MiMercado

Implementation of the winning digital solution “Mi Mercado AMG“ in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Mexico

In the International Digital Ideas Competition #SolutionsForCities in 2020, the Institute for Planning and Development Management (IMEPLAN) of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Mexico, together with the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Uganda, adapted a digital solution to support local market vendors in selling their products online in times of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The digital solution “Mi Mercado AMG” was awarded “Best Digital Solution for Vibrant Urban & Local Centres”.

Main content

With support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (MoI), IMEPLAN is now implementing the digital solution starting from the prototype from #SolutionsForCities. As a partner of the International Smart Cities Network (ISCN), IMEPLAN will update all ISCN members on the implementation process in a series of transparent workshops at the ISCN Online Advisory Programme. In this way, all partners of the ISCN will be able to follow and jointly learn from this process. During the first event of the Online Advisory Programme, IMEPLAN, informed the participants along with GIZ’s team about the launch of the implementation process in Mexico. The product owner of the digital solutions “Mi Mercado AMG”, IMEPLAN, as well as GIZ’s team and further local experts will closely work together in a cross-functional team structure and make use of agile methodologies throughout the implementation process. So far, the implementation process of the digital solution foresees four interrelated phases:

User Research: In this phase, necessary desk research is carried out which includes
the creation of a customer journey, developing personas of relevant stakeholders
and preparing various design thinking workshops to get to the needs of the market
vendors and potential users of the digital solution.

User Experience and Coding: The outcomes of the user research will be included
into the user experience and programmers will start with the development and
coding of the digital solution. This will be followed by a piloting phase and rollout of
the digital solution “Mi Mercado AMG”.

Administration and Advertisement: The digital solution will require commercial
administration and a good communication strategy to reach out via social media and
other channels to increase the visibility of the digital solution for its potential users.

Transfer Package: At the end of the implementation process, a transfer package of
the digital solution will be provided for other cities to benet from the
implementation process within their own local contexts.

During the next Online Advisory Programme on June 23 , there will be further updates on the implementation process in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara in Mexico. Stay tuned!