Making visits to development cooperation (DC) projects a virtual experience
A 360° project visit to the Green Innovation Centre India: climate-friendly and efficient
The challenge
Project visits and meetings in the name of development cooperation often involve business trips that are both time-consuming and harmful to the climate. Furthermore, innovations promoted by some projects sometimes happen in several stages and locations which means even more travel. But project visits and business trips can be experienced in virtual reality.
Our approach
We are collaborating with the Green Innovation Center for the Agriculture and Food Sector in India to hack this problem for their rural project sites.
As part of the IBM Vater Smart Hackathon 2021, we developed a ready-to-use open-source prototype that can be used by DC project officers to present their projects in the virtual world and invite decision-makers to take part in a virtual visit to different locations within project areas. To this end, we are providing a modular toolbox for virtual applications.
Our aim with the Indian pilot is to allow stakeholders and decision makers to experience all the stages of the Rooted Apical Cutting Technology without having to travel. This is achieved with the help of Virtual Reality technology.
Our project goals
Our overall goal is to contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of development cooperation in line with efforts to make BMZ climate-neutral, and creating access to inaccessible locations, such as various locations in remote project regions and those in security sectors. We are also saving travel costs and time. Policy-makers can make informed decisions without having to travel.
Not all business trips are necessary or possible, some can be avoided with equal efficiency by using digital solutions – that’s the right choice for the climate.
We will make various locations in rural areas in India virtually visitable by early 2023 – for partners in India and worldwide.
Not all business trips are necessary or possible, some can be avoided with equal efficiency by using digital solutions – that’s the right choice for the climate.
In a hackathon, we developed a solution that will be implemented as a pilot. We will make a rural GIZ project site in India virtually visitable by early 2023 – for partners in India and worldwide.
Impact
Conribution to the reduction of the carbon footprint of development cooperation as a contribution to climate-neutral BMZ.
Partner countries
global
Implementation partners
IBM Vater Smart Hackathon
