[Guest Post] The best innovations share these five critical traits

By , 29 July 2013 at 15:22
[Guest Post] The best innovations share these five critical traits
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[Guest Post] The best innovations share these five critical traits

By , 29 July 2013 at 15:22

By Natalie Campbell @NatDCampbell, Founder, A Very Good Company

29 July 2013: A Very Good Company was born out of the idea that businesses should be a force for good. For us, that comes to life through social innovation and we explore how brands can create meaningful change across their supply chains and the communities they operate in; or internally for employees.

As Founder of the company I am inspired by the notion that ā€˜good business is the best artā€™.Ā  With much thanks to Andy Warhol for my daily inspiration, I spend my time working toward achieving my ā€˜best artā€™ and itā€™s incredibly powerful when the picture comes together. I thinkĀ doing good business is about mixing technology, innovative ways of working and talent for a positive social outcome for a community or organisation.

Technology combined with innovation for social and environmental good plays a very important role in enhancing the potential for big impact.

Take for example the Grundfos LIFELINK initiative, which provides communities in Kenya access to clean water. This system is centered on a solar energy powered SQ Flex pump with an automatic tapping unit and a smart card payment system, all of which is monitored on the Internet. Good isnā€™t it! Another favourite is LaborLink by Good World Solutions; they build ā€˜transparency across global-supply chains by implementing affordable, scalable web and mobile technologiesā€™. Weā€™ve worked with them to evaluate a training programme for Marks and Spencer in Sri Lanka (using mobile technology) but they also monitor working conditions, track social impact, promote fair wages and communicate directly with workers at the base-of-the-pyramid ā€“ all through technology.

The aforementioned projects are powerful because they push the boundaries of social innovation and leverage the best technology has to offer in the process. There are five commonalities that the best innovations share:

1. Reach

Technology allows an innovation to go that bit further. Something can be created in one part of the world but benefit others thousands of miles away. The perfect example here is ReAllocateā€™s Miracle Brace. The ā€œMiracle Braceā€ is a life-changing piece of technology that allows children with clubfoot to run, play, and live their lives free of handicap. It was built as partnership between organisations in the US and Nicaragua and will benefit the 200,000 children born with clubfoot every year.

2. Scale

This word is banded about a lot, especially in the social enterprise space but itā€™s really important if weā€™re going to make a dent on tackling the multitude of issues that communities around the world face. Healthcare and education inequality, lack of access to food and clean water, infant mortalityā€¦the list goes on. The most innovative solutions have the potential to scale and are applied quickly to those in need.

3. Diversity

Technology doesnā€™t really discriminate, you obviously need access but once that issue is tackled then the possibilities for engaging across culture, gender and socio-economic structures are endless.

4. Measurement

Itā€™s easier when youā€™re working on the ground to know if the work youā€™re doing is having a positive impact but what if your product is working at scale or in a community thousands of miles away? There are tons of ways to build in metrics to understand impact, especially if youā€™re working online. Catapult.org is a crowdfunding platform dedicated to equality for women and girls. Projects are funded and supported through a global network and the impact measured over time. The stories are then reported back to the funders so that everyone gets to engage in the success and learnings from a project.

5. Accessibility

Some people canā€™t communicate fully in the way theyā€™d want to, but innovation has enabled a new voice to emerge for those with Autism, Motor Neurone disease and Alzheimer’s (again the list is endless). A Wayra Academy start-up My Choice Pad has enabled children and adults to access choice and communication through an educational iPad app that uses symbols and sign language with speech.

Iā€™ve shared a few of my favourite examples, all of which are creating their ā€˜best artā€™ through technology, social innovation and talented people. Iā€™m excited to see what I come across next.

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