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In this blog, we explore various online technology platforms, online marketplaces, online learning spaces and crowd-sourced funding platforms - all of which are not only making it possible for innovators today to learn new skills required for innovating easily, but also get seed funding for their innovative ideas from across the globe, build their innovations rapidly, and reach a billion customers over night with their innovative products & services.
The challenge of building world-class products and services is made extremely simple today, thanks to online cloud-based platforms such as Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Facebook APIs and others. These platforms allow you to build, grow and monetize your online products & services without having to setup your own infrastructure, and at a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model.
For e.g., today you can use any of the available App Builder platforms and tools to build your own mobile apps with a simple drag-n-drop user interface. You don’t need previous mobile application development or coding skills. You can also monetize your app through in-App purchases, or in-app advertisements from Google AdMob.
You can use countless video editing tools to create your own movie or video within minutes, complete with great looking templates, icons, images, video clips, voice-over, music, sub-titles, etc.
You can use Facebook Message Platform to build ‘Bots’ & live messaging applications and reach a billion people in no time. Or, you can use the Facebook Instagram Platform to help businesses access and analyse valuable metrics about their Instagram business profile. You could use Facebook Oculus platform to develop virtual reality applications. You could also use Facebook’s Free Basics platform to reach new-to-internet users across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and make a social impact by adapting your mobile app or website for the Free Basics platform.
You can use the Google Cloud APIs to build location based applications, or applications that involve big data, analytics, AI or machine learning capabilities.
You can build Amazon Alexa (cloud based voice service) on server-less Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform to build natural voice experiences for people to interact with technology, devices, products & services very easily and intuitively.
You can use online website design tools such as Wix, GoDaddy or WordPress to develop web-sites in no time without having any web-programming skills.
You can create your own courses on any subject on Udemy.com, and offer them to the public for free, or for a fee.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can create internet of things and machine to machine communications technology based products & solutions using IoT platforms from Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, ThingWorx, etc.
The challenge of marketing and selling your innovative products to a large number of target customers was never easy as it is today. You can sit in the comfort of your home and begin selling your products overnight by simply registering as a seller on one or more online marketplaces such as the ones listed below:
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free and paid online courses available for anyone to enrol and learn something new. MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance your career and deliver quality educational experiences at scale. Coursera, EdX, Udemy, Udacity, Khanacademy are some of the well-known MOOCS providers. They offer both free as well as paid courses for anyone wishing to learn a subject online. Subjects include finance, science, mathematics, software programming, innovation, product design, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.
Some of the MOOCS providers also offer Nano degrees. A nano-degree is a course of study which can be completed in less than twelve months online in a virtual class room setting. Some of the prestigious universities across the world offer Nano degree programmes on Udacity. You earn a certificate from the university upon completing the Nano degree.
Online crowd-sourced funding raising platforms such as Kickstarter.com allows you to raise seed-funds for your innovation idea.
Individuals and non-profits can use Fundly’s crowdfunding platform to raise money for nearly any, cause, project, or event.
Generosity is a crowdfunding website for non-profits and individuals looking to raise funds for any cause.
In summary, online platforms are changing the nature of the game. Traditional ways of innovation required innovators to scout and search for technological knowledge & skills, for funding, for resources required for developing and selling their innovations - all of which took significant time, effort and expense.
By making available many of the building blocks required for gaining skills, building and marketing innovations in one place, online platforms have simplified the job of innovators today.