Microwork Income opportunities for the poor through virtual work

Transcription

1 Microwork Income opportunities for the poor through virtual work Cecilia Paradi-Guilford Lyudmila Bujoreanu Ivan Gonzalez-Berenguer Pena ICT Unit February 28, 2013

2 About Microwork Image source:

3 Microwork Platforms on the rise 3

4 Microwork is Geographically Dispersed odesk Contractors in 2012: Amazon Mechanical Turks in 2010: 3% 3% 3% 2% Philippines USA 8% 10% 30% Pakistan/Sri Lanka/Bangladesh Ex USSR India 20% 34% India USA Other 11% 15% Europe 46% 15% Latin America Source: odesk 2012, CloudFactory 2012, MobileWorks

5 Key factors of a Microwork strategy + Image sources:

6 The ICT Unit s Microwork activities Microwork Feasibility Study for West Bank & Gaza, by ICT Unit Creating new job opportunities for Jamaica s youth, by LCSSO with support from the ICT Unit Microwork strategy for STEP-B in Nigeria, by AFTEW with support from the ICT Unit Analytical work on the new frontiers and opportunities in work + upcoming ESW on jobs, by ICT Unit 6

7 West Bank and Gaza Microwork Feasibility Study The Challenge The Potential WB&G 23% unemployment range up to 47%. Highest un- and underemployment at ages and among women. High restriction on movement while access to ICT and basic/medium skills. Disadvantaged youth + women can overcome physical, social restrictions to earn income. Supplemental income for those w/ low-medium skills and or limited movement. To reach multibillion $ revenues within the next few years. 7

8 Purpose Assess the feasibility of microwork for West Bank and Gaza from a socio-economic perspective in general, and for youth and women employment in particular. Phase 2: Initiative business matchmaking and pilot design. 8

9 Methodology Based on various methods for assessing locational attractiveness of IT-BPO services Looks at availability of employable skills, cost competitiveness, availability of relevant infrastructure, and enabling environment 9

10 Competitive Analysis Strengths: High % young, tech savvy demographic High % skilled women Regionally competitive Internet penetration and cost of access Regionally competitive English skills Weaknesses: Relatively high labor costs in main cities Graduates unrealistic wage expectations Lack of cost effective mechanisms to process international micropayments Opportunities: Significant labor pool for microwork Discretionary income from microwork is attractive to youth and women Threats: Clients will opt for other countries with lower labor costs Perception of difficulties of doing business due to the conflict 10

11 Key Findings Estimated up to 54k workers, $23m earnings, $11.43m industry value added in 5 yrs 1. Readily available, skilled, and accessible youth workforce 2. Adequate access to computers and Internet 3. Comparative advantage in limited types of microtasks due to its relatively high labor costs 4. More feasible in population centers outside Ramallah 5. For microwork to be feasible WB&G should target specific demographics 11

12 Digital Jam 2.0: The Future of Work is Online Scope Approach Structure Raise awareness in Jamaica about the Virtual Economy. Give visibility to the pool of young Jamaicans. Present opportunities in the Virtual Economy. Facilitate an interaction and dialogue between youth, private and public sector, both local and international. Showcase young Jamaicans talents. Presentations from key players and the youth about the Virtual Economy. Hackathon. Apps competition. Job Fair and Market Place. Panel discussions. Software Training Camps. 12

13 Digital Jam 2.0: Results 2,153 Jamaican youths working on the Microworkers platform (target 50,000 users next three years) MobileWorks mentoring + support for the development and commercialization of the Microwork App Winner 13

14 Microwork in Nigeria : NaijaCloud 2013 Project Components Strategic Analysis Current state of Microwork and Elancing in Nigeria and worldwide; Benchmarcking analysis; Roadmap and strategic actions for the Government. Train-thetrainers Awareness campaign through local microworkers and elancers; Ambassador s figure to spread the word and increase awareness amongst Nigerians. Workshops Workshop on creating and managing personal profiles; Workshop for Nigerian organizations; Workshop for potential Nigerian BPO platforms. 14

15 The ICT Unit s microwork offering What we are already doing: Feasibility assessment + benchmarking Business matchmaking Roadmap + pilot design What we could do: Microwork as a component for data collection, verification and digitization for WB projects 15

16 Image source:odesk Questions, comments? Thank you!

17 Source: Microwork caters to different skill levels odesk tasks

18 Relevant Finding: Need for Local Intermediaries Micropayment to Workers and Local Labor Laws Cross-border electronic payment options have high transaction cost E.g. no PayPal or m-remittance services International microwork providers are cautious about local labor laws E.g. CloudFactory, Mobileworks 18

19 Target Task and Demographics Complexity Types of Microtasks Demographic Low Content moderation, and Arabic usability testing and audio transcription Unemployed high school graduates Female homemakers Medium E-commercial product analysis (Arabic), logo and graphics design, 3D modeling/animation Unemployed or underemployed tertiary graduates from various disciplines related to art and design Female homemakers Tertiary undergraduates from similar disciplines as above; and need additional income/financial assistance or seek practical experience High Translation from English to Arabic, copy editing and proof reading in Arabic Unemployed or underemployed tertiary graduates from disciplines requiring extensive work in English (e.g., business, humanities and arts, social science, etc.) Tertiary undergraduates from similar disciplines as above; and need additional income/financial assistance or seek practical experience 19

20 Immediate Action Recommended Design the two pilot intermediaries Mix of microtask types, locations, demographics, business and operational models Encourages participation of women Facilitate networks and partnerships for pilot intermediaries Initiate contacts with international aggregators and potential local intermediaries Provide match-making workshops between international aggregators and potential local intermediaries Develop the M&E framework and plan Set up logic model Develop M&E framework 20

21 Possible Roles of Stakeholders PNA Donors Private Sector Academia NGOs Palestinian Youth & Women Support and scale pilots Build first mover advantage Ensure enabling policy and regulatory environment Provide environmental, and fiduciary care Support immediate and short-term action recommended Partake in pilots as intermediaries Support development of strategy and implementation Collaborate with PNA for policy Partake in scaling and replication Help design and implement pilots Ensure quantity and quality of microworkers Provide venue, equipment for microwork Train and develop certification for microworkers and intermediaries Partake in pilots as possible intermediaries Provide networks of potential beneficiaries and awareness raising Advise on design and implementation to ensure beneficial development impact Participate as microworkers Provide input to strategy formulation Raise awareness within their networks 21

22 Digital Jam 2.0 Results During Digital Jam 2.0 Apps competition 250 young developers participated submitting 60+ concepts; Market place and jobfair with the participation of about 40 national and international companies; Sports hackathon to which about 200 youth participated; Around 2,000 young Jamaicans attended the event. Post Digital Jam 2.0 2,153 Jamaican youths working on the Microworkers platform (target 50,000 users next three years); 1,150 Jamaican youths working on the MobileWorks platform (target of 10,000 within one year); 8 internships for young Jamaicans at leading telecommunication companies in Jamaica and the Caribbean; MobileWorks mentoring and support for the development and commercialization of the Microwork App Winner; Launch of some of the applications coming out of the Apps Competition and Sports Hackathon; Mentoring by Microsoft Jamaica of the winning application in the Sports Hackathon; Requests to submit proposals for funding of specific activities including the incubation of app development companies led by young Jamaicans, the facilitation of payment to microworkers via mobile-banking solutions, and the digitalization of government records and a move to e-government. 22