This is the proposal to develop a Knowledge Hub in a real estate project in Mexico. Note: this is a registered project subject to copyright laws.

1. KNOWLEDGE HUB
Innovation Project
REBECA DALLAL

2. Chapter 1
This hub is becoming one of the most important assets
of a real estate development for North American,
Canadian and European retired VIPs in the vicinity of
the city of San Miguel de Allende, in the state of
Guanajuato.
This project has been qualified as “priority” by the
governor of Guanajuato because it is self-sustainable,
environmentally friendly and will be a very important
enabler for the development of the state’s economy.
KNOWLEDGE HUB

3. This project was conceived with the main objective to
develop a community to provide international retired
VIPs with the highest standard of sustainable living
conditions that provide for all their needs:
• Privileged location in the central mountains of the
country, a 170 mile drive from Mexico City.
• International airports less than 1.5 hr. away.
• A few miles away from San Miguel de Allende,
ranked in the “Top 25 cities of the world” (Condé
Nast Traveler, 2011).
• A short drive from excellent restaurants, history
and cultural activities.
• Pleasant year-round weather oscillating between
60ºF and 78ºF.
• Especially trained bi-lingual staff: cleaning, doc-
tors, nurses, etc.
• Environmentally friendly based on sustainable ar-
chitecture.
• Infrastructure to satisfy all residents’ needs: hous-
ing, food, health, entertainment, sports, etc.
This is a $40,000,000 USD unique project that has
carefully considered senior citizen’s specific needs, espe-
cially for top executives who seek to retire in a place
that offers everything they need in one place. The pro-
ject will provide housing accommodations for 20,000
families and permanent employment for up to 250,000
people.
This project was presented to the governor and econ-
omy ministry officials of the state of Guanajuato and
it was considered a priority project because of the sus-
tained development and economic growth it will pro-
vide to the zone, it is justified because the amount of
people aged 65 and over is growing, especially in the
US and most European countries, and increasingly
more so, the population 85 and over. Because of the
increase in the quality of healthcare, the quality of life
also increases as well as the years people remain pro-
ductive.
According to the Pew Research Center, the amount of
seniors who go online is now over 60% and there is a
growing group of them which leans toward younger,
more highly educated, or more affluent seniors and
have relatively substantial technology assets, and also
has a positive view toward the benefits of online plat-
forms.
OBJECTIVES
❖ Clearly identify peoples’ need in order to
provide the best technological and tools to
promote internal and external collaboration.
❖ Design and develop state-of-the-art facilities
for collaboration and knowledge sharing for
the people living in the community to allow
them to remain active by sharing their
knowledge and expertise.
❖ Offer the greatest possible value added to the
project.
2
SECTION 1
Knowledge Hub

4. In addition, affluent and well-educated seniors adopt the internet and
broadband at substantially higher rates than those with lower levels of
income and educational attainment:
• Among seniors with an annual household income of $75,000 or
more, 90% go online and 82% have broadband at home. For sen-
iors earning less than $30,000 annually, 39% go online and 25%
have broadband at home.
• Fully 87% of seniors with a college degree go online, and 76% are
broadband adopters. Among seniors who have not attended col-
lege, 40% go online and just 27% have broadband at home.
(Pew Research Center, April, 2014)
Something that makes this project is very interesting is that it has a
holistic approach regarding the value chain because it contemplates
the design and implementation of the newest green technologies for
raw materials (such as ecologic and thermal bricks), which will supply
for the several stages of the project and after that keep working for
external customers.
Another area of this project contemplates training facilities, a state-
funded university, for cleaning, healthcare and other employees with a
focus on bilingualism. The project also contemplates providing for
employees and their family’s needs, such as childcare, schools, etc. to
guarantee the quality of the services provided to the residents.
I was involved in this project
by one of the two partners.
He was explaining the pro-
ject and when he described
the customers as top-level
executives I identified they
would be people with a lot
of knowledge and experi-
ence, which represents a very
valuable asset. I did some
research about this profile of
people and found out that
even though they retire from full-time positions they remain active
teaching or as consultants and given the networking opportunities
within the communities I consider that a lot of ideas and innovation
can arise as a result, the networking conditions will promote the ex-
change of ideas to allow innovation related knowledge
So, my proposal is to design a knowledge architecture, a Knowledge
Hub, to allow the residents to remain active in their professional area
with high internal and external networking as well as knowledge shar-
ing capabilities. Although the project contemplates providing broad-
band WiFi for residents at their homes and they can use their PCs,
the Knowledge Hub offers a highly specialized area which I explain
in this document.
Due to the knowledge, expertise and professional level achieved by
the residents, the Knowledge Hub will result in valuable outputs as a
result of knowledge sharing, research and development.
Geographical space has been theoretically downgraded and proximity
or distance devalued (Brown and Duguid 2002), modern technology
allows rapid access to knowledge, modern means of communication
are used to eliminate geographical distance by allowing instant, real-
time exchange of information. The extremely low transaction costs of
data, information and knowledge seem to invalidate the theory of
agglomeration and the spatial clustering of firms (James 2005).
Knowledge hubs are local innovation systems that are nodes in net-
works of knowledge production and knowledge sharing. They are
characterized by high connectedness and high internal and external
networking and knowledge sharing capabilities. As meeting points of
communities of knowledge and interest, knowledge hubs fulfill three
major functions: to generate knowledge, to transfer knowledge to sites
of application; and to transmit knowledge to other people through
education and training (Hans-Dieter Evers. Bonn, 2008).
Historically, a Knowledge Hub takes time to develop because it re-
quires certain social and economic conditions as well as critical mass
of local knowledge acquired through a long period of time. However,
this case is different because it has already been identified that a con-
siderable number of people with a lot of experience and knowledge
will concentrate in one place at the same time.
Providing the proper physical and technological conditions to facili-
tate collecting, archiving, using, sharing and distributing data and
information will add value to the project and make it more attractive
to potential residents.
The proposal is as follows:
• Provide wireless 100 MBs broadband. (maybe Google as an ISP?)
• Individual and group working spaces in top-notch facilities.
• Provide 24/7 technical support.
• Optional secretarial and support staff services available.
• Virtual conference rooms.
• Room specially designed and equipped for distance teaching.
• Highest safety and privacy standards.
• Training.
Along with the development of the World Wide Web a new architec-
ture was introduced by leaving the core resources of the internet in a
commons (which are built into the architecture of the original net-
work) which was a decisive factor for the creativity and innovation
spurred by the internet. (Lessig 2004:227-228). The intention is to
take advantage of this and provide the highest possible value added to
the project.
Providing this profile of residents with the appropriate technology to
remotely participate and collaborate, will enable them to participate
and increase companies’ innovative capacity by sharing ideas and
innovations for products, and services.
By providing this setup, the project will be the only place of this na-
ture to have the most comfortable installations to continue a produc-
tive life and feeling useful without leaving the community in which
they live in, this increases their quality of life and extends their useful
years.
3

5. It is considered very important that people who retire can continue
carrying out fulfilling activities. According to UK’s Institute of Eco-
nomic Affairs 40% of retirees suffer from clinical depression, while 6
out of 10 report a decline in health and the May 1998 issue of Jour-
nal of Business Ethics, Al Gini asserts “work is not simply about trad-
ing labor for dollars.” Work is the way we find identity as individuals
and how others identify us.
According to experts it is important for retirees to maintain a healthy
lifestyle and to remain active. By not having to work 9 to 5 for a living
retired executives will be able to pursue other activities such as volun-
tary work or spending time in subjects that are passionate for them.
Since the profile of people that this project is aimed at are people
with a high academic level, have many years of experience and are
well respected experts in their are, they will most probably be asked to
participate as consultants or as professors, and the Knowledge Hub
will be the ideal place for them to do so virtually and increasing the
opportunities for them to do so.
The setting in this community will naturally favor the interaction
within people, which will most likely result in talks about business and
new ideas. With the necessary tools to record, save and further de-
velop these ideas it will be easier to follow-up and share them, increas-
ing the odds of them becoming a reality.
Conclusion
Incorporating the Knowledge Hub to the project will add competitive
sustainable value due to it being the first of its kind, it makes the
whole project especially attractive because it offers hi-tech and com-
fortable facilities that will make it possible for residents to continue
living an active and fulfilling life without having to travel; this is par-
ticularly attractive because it will make them feel useful and meaning-
ful by remaining active after retirement, thus increasing their quality
of life and decreasing the probability of depression and other ill-
nesses.
One of the most valuable assets in the present, and near future, is
information. Without people who know how to make sense of this
information it becomes useless. The Knowledge Hub connects the
information with people through the use of the latest and most ad-
vanced Information Technologies keeping in mind the sustainable
nature of the whole project.
I am strongly convinced that this might be a decisive factor for poten-
tial customers to choose investing in this project to live after their re-
tirement.
4

6. Chapter 2
The strategy is the high level plan to achieve goals. The
strategy will determine actions and processes as well as
mobilizing the necessary resources.
Processes and human and financial resources should be
aligned with Information Systems and Technologies.
IT will be considered not just a tool, but rather a strategic
weapon to obtain sustained competitive advantage by
providing value added and as a driver of innovation
across the portfolio of projects.
MARKETING &
PROTOTYPE
STRATEGY

7. Market Research
This project has been carefully planned. Research
regarding senior’s needs and wants, as well as cur-
rent trends (sustainability, etc.) have shaped the
overall approach. There was an exhaustive investi-
gation regarding the location of the project in
order to meet accessibility, climate, infrastructure,
cost, taxes, cultural and safety issues as well as the
support of the local government and authorities.
Reasons seniors have for choosing a Retirement
Center (*RC) (Forbes, March 2014):
• Geographic distance to sons and daughters
• Climate
• Scenery
• Cultural amenities
• Affinity identity
• Price
Particular to this segment is the profile of other
residents, they are pretty much interested to the
quality of relationships and networking they will
be able to do. (House & Aycock, 2011)
Types of Retirement Centers:
• Active Adult Communities
• Independent Living Communities
• Continuing Care Retirement
• Communities
• Assisted Living Communities
• Alzheimer’s Care Facilities
• Nursing Care Facilities
Target
Seniors with college or further education who
earn $75,000 USD and above.
There are many RC throughout the world, but
this is the first one with this concept in Mexico
and there is no other Knowledge Hub in an RC.
The competition for this project will be similar
facilities in the United States and Canada as well
as in some European countries, although there
are no similar facilities that provide easy access
with such high IT innovation and standards.
• Connect
• Collaborate
• Innovate
“Extend your potential”
An uncontested marketplace in RC
6
SECTION 1
Strategy

8. Due to the high profile of the customers and the high level of
the KH, we will seek to partner with Google as an ISP for the
high-speed broadband and with other partners such as
Samsung, Sony, NVidia, etc. for the facilities.
It is important to focus on a design, both of facilities and tech-
nology, aimed at users 55 years of age and older in order to
provide the best usability for them. If this is not accomplished
it will not be as attractive to potential customers and could hin-
der sales.
Target Market
This particular segment of seniors will purchase a lot of goods
and services because of their high acquisition power, this results
in a high creation of jobs (one of the reasons the state govern-
ment considers it a priority project).
According to the Wall Street Journal sales in communities cater-
ing to those 55 and older have grown an average of 20% in the
last four years, and a 41% increase in later part of last year.
Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964 and account for
about a quarter of the population) started hitting retirement
age a few years ago and in the next decade will drastically drive
up the number of retirees, by 2020 the share of households
over 55 years old could be near to 50%. This group tends to be
very active and plan to move to age-focused communities be-
fore they need attention (medical and other). This is a very de-
manding group, that is why it very important that the commu-
nity offers a wide arrange of amenities and activities as well a
concepts such as sustainability and a holistic approach to cover
all their needs and wants. Covering as many of their demands
as possible will add value to the project.
Product & Service
The Knowledge Hub will be located in what is a combination
of an Active Adult Community (*AAC) and a Retirement Com-
munity (*RC) because it is intended for residents who retire as
active adults, and remain so for a number of years, but will
turn into residents who require increasing supervision, aid and
attention.
The Knowledge Hub will offer unique facilities for residents’
internal and external communications. State of the art hard-
ware and software will provide everything necessary so resi-
dents can continue professional, academic and creative activi-
ties so that they can continue an active and productive lifestyle.
The facilities will have high-speed broadband, its own servers,
rooms for virtual calls and presentations, rooms that provide for
an easy way to research, generate and store data, information
and knowledge.
The profile of the target residents is of people with a high level
of education and a long professional life in which they have
been able to reach a senior level position. Since life-expectancy
and the quality of life have extended, people now look for a
place to live in which they get premium medical care and pro-
vides for sporting, cultural, culinary, entertainment and aca-
demic activities in the level they are used to for them to con-
tinue their active lifestyle while relying on all their wellbeing
matters properly taken care for.
Although the housing inventory is up, it is still clearly a seller’s
market because the demand is not yet being met. The market is
hot, especially for buyers willing to spend $1 million or more
on a home.
Competition
Describe your competition. Develop your “unique selling
proposition.”, which should be articulated as a “unique cus-
tomer value” What makes you stand apart from your competi-
tion? What is your competition doing better, the same or worse
than you and where is the gap?
A disadvantage for this project is that most resident’s families
don’t live close by, they will require an international trip to visit,
so potential customers will think twice before moving to Mex-
ico and they will tend to favor local or closer to home RCs.
However, we have in favor that good international airports are
nearby, good highways to access and excellent tourist infrastruc-
ture.
The above mentioned disadvantage is greatly reduced by some
of the characteristics that make this project unique. The year-
round weather is mild at this place (not too dry or humid); it is
located within easy access to international places and at short
or medium-range flights to the United States and Europe; the
project as a whole focuses on sustainability and quality as well
as a holistic concept for its segment.
The Knowledge Hub will be the first one located in a RC and
specially designed according to seniors, which provides a
unique customer value. There are similar facilities but all of
them require for users to commute from their homes, this one
will be a few meters away.
Business Strategy
The Knowledge Hub will add value, and offer a unique value
proposition, to the project because it is the only RC that will
provide residents with the opportunity to connect, collaborate
and innovate by using the newest technology in this innovative
set-up.
The KH will allow residents, high-level senior executives, to
“extend their potential” by permitting them to remain active
and productive after retirement.
As stated before in this document, over 90% of seniors with
this level of income are Internet users and will surely not only
profit, but also enjoy, by having access to facilities that will al-
low internal and external communication to enable profes-
sional and academic activities in spite of geographic location.
7

9. Market Strategies
The RC project considers that most of the sales will be done by
realtors who specialize in retirement communities, since there
are only a few who target this high income level seniors, we
plan to train them regarding the Knowledge Hub. We will also
develop digital advertising information to provide sellers with
detailed information about the KH. We also plan to establish a
contact center through which a specialist will be able to be con-
tacted online to solve specific questions potential customers
might have, as well as any special requests.
As part of the marketing strategy we will place ads in maga-
zines targeted for high-income people and that have ads from
brands such as Rolex, Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier, etc.
As part of the partnership with IT companies in an innovative
project, we want to obtain leverage through brands’ public rela-
tions and their goal to share their own participation and
achievement in a first-of-a-kind project.
Since the Mexican Government will provide funds and the pro-
ject will meet their goals, they will also be a strong promotional
partner by communicating to the media information regarding
the project.
Budget
Match strategies to budgets. What strategies can you afford?
What can you do in house, what do you need to outsource?
The initial investment will be done by a Norwegian partner
who will provide $40 million USD. The first phase considers
the construction of the infrastructure to produce some green
building material, a percentage of housing for local employees,
the first group of senior housing and facilities for dining, health-
care, sports and the initial stage of the Knowledge Hub.
The government of the state of Guanajuato will provide funds
to establish a university for training of medical and cleaning-
cooking staff as well as for any other bilingual specialized em-
ployees. After the project’s staffing needs are met the university
will continue operations and the bilingual graduates will have
very good work opportunities in the American and Canadian
market where bilingual healthcare professionals are in high de-
mand.
Marketing Goals
The Knowledge Hub will be located in the RC and in order to
have access it will be necessary to be an RC resident or to be
granted a VIP permission by an a resident
The first phase of the project contemplates 50 new families
during the first year. Regarding the KH we consider to sell a
Membership to 45% of those residents and increase to 65% for
the second year with a 5% growth during the next three years
until we reach 80%.
After the fifth year we consider we will have visiting or tempo-
rary users who will either visit a resident or go to the KH spe-
cifically to use its facilities.
8
Business vision &
mission
Market segment
& target
Competitive
environment
Offering definition Market
positioning &
strategy
Marketing &
selling model
Product launch Operations &
logistics
Financial Analysis
Business Plan
Strategic Marketing Plan
Market Research Tactical Marketing
• Identify and
profile
competition
• SWOT analysis
• Generic Strategy
Model
• 5 Forces Model
• Enterprise Position
• Alignment with
RC project profile.
• A priority is
customers’ need to
communicate.
• Newest IT facility to
satisfy need.
• Price: membership &
according to required
services.
• Offers
differentiation,
rather than low
cost.
• Validated by % of
profile users who use
& rely on IT.
• Sales through niche
realtors.
• Ads in segment
magazines, TV &
targeted online.
• Presence at VIP
events.
• Define ROI
• Brand strategy: top of
the line facilities for
VIP segment.
• Partnership with IT
top brands (Microsoft
Google, Samsung,
etc.)
• Spokesperson model.
• Support from
Mexican Government
top officers.
• “Extend your
potential”
• Connect, collaborate,
innovate
• Only RC with
Knowledge Hub
• Major barrier:
prove KH is easy to
use and effective.
• Provide on-site
training & assistance.
• Critical success
factor: proper KH
design & effectively
communicated to
customers.
• Define timeframe &
milestones.
• Measure goals
according to
metrics in all
channels.
• Measure realtors’
results.
• Identify and
manage potential
risks.
• ID Value Chain
within RC.
• Organizational
structure (internal &
relationships)
• Integration with
other areas at RC
• Vertical integration
• In-house &
outsourcing
alignment.
• Human resources:
define profiles, hire &
train.
• Continuous
improvement.
• Goals for sustained
competitive
advantage.
• Financial Model:
Membership, cost by
service, additional
costs.
• Investment:
Norwegian partner,
IT allies, State of
Guanajuato.
• Identify target
segment of customers
• Identify and confirm
customers’ needs
• Define prototype
customer.
• Provide state-of-the-
art facilities to create,
share, transfer &
transmit knowledge.
• Provide necessary
facilities for internal
and external
communication.
• Partner with the most
innovative companies
for connectivity,
software & hardware.
• Elaborate Enterprise
Architecture.
• Goals for sustained
competitive
advantage.

10.
Results
It will be very important to assess the quality of the KH and
customer satisfaction because this will ensure not only growth
but also keeping current customers in order to be successful.
Since the KH will have facilities and staff it is important to
carry out continuous tests and analyze results in order to iden-
tify if there is any area that needs attention.
There will be a team doing constant quality control of the net-
work, hardware and software. These results will be closely moni-
tored to avoid problems or fix them ASAP.
The staff working at the KH also has a special profile because
most will be trained on-site and to be bilingual, so it is very im-
portant to measure their performance and establish a continu-
ous improvement and development program. Project leaders
will use tools such as surveys, interviews and polls to assess em-
ployees performance and customer satisfaction. Since the pro-
ject seeks to obtain international certification, there will be a
team in charge of handling all criteria that must be met for the
certifications and any further training, processes and proce-
dures to implement in order to meet requirements.
Prototype
According to guidelines established by institutions such as the
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
(GIZ) GmbH and the European Commission Digital Agenda, a
knowledge management project should have three aims:
1. Facilitate access to data.
2. Enable the exchange of experience and expertise.
3. Provide users with a single access point by centralizing
information.
The prototype will simulate the layout and ergonomics of
the Knowledge Hub in order to be able to run trials and
measure users reactions according to usability criteria and to
identify any problems that require solution.
The prototype will be made based on the design of Micro-
soft’s Technology Centers but with the necessary adaptions
in ergonomic design and simplified interphase for senior
users. The prototype will be funded by Microsoft under the
agreement that they will be providers of the Virtual Partici-
pation Center using Hololens.
9
The first fully untethered, see-through holographic computer that enables high-definition holograms to come to life in your
world, seamlessly integrating with your physical places, spaces, and things.
https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us
Movie 2.1 Microsoft HoloLens