Masterclass on Business model development
When: 26 April 2024
Where: Africa Centre of Excellence in Transport, Logistics and Smart Cities (ACTEL), University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Background
A business model offers a logical framework for transforming technology potentials and features into economic outputs through consumers and marketplaces. Business models could be defined as a representation of a firm’s activities that generate products/services through a firm’s value proposition, value creation, and value capture elements.
A business model is composed of three primary components: (i) Value network, the organisation of the relevant parties; (ii) Value proposition, the product or service the company provides; and (iii) Revenue model, the pricing strategy the company employs for its customers.
Over the last few years, studies have shed light on emerging business models prioritising economic, environmental, and societal aspects in businesses to aid a sustainable economic and social transition.
We will delve into how to develop such business models in this master class.
Aims of the Masterclass
Students participating in this masterclass will be able to:
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Understand the concept of business models.
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Appreciate the need for business models.
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Learn about the various tools used in developing business models.
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Experiment with developing some business models.
Target group
The masterclass is open to participation from all engineering students at the University of Rwanda. It is particularly recommended for students in their final year of studies who will be embarking on using their engineering skills for employment.
Trainers
Dr. Alemu Moges Belay
Section Head Energy Systems, Smart Innovation Norway
Alemu holds a Doctoral degree in technology from the University of Vaasa, Finland, and an M.Sc. degree in industrial engineering/mechanical engineering from Addis Ababa University.
Alemu was a postdoctoral fellow and researcher at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He formerly worked in the highly energy-consuming manufacturing and aviation industries.
His research focus during his PhD work has been concurrent engineering (CE), which helps industries shorten time to market. CE combines cost, quality, and delivery time attributes to improve product development performance using system dynamic modelling.
Alemu has extensive experience in scientific writing and publishing in international journals and conferences.
His skills include product development, cost-benefit analysis, business model, project/knowledge management, socio-economic, quality control/quality assurance, concurrent engineering/time-to-market, process improvement (LEAN, SIX-SIGMA), and system thinking.
Trainers
Mr Aaditya Dandwate
Jr. Researcher Energy Systems, Smart Innovation Norway
Aaditya Dandwate holds a Master's (M.Sc.) in Sustainable Energy Technology from the University of Twente, The Netherlands, and a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from India.
His master's thesis focused on a case study of the conversion of bio-resources to green hydrogen. He has worked on projects related to energy conversion technologies, energy storage systems, and business models for sustainable energy.
Research interests include renewable energy technologies & systems, business model innovation and energy markets.
SOLUTIONSplus collaborating with BOOST
About the BOOST Rwanda project
The BOOST Project is a pioneering initiative focused on revealing untapped job creation potentials in the e-mobility sector in Africa. This project is designed as a sequence of progressive stages, forming a results chain that guarantees a holistic approach to sustainable job creation by companies and development in this pivotal sector.
The project aims to create partnerships with and among various stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, businesses, solution providers, and operators. Through academic engagement, certification programs are designed to train a future workforce to fill the identified needs.
The project also aims to bring together the trained professionals through structured engagement activities so that the trained professionals get hands-on experience and the industry partners can find suitable candidates to fill the industry’s needs.
The GIZ funds the project, which is implemented in Rwanda jointly by PEM Motion and the UEMI through the Urban Living Labs Center. The University of Rwanda, through the Africa Centre of Excellence in Transport, Logistics, and Smart Cities (ACTEL), is an implementing academic partner of the UEMI in Rwanda.