Good Practices for Scaling Innovation
JUNE 2017
This paper in the IDIA Insights series focuses on eight good practices for funders seeking to take promising development innovations to scale. It is designed to accompany the Insights on Scaling Innovation paper that draws on the experience and learning of a wide range of bilateral, multilateral, philanthropic and civil society actors who came together in a Working Group on Scaling Innovation facilitated by the International Development Innovation Alliance (IDIA). While these good practices do not represent the formal strategy or approach of any one single agency in the Working Group or IDIA itself, they do reflect areas of overlapping learning and experience that can be used as a point of reference for interested stakeholders in reflecting on, and enhancing, their own approaches and guidance on scaling innovations.
Scaling innovation is a long, complex and dynamic process. The good practices contained herein will therefore benefit from regular review and iteration to accurately capture continuing advances in knowledge and learning. The insights collected in this paper are also likely to be valuable in helping innovators and partner organisations develop their own scaling approaches, thereby acting as a potential catalyst for deeper and more efficient partnerships.
The eight Good Practices explored in this paper are:
Understanding the problem and options for impact
Defining a vision of scale
Choosing a scaling pathway
Assessing scalability and sustainability
Identifying appropriate funder instruments and roles
Exploring partnerships for scale
Sequencing different kinds of support for scaling
Measuring the impact and progress of scaling
