The Positive Deviance Initiative (PDI) takes an interesting approach to discovering and diffusing UDIs, based on the observation that in every community some individuals find better solutions to prevalent problems than their neighbours.
The PDI approach has been applied over the last two decades to problems such as condom use among commercial sex workers, education performance, human-trafficking and preventing infections of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals.
An early and powerful example was in fighting malnutrition in Vietnam. In the village under study, most children were malnourished, except a handful. By following the behaviour of these children and their families, researchers found that their parents were fishing for crabs in rice paddies and adding them to their children's diet. These people had access to exactly the same resources as their neighbours but their spontaneous shift in behaviour gave their children an edge. Once unearthed, this intervention was shared and adopted by other families and villages across Vietnam.
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The Rural Innovations Network, based in India, takes another approach to UDI. It identifies, incubates and distributes grassroots technological innovations that can have a significant impact on rural lives. For example, it helped an innovator develop a novel energy-efficient burner for kerosene stoves that is cheaper, longer-lasting, safer and easier to maintain than conventional burners - making it appealing to the rural consumer. The Rural Innovations Network provided the innovator with critical market research and marketing services.
Accelerating change
We can all play a role in accelerating the pace of change and bringing open innovation to the world of development. Organisations or companies that are addressing poor people's needs could add open innovation processes to their toolbox of approaches. Those who have already used open innovation successfully in the private or non-profit sectors can help make their techniques available through knowledge-sharing, advocacy and strategic partnerships.
Funding organisations could support institutions that are seeking to experiment with open innovation methods.
And governments could provide incentives or recognition for open innovation, such as India's National Innovation Foundation that awards a prize to grassroots innovators each year.
In a time of rapid globalisation and the current economic downturn, we should seize the opportunity that open innovation offers us to work collectively and efficiently towards a better future for all.
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