The base of the world economic pyramid consists of the two-thirds of the world's population, who struggle to survive with or on less than four dollars a day. In effect, the BOP encompasses those who today are now excluded from the market economy and live in extreme poverty.

The Base of the Pyramid Learning Laboratory aims to be a learning platform - involving multinational enterprises, local businesses, non-governmental organizations, the public sector, multilateral organizations and academics from all around the world – in order to analyze the base of the pyramid as a potential market of choice for multinational companies, thus promoting the social development of the world’s poor.

President: Diego Hidalgo Schnur, President, FRIDE

Members of the Council:

• Saverio A. Banchini, CEO, Holcim-España
• Valeria Budinich, Vice-President, Ashoka
• Tomás Calvo Buezas, Director, Centro de Estudios sobre Migraciones y Racismo (CEMIRA), Complutense University of Madrid
• Luis Carulla Font, President, Agrolimen
• Ricardo Díez Hochleitner, Honorary President, Club of Rome
• Isidro Fainé Casas, CEO, “la Caixa”
• Juan de la Cruz Ferrer, President, CODESPA
• Josep Ferrer Llop, Chancellor, Technical University of Catalonia
• Àngel Font i Vidal, President, Fundación Un Sol Món
• Santiago Grisolía García, President, UNESCO Committee for the Human Genoma
• Rafael Guardans Cambó, President, FUNDESO
• Federico Mayor Zaragoza, President, Fundación para una Cultura de Paz
• Josep Miralles Massanés, President, Intermón-Oxfam
• Eduardo Montes Pérez, President, Club of Excellence in Sustainability 
• Montserrat Palet, Deputy Director General, Consorci de Promoció Comercial de Catalunya (COPCA)
• José Ángel Sánchez Asiaín, President, COTEC
• Álvaro Sarmiento, External Relations, Fundación "Latino Graneen"
• Hernando de Soto, President, Instituto Libertad y Democracia
• Rolf Tarrach Siegel, Chancellor, Luxembourg University

1. Sharing experiences
For most multinational companies, the base of the pyramid represents a great challenge. The BOP Learning Laboratory will foster the sharing of experiences among its business partners, which is the best way to overcome the risks and uncertainties inherent in an unknown emerging market such as the BOP.

2. Fostering dialogue
BOP markets are multidimensional; therefore, diverse vantage points are necessary in order for companies to succeed. Open dialogue among the BOP Learning Laboratory's diverse array of partners will contribute to a more holistic approach to markets at the BOP.

3. Promoting new BOP ventures
Being an action learning initiative and having the participation of diverse partners, the BOP Learning Laboratory will be in a position to discover new opportunities, promote new business ventures at the BOP, and support them from start-up to full development.

4. Creating knowledge
The diversity of the partners' skills, knowledge and experience and the possibility of tracking and analyzing the reasons for the success or failure of the new BOP ventures, will give the Laboratory the means to generate conceptually and theoretically rigorous knowledge that has practical utility for business.

5. Building international partnerships
The BOP Learning Laboratory will build an international network of corporate and academic partners, promote the creation of new learning laboratories, and collaborate with other laboratories and institutions such as the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

1. Develop the laboratory’s Network of Companies as a platform for learning and for the creation of responsible and sustainable businesses at the BOP.
2. Build a database of business cases about enterprise at the BOP.
3. Produce new cases for teaching in this field.
4. Write academic articles that contribute to theory building in this new area.
5. Write popular articles on the subject.
6. Maintain an international network of academic and business contacts to attain a deeper and more realistic understanding of the BOP.
7. Promote, advise and support design and business creation at the BOP.

September 9-11, 2007 / Ann Arbor (Michigan)
Business with Four Billion: Creating Mutual Value at the Base of the Pyramid
Those to speak at the conference include C.K. Prahalad, author of  "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid", and Stuart Hart, author of  "Capitalism at the Crossroads".
More information (PDF, 1880 Kb)
Registration 

February 9, 2007 / Barcelona.
3rd Enterprise Network Meeting
Together with the companies' network, the 'BOP laboratory' moves forward  into action. The enterprise involves cooperation with the BOP, where knowledge and skills are developed in order to facilitate business in a low income market.

The Base of the Pyramid Learning Laboratory has a Network of Companies interested in the base of the pyramid. Membership of this network allows companies to:

• explore opportunities and challenges at the BOP
• share experiences and business projects
• contact possible allies
• minimize risks and accelerate the learning process involved in launching new businesses at the base of the pyramid

In order to fulfill the objectives of the “BOP learning laboratory”, working sessions will be organised with each of the companies to cooperate on the design and  carry out business projects at the BOP.  Annual meetings will be arranged with the Laboratory’s members, to be able to share the companies’ projects experiences and their latest progresses.

Members of the network will contribute to the Laboratory’s funding with a membership fee of 15,000 euros. Applications from SMEs will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

The corporate members of the Laboratory’s network are:

Members access 

• Ashoka 
• Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab (Johnson School) 
• COPCA 
• Fundación Codespa 
• Fundación Latino Grameen Bank 
• Fundación Un Sol Món 
• Fundeso 
• Intermón-Oxfam 

• NexBillion.net 
• Sustainable Livelihoods (WBCSD) 
• WRI Projects 
• ILD 
• Innovations (MIT Press Journals) 
• Multilateral Investment Fund Base of the Pyramid 
• Building Opportunity for the Majority (IDB) 
• Make Poverty Business