technology product to deliver solutions. Recognition of our solution and some financial support will assist us to get a tool into the markets we are targeting. 

We expect our solution will change the way in which we can build capacity and capability using a unique approach and technology solution. 

Participants will engage in deep experiential learning and remain closely connected to the program through a combination of:

• Access to a custom designed online learning platform, accessible from your computer, tablet or smart phone, where you can access learning materials, interact with program facilitators and peers, and engage in a combination of flexible and structured online learning activities and obtain feedback;

• Virtual experiential learning modules and workshops, which enable participants to work around their busy schedules in a unique manner;

• Tools, frameworks, and practices proven to help participants effectively address real life challenges and enhance their capacity to lead;

• Online, simulated global business case study through gamification which provide participants with the opportunity to explore and address major challenges facing e-Commerce starts ups, and to apply their learning to real life solutions;

At this stage this is a new solution, although we have currently trained over 2,000 in e-Commerce capacity building solutions and we are working on a project to build institutional capacity of organisations to support export and e-Commerce in six countries across SE Asia and the Pacific.

We believe that in five years time we could scale this solution to support at least a million sole traders and small business.

Our priorities:

• International trade and investment is crucial to realising significant untapped economic potential. Jobs and economic prosperity are best created and protected over the long term through an open and competitive economic system.
• The benefits of international trade, investment and cross-border commerce must be shared more equitably and widely, and must be effectively enabled and communicated.
• Effective trade policy must support the development of trade and investment-capable companies to engage with global opportunities.
• Maximising the benefits of international trade and investment through effective policy design and deployment is the shared responsibility of all levels of government, international institutions, and must take into consideration the importance of policy consistency across jurisdictions when necessary.
• Businesses directly involved in import and export, and the businesses that support them, likewise have a responsibility to engage in policy-related dialogue and advocacy, to help inform the work of policy makers and abide by such policy in the pursuit of opportunities around the world.
• Trade Policy must explicitly include the empowerment of women to engage in global trade through internationally recognised capacity and capability programmes.
• Trade Policy and trade related commercial activity should actively seek to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
• Trade Policy must support, and advance principles related to international development and poverty-reduction through trade, including established Aid for Trade Initiatives and trading out of poverty programs.

We have 3 FTE and 3 contractors on this solution. Board & Management 

For further information on our philosophy: Code of ethics

GTPServices Pty Ltd and GTPA were founded by Lisa McAuley. Lisa is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Export Council of Australia (ECA) and has worked in international trade for over 15 years.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences) from the University of Sydney.

The team is 50% female with core members of the team in leadership positions. We draw upon a global network of international trade experts who work with us in an advisory capacity.

We ensure that all committees have a balance of female and culturally diverse international trade experts across external committees. 

Information on the make-up of these committees can be found at the following links:

• International and Technical Advisory Committee: https://www.gtpalliance.com/international-and-technical-advisory-committee

• Working Committees: https://www.gtpalliance.com/working-committees

For this solution, Lisa will be working alongside fellow Director Collins De Plessis. Collins has owned and operated her own very successful businesses on two continents, and in her professional capacity assists clients across a range of international marketing, product development and communications areas.

She has been responsible for the development and delivery of training material and courses in international business across a range of subject areas, in markets as diverse as Australia, South Africa and Peru.  She has also to date delivered three highly successful Australia Awards: Women Trading Globally programmes to women from across the Pacific and South Asia. 

In summary:

Brand recognition

Technology support

Networking

Funding opportunities

Collaboration on tool

Ability to work on solutions that benefit emerging economies and contribute to SDG goals

We would be keen to work with partners on distribution and market awareness of our solution. We are also looking for financial support to assist in the development of the tool and deployment.

We are looking for collaboration with solve members as well as technology input from MIT to ensure that we develop a solution that reflects how we can use technology to build capacity and capability and track and monitor growth.

We are keen to engage diaspora and youth on the benefits of global trade and e-Commerce opportunities. I do believe however we need to raise education and awareness at a young age. We recently ran the festival of inclusive trade. 

Inclusive trade refers to the principle that all levels of society should gain from increased trade. It promotes the inclusion of groups that may currently be marginalised or challenged in their ability to engage with international trading opportunities.

I am focused on four groups – gender, youth, diaspora and indigenous communities – and the importance of standards and capacity building to support their engagement in international trading opportunities. 

We must address  issues faced by marginalised groups when engaging in international trade and fostering the next generation into roles either in policy or business settings or economics.

Additionally, we must support creativity as being key to innovation, and a driver for sustainability and prosperity and highlighting the creative export power of women, young people, and members of indigenous and diaspora communities around the world.

Ensuring greater balance and access to economic opportunity in the global trading system would stimulate the sort of growth the global economy needs as it emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Closing the employment participation gap between men and women would increase women’s income by up to an estimated 76% and would be worth an estimated USD 17 trillion to the global economy.

Greater female inclusion in economic activities can also drive economic diversification. Closing gender gaps in education expands pools of human capital, an essential ingredient for technology adoption and innovation, and increases an economy’s ability to create and execute ideas.

On a firm level, greater gender inclusion can lead to practical business benefits as well.

Increasing opportunities for women enlarges the talent pool available for employment, addresses skills shortages, strengthens customer orientation, increases employee satisfaction and improves decision making. On the other hand, discrimination can impede the recruitment or promotion of the best candidates for jobs, and therefore impede business performance.

Women play a critical role in international trade. There around 224 million female entrepreneurs in the word and women-owned businesses account for around 40% of the world’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Despite their prevalence around the world, women-owned businesses are disproportionately impacted by the challenges of doing business internationally for a variety of factors.

Our solution supports more practical engagement of women in business and global markets.