DW: Mrs. Weyland, what is the Initiative Beyond Crisis? Ute Weiland: Beyond Crisis looking for new ideas and new business models emerging in the Corona-crisis. We were in the Land of ideas just no more desire to hear only the current Numbers of Infected and dead. Yes, everything is insanely bad, and above all for the one that relates to it.
On the other hand, a crisis is also an opportunity for new ideas, for new business models. And I’ve heard quite a lot in the last two weeks, so we have made ourselves very quickly on the way and a couple of partners have found that support us, and said, we want to make the people in our country courage. We want to show them that we bury our heads in the Sand, but that we now find completely new approaches to revitalise operations, to support other and also to strengthen the cohesion in the society to some extent.
For what period is the Initiative for? When you want to achieve results?
We hope that we have the first results already in the this week. This is not a classic competition, where they say the Deadline is in four weeks, and until then, we look at everything, and then a Jury, what came out of it a rating. We think of that rather as a process and say: Those who apply for a job with us, which of course can be checked again whether they are reputable. But we want to bring the ideas as quickly as possible in the Public.
We want to communicate, and we want to try to network also with other partners so that their business idea gets support, and perhaps can be better implemented. Because we can’t predict how long this crisis is accompanied, we have set at the Moment, no final point for the Initiative. We started last Thursday, and it continues now for the first time in the next few weeks. And we will look, as you have currently to look every day how to do it in the next week.
you Say a few words about the Competition of the ideas behind it?
We are looking for different things. There are new business models, therefore really hard economic facts. I know, for example, of a project, the invented isolation tents that you can inflate within a few minutes, and you can also use it in orders of magnitude, really, if that should be necessary. This could go in the next few weeks directly to the Start and also be produced.
Or, we are looking for social initiatives to help people now with their everyday life to cope. For example, there is the Internet-platform nebenan.de. Currently goes really through the roof. This is a project that we have been awarded four years ago, in the Land of ideas. The organize, for example, neighbourly help. If older persons do not want to go shopping by yourself or can, then Volunteers sign up to help you can. Or if you are in need of an errand to the pharmacy, and then take someone for a. Or small craft services, which can be solved in the neighborhood of non-bureaucratic self.
There are also projects that support the education. But I have a child soon, high school. But how does this work now? How to get to the learning content ran? How do you get support from the teacher? There are, for example, for the past three years, the school.cloud, the delivery is very slow. Now all of a sudden there is a Boom, because suddenly all the Video you want to make the classroom because the children need to learn at home. You want to make, of course with a provider that protects the data. And for the school.cloud has been made. And I hope that something gets a strong updraft, and then also after Overcoming the crisis will be used. Because there can be offered not only Video lessons, but the teacher can share with students the tasks. You can send the tasks to each other back and forth. The data are protected.
On a simple formula: you want to support projects, which are now virtually to the General public. The path is the goal in what you do?
Yes, the path is the goal. But of course I am only satisfied when we can, of course, show a large number of projects, so that we can communicate not only two, three, four, or ten, that I know of so far, but I already have the claim that we might not get to in the next few weeks, thousands of projects on our website and that we can support, by making them more visible by offering them a platform. Unfortunately, I have to say We have no money to support these projects financially. But I think, if it connects you with new networks and, perhaps, with strong financial partners. Of course that would be a great help.
author: Klaus Ulrich
*The post “A platform for business models after the crisis” published by Deutsche Welle. Contact with the executives here.
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