Advancing innovation for sustainable development
IDIA is a unique collaboration platform that brings together the senior leadership from the innovation teams, labs and departments of some of the world's leading development agencies.
Innovation is integral to a prosperous, resilient and sustainable world
As a development actor, we define innovation as a new solution with the transformative ability to accelerate impact. Innovation can be fueled by science and technology, entail improved ways of working with diverse partners, or involve new social and business models, policies, creative financing mechanisms, and path-breaking improvements in the delivery of essential services and products. Innovation is contextual and does not always mean inventing something brand new. It can also be about bringing existing ideas to new settings, problems or populations where they have not been seen before, or combining them in new ways to address different kinds of problems.
Our world has already been dramatically transformed by the life-saving and life-improving innovations of entrepreneurs from many years ago, who saw where inadequate practices were slowing progress, and who took action to create more effective approaches. With our efforts to address many of today’s development challenges still lagging far behind our aspirations, finding and supporting innovative solutions in a more efficient manner is a priority for the international development community in order to enable billions of people to overcome poverty.
Innovation can come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. However, it thrives best when it is facilitated by a strong ecosystem of favourable enabling conditions, including better policy and regulatory frameworks, open data and standards, and expanded access for innovators to resources. More effectively tapping into capital flows through blended finance, for instance, can harness additional resources that far exceed the current capital available for poverty reduction. The same is true when the development of science, technology and innovation (STI) capabilities is promoted, by strengthening the regulatory, infrastructure, and human capacity foundations that support the growth of local STI ecosystems.
Why development needs innovation now more than ever
The world is facing unprecedented, complex and interconnected challenges that cannot be addressed through a ‘business as usual’ approach. By 2030, the global population is projected to reach 8.5 billion people, roughly 85% of whom will live in low and middle income countries. Achieving prosperity and social equity for all while sustaining the world’s natural resources will require bold, transformative solutions that disrupt our current systems.
Our societies and economies are increasingly vulnerable to shocks. We live in an interconnected world that is increasingly susceptible to different kinds of shocks that have ripple effects across multiple populations. These include economic shocks (financial crises, inflation spikes); environmental shocks (extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and biodiversity loss); health crises (epidemics and pandemics); as well as geopolitical and conflict shocks (such as wars and political instability). Innovation is essential in both anticipating these shocks and minimizing their disruption to our lives, especially those of the most vulnerable in our societies. Fortunately, this interconnectedness also provides an unparalleled opportunity to spread and improve the lives of millions with unprecedented speed and reach, using technologies to unlock new efficiencies and possibilities.
Innovation holds the promise of a brighter future for all. We need the optimism and hope of a better future that innovation provides by enlarging our sense of what’s possible. New solutions have the potential to disrupt seemingly intractable and inequitable power structures; they can provide new platforms and opportunities for marginalized voices; and they can incentivise new and productive partnerships across atypical sets of actors who thrive off a shared passion to improve the lives of others. This is why innovation is so crucial to our world.ion is integral to a prosperous, resilient and sustainable world.