Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Users can drive creative innovation for the poor

By Tara Acharya - posted Wednesday, 8 April 2009


The Positive Deviance Initiative (PDI) takes an interesting approach to discovering and diffusing UDIs, based on the observation that in every community some individuals find better solutions to prevalent problems than their neighbours.

The PDI approach has been applied over the last two decades to problems such as condom use among commercial sex workers, education performance, human-trafficking and preventing infections of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals.

An early and powerful example was in fighting malnutrition in Vietnam. In the village under study, most children were malnourished, except a handful. By following the behaviour of these children and their families, researchers found that their parents were fishing for crabs in rice paddies and adding them to their children's diet. These people had access to exactly the same resources as their neighbours but their spontaneous shift in behaviour gave their children an edge. Once unearthed, this intervention was shared and adopted by other families and villages across Vietnam.

Advertisement

The Rural Innovations Network, based in India, takes another approach to UDI. It identifies, incubates and distributes grassroots technological innovations that can have a significant impact on rural lives. For example, it helped an innovator develop a novel energy-efficient burner for kerosene stoves that is cheaper, longer-lasting, safer and easier to maintain than conventional burners - making it appealing to the rural consumer. The Rural Innovations Network provided the innovator with critical market research and marketing services.

Accelerating change

We can all play a role in accelerating the pace of change and bringing open innovation to the world of development. Organisations or companies that are addressing poor people's needs could add open innovation processes to their toolbox of approaches. Those who have already used open innovation successfully in the private or non-profit sectors can help make their techniques available through knowledge-sharing, advocacy and strategic partnerships.

Funding organisations could support institutions that are seeking to experiment with open innovation methods.

And governments could provide incentives or recognition for open innovation, such as India's National Innovation Foundation that awards a prize to grassroots innovators each year.

In a time of rapid globalisation and the current economic downturn, we should seize the opportunity that open innovation offers us to work collectively and efficiently towards a better future for all.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All

First published in SciDev.org on March 26, 2009.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Tara Acharya is a program officer at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, United States.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment Comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy