Innovation in Africa by UNDP regional innovation advisor

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INNOVATION
FOR IN AFRICA
@marclepage

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Agenda
•No need to discuss
the Concept
•Innovation is a
Practice, not a
Theory
•Innovation in Africa:
it’s already
happening

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Why innovation?

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Why innovation?

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• SoPs
•“Lessons learned”
• CoPs
• Good practice
?
KM
Complicated
Complexity
Codification
Complex
Procedure
The old world…

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• SoPs
•“Lessons learned”
• CoPs
• Good practice
?
KM
Codification
Complicated
Complex
Procedure
Complex world, sophisticated
clients
Complexity

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Innovation in Africa

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Innovation Hubs & Centers in Africa
Credit: WhiteAfrican.com

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The UNDP Africa Innovation Knowledge Fair

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3 Principles
• No Innovation in Isolation. We innovate to do
Development Better. Innovation is about
needs and solutions.
• Innovation is not high-tech. Innovation is 5%
technology and 95% imagination. Social
Innovation is about Behavioural Science.
• Steal with Pride! The best knowledge is
probably outside the room. Partner to deliver.
Reach out to the young crowd.

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Principle 1
Innovation is
about Needs
and Solutions

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THE NEED
Cheap, affordable
and clean
electricity for low
income families
Access to Energy

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THE NEED
Share information
on hot spots and
safe zones during
a crisis
Crisis Information

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THE NEED
Differentiating
between genuine
and fake drugs
Health Security

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THE NEED
Decent toilets in
low-income urban
centres
Urban Equipments

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THE NEED
Basic financial
services get to
people in the
rural areas
Mobile Banking

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THE NEED
Decent &
affordable
housing for low-
income urban and
rural dwellers
Housing

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THE NEED
Improving access
to clean water
Hippo Water Roller Project

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Real-time Air Quality Monitoring
THE NEED
Citizen get
accurate
information
on air
quality

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Linking citizens with MPs: Ureport:
THE NEED
Engaging with
citizens

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Visualizing Budget in Kenya
THE NEED
Making Budget
Understandable

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… in Liberia

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Tunisia: early warning system

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Mobile4HD-UNDP&Motorola
Bring together local social innovators and link
them to both governments and development
organizations and practitioners

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User led innovation in development
http://userinnovation.undp.sk/

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UNICEF « first 72 hours »

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Innovation in policy

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Design Lab

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Principle 2
Innovation is not about Technology: it’s about
Imagination and Behaviour

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Analyze points of pain

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Principle 3
 Steal with Pride
(and learn!).
Knowledge is
outside. Hire
young people.

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UNICEF
Innovation
Fund
20M USD
Fund
Rapid funding
of
2nd-stage
projects

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UNDP Innovation Framework

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Define the Bottleneck

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“If I had an hour to solve a problem,
I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about
the problem and 5 minutes thinking
about solutions.”
Who said?

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Define the Bottleneck
• When defining the right problem… go SEE
the problem!
• Case managers of workers with labour
injuries (MindLab)
• Assumption: the problem is how much
compensation
• In reality… What will my life be from now
onwards (home, other jobs, life with
partner, leisure, mobility...)

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Prompts of innovation

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Where do ideas come from?

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• Think with others, don’t cut & paste
• Google! Find Data!
• Discuss with others outside and partner from the
outset
• Scan the horizon
• Use Social media to signal interest
• Map your local social innovation scene
• Attend local innovation events
• Crowdsource
Reflect & Find

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Problem definition

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Innovation
Government
donor agencies
Private
Foundations
Social
Venture
Capitalists
Corporate
Social
Investment
Governments
Social Innovators
Regional & Global
Organisations

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Prototype!

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Incubate

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The Road to Innovation
Don’t start with “Let’s
innovate”
Support Innovators
Don’t buy high-tech gadgets Imagine the Future
Don’t go full scale without
prototyping
Take calculated risks

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Innovation at UN(DP)
• Innovation in what we do and how we do!
• Innovation in programme design: design
thinking, co-design..
• Innovation in programme communication:
real simple reporting (beneficiaries reporting
continuously, directly)
• Innovation in M&E: micro narratives..
• Innovation in operations – UN wide:

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2014 innovation facility fund
•45 submissions from 25 country
offices
•Africa bureau/global Innovation
group/innovation advisor Addis
review
•1,000,000 USD awarded

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2014 innovation initiatives
(1/2)
1. DRC: A narrative based methodology involving people’s
stories and allows both qualitative and quantitative data
collection and analysis
2. Cote d'Ivoire: Placing the discussion of gender-
sensitive policing services on the parliamentarian and
public agenda
3. Kenya: Livestock Insurance Products (Garrisa County,
Northern Kenya)
4. Mauritius: Building a more resilient society through
innovative education tools promoting the culture of
prevention
5. Sao Tome y Principe: Monitoring transformative impact
on development programmes

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2014 innovation initiatives
(2/2)
6. Senegal: Promotion de l’entreprenariat social à travers
la production locale d’équipements solaires dans la
zone de Mekhé
7. Swaziland: Establishment of a Youth Innovative Hub for
inclusive development
8. Zimbabwe: Towards an ICT4D Policy and Practice
Platform: A Collaborative Public-Private Partnership
(PPP) Model Seeking to Leverage ICTs as Driver for
Economic Development in Zimbabwe
9. Burundi: Open challenge on rural energy access
10.Rwanda: Foresighting for development
11.RBA NY: One Click Away: Design, Evaluation,
Reporting

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Word of caution

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What role can UNDP play?
•What are the needs in Ethiopia in
terms of network of innovators?
•How connected to « problem
holders » are innovators?
•How do we facilitate the matching?
•What’s in it for YOU?

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THANK YOU!
Questions?
Connect:
@marclepage
Join:
undp.org/innovation