Making visits to development cooperation (DC) projects a virtual experience

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. But project visits and business trips can also be experienced in virtual reality. Our aim is to achieve this with the help of VR and AR technology.

Our approach

As part of the IBM Vater Smart Hackathon, we are developing a ready-to-use open-source prototype that can be used by DC project officers to present their projects in the virtual world, invite decision-makers to take part in a virtual visit and conduct meetings relating to the project. To this end, we are providing a modular toolbox for virtual applications.

Our objectives

We are reducing the carbon footprint of DC in line with efforts to make BMZ climate-neutral, and creating access to inaccessible locations, such as 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. ​