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Ideas to Impact:DFID’s Innovation Prize programme
ideas to impact.
Bryony Everett, IMC Worldwide
Innovation Prize - Our Definition
A financial incentive that induces change through
competition
Why Prizes?
A new funding mechanism that has different effects to other mechanisms such as grants and patents
Generating new ideas, technologies, products or servicesNew and unexpected solvers bringing attention to a problemConnecting solvers and building networksEngaging people, organisations and communitiesPeople love a challengeMedia attention and public engagementStimulating marketsPayment by results
What we are trying to achieve
Programme Goal : 12 million people have new access to services (energy and water and sanitation) though affordable technologies and business models for low income consumers
by 2025• Action Research• Three themes – WASH, Energy Access, Climate
Change Adaptation• Must demonstrate positive impact on the lives of low-
income consumers within a tight timeframe• The major problems facing low-income consumers
tend to be market and socially orientated and not technology focused
• “we don’t need shiny new toys” Gates Foundation
Innovation Practice in International Development
Constance AgyemanCentre for Challenge Prizes, Nesta
NestaAn innovation charity with a mission to help people and organisations bring great ideas to life to improve lives.
Centre for Challenge PrizesCo-funded by Nesta and BIS - a hub for challenge prize knowledge and expertise• Test methodology
– Social (Ageing, waste reduction, Inclusive Technology, EU Social Innovation)– Energy (UNDP, Dynamic Demand)– Technical (Longitude Explorer, Open Data)– Global (Longitude)
• Design Challenge Prizes– EU ICT– Longitude – USAID Children with disabilities literacy challenge
• Share knowledge and Learning– Challenges of our Era– Nordic Innovation– Practitioner meetings
• Toolkits and Training– Practice Guide– World Bank– Workshops
Motivation for Innovation
• Inherent problems still exist• New problems arising• Old solutions inadequate• Need new solutions • Need to encourage new
players• More cost effective• Greater account of impact
Starting Points1. How do we embed innovative practices strategically
into our operations
2. We want to crowdsource the problems and the solutions
3. What is the right innovation tool to use to achieve the type of outcomes that we would like
4. How can we use challenge prizes to the best effect to solve a particular problem that we want to address
5. How can we effectively define the problem
6. How do we know whether the programme will be impactful
Challenges to Innovation
• Operational practice• Embedded programme
cycles 3-5 years• Aversion to risk• No relevant policy• Capacity and skills • Multifaceted problems
on global scale
What we’ve learned
• Increasing willingness to innovate
• Hybrid open innovation approaches better received
• Strategic entry points in operational practice
• Embedding account of impact into programming
How Nesta can support• Collaboration in the design
and delivery of challenge prizes
• Advice and guidance on use of innovation tools within operational practice
• Organisation specific practice guides and toolkits
• Training and support
Develop impactful programmes to stimulate new ideas to address
global issues
Thank [email protected] 74382641
Ideas to Impact:DFID’s Innovation Prize programme
Tim Wheeler, Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser for the UK Government's Department for International Development
ideas to impact.
Innovation Prizes:A guide for use in a developing country context
• The guide is intended to help determine whether an innovation prize is a suitable instrument to deploy to solve a specific and pre-defined problem, with a focus on supporting low-income communities in developing countries;
• The guide was produced for Ideas to Impact but is designed to have broader applicability.
Overview of guideA four-stage approach to evaluate the suitability of an innovation prize for
addressing a specific problem
• Stage 1 assesses whether the problem itself is suitable for an intervention of any form.
• Stage 2 takes a preliminary assessment of whether the typical circumstances in which a prize is an effective tool are relevant to the given problem.
• Stage 3 helps the sponsor develop a theory of change underpinning the use of a prize and then examines whether this is sound and whether the context in which the prize may be run supports this theory.
• Stage 4 makes an assessment of the prize competition’s overall net benefits and discusses how detailed design elements can help ensure significant progress towards development goals is made.
Stage 1: problem identificationBefore considering whether to use a prize, sponsors and/or
designers should check that any form of intervention is ‘FACE’:
• Focused: is there a good understanding of the wider context of the problem, such that they are confident that resolving the identified problem will lead to development benefits?
• Achievable: are there sufficient time and resources available, considering all relevant sources, to resolve the problem?
• Consistent: is the desire to overcome the problem shared (or at least not actively contradicted) by host governments, the sponsor and expected beneficiary?
• Essential: is it unlikely that the problem will be resolved without intervention?
Stage 2: preliminary check
At this stage, sponsors/designers
should check whether there is a clear
connection between the problem identified
in Stage 1 and one of these potential prize
outcomes:
Stage 3: theory of change in contextThis stage helps sponsors/designers develop a ‘theory of change,’ pinning down why and how they expect the prize will lead to development gains.
Answering the following questions will help set the theory in context:
A strong theory of change must take into account the context in which the prize competition is run. Answering the following questions can help establish an understanding of this context:• Is there a diverse set of solvers with the necessary skills and
access to resources to enter the competition?• Is there a suitably sized set of solvers with the necessary skills
and access to resources to enter the competition?• Is the theory of change supported by:
- Existing government policies;- Development partners and stakeholders (especially if these
are required to help run the prize); and- Needs of the beneficiaries?
Stage 4: detailed appraisal
Considering the detailed risks and benefits to the sponsor and solvers, it is
important to ask whether the innovation
prize is likely to deliver a net benefit. This table
summarises the different elements that should be
considered:
Simon Collings
Access not primarily a tech problem
• Lots of technology innovation happening - some driven by developed economies needs
• Major barriers identified by our informants: Policy and governance Access to finance Market development – distribution, awareness,
ability to pay• Scepticism that innovation prizes can help given
nature of barriers
What’s the Energy prize trying to fix?
• 2.7 billion cooking with biomass• 4.3 million deaths each year linked to indoor air
pollution• LPG cleanest option• Increased access tied to regulatory policy• Ghana potential role model• Innovation prizes can support implementation
Break out Discussion
• Introduction to the LPG Clean Cooking Challenge in Ghana
• Discussion Points: Can innovation Prizes effectively incentivise the private sector and the importance of fitting in with Policy
Lars Otto Naess
Break out Discussion
• Introduction to Climate Information and Adaptation at Scale
• Discussion Point: Can Innovation Prizes challenge social norms and hierarchies?
Sophie Tremolet
Break out Discussion
• Introduction to Clean City in Ghana• Discussion Point: Can Innovation Prizes influence
government and policy?
Ideas to Impact:DFID’s Innovation Prize programme
ideas to impact.
Break out
• Informal Time to talk with:• Bryony Everett, Team Leader, • Cheryl Brown, M&E• Jonty Slater and Renato Vasconcelos Prize
Designers• Leanne Jones, DFID, RED
• Discussion Point: What would you like to learn from this programme, how can we best influence or strengthen your programme of work?
