On November 2012, the BoP Network regional meeting took place in Sao Paulo aiming to expand business opportunities from traditional and increasingly competitive markets through the promotion of inclusive business. During two days, the BoP Global Network, ESW, Fundacion Getulio Vargas and CAD, among others, brought real-life BoP initiatives, groundbreaking entrepreneurs and corporate CEOs, together with BoP Global Lab leaders.
The meeting was structured in two sessions:
• November 4th – internal session with Global Lab representatives discussing how to better design the BoP Global Network (2013 – 2015) and create synergies about viable ways to make it happen.
• November 5th – meeting with corporate partners and potential sponsors presenting the Network’s core activities and proposing an engagement strategy for the coming three years.
Throughout the 4th November meeting, a range of initiatives were presented, including sessions to further define the role and tools of the BoP Global Network, introduction of the IBM collaborative platform for inclusive business, presentation of corporate case studies and feedback on these case studies from the BoP Global Network.
During the 5th of November, Stuart Hart provided a detailed presentation on the evolution and historical milestones since RIO’92, the role of the private sector and introduced the concept of two levels of sustainability: achieving green leap and incremental inequality & poverty reduction. Andrea Shpak presented the Global BOP network, its history and perspectives and companies such as the Itaú Microcredit and Natura presented their BOP strategies with local communities.
During the session, a collaborative agreement was signed between Natura and the BOP Global Network to support the global network create innovation systems for the BOP during the coming three years. IBM also will provide technical support through this period.
