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 āgood business is the best artā.Ā With much thanks to Andy Warhol for my daily inspiration, I spend my time working toward achieving my ābest artā and itās 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 isnāt it! Another favourite is LaborLink by Good World Solutions; they build ātransparency across global-supply chains by implementing affordable, scalable web and mobile technologiesā. Weāve 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 ReAllocateās Miracle Brace. The āMiracle 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 itās really important if weāre 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 doesnāt 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
Itās easier when youāre working on the ground to know if the work youāre 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 youāre 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 canāt communicate fully in the way theyād 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.
Iāve shared a few of my favourite examples, all of which are creating their ābest artā through technology, social innovation and talented people. Iām excited to see what I come across next.