Government: No Longer A Necessary Evil

Recent decades in most developing countries have given rise to an outlook that the government is "but a necessary evil", though the phrase itself dates back centuries. However, with the emergence of a new sector - the social sector - has pulled the government as a key player into the ring of solving social issues, as discussed in Jolin's article in Center for American Progress. Incidentally, policymaking to support social innovation was my topic last week.

The above diagram succinctly shows us all the participants in Social Innovation. Let's take a look at what each has to bring to the ecosystem:

• Schools/University provide ideas and talent needed to build solutions
• Private Sector, sometimes, provides capital or incentive (in the form of prizes)
• Culture decides what type of solutions are required
• Government?

To support the collective efforts of educational institutions, the private sector and local culture, Government should act as an enabler that encourages social innovation both financially and policy-wise. Numerous social enterprises have come far enough to solve centuries-old social problems with little to no support from governments. If only policymakers stepped in now, at this time when social entrepreneurship is witnessing global growth, and created regulations favorable to those organizations with a mission to tackle our earth's problems, the results will not only multiply but also motivate new entrants to pursue similar goals.

A new trend has already begun in government funding, such as social impact bonds and social finance. In addition to adopting new financing models, the policymaking bodies should innovate in terms of policies themselves. For instance, revising tax codes is one great way to start. Another way is to hook up potential social innovations with corporate's CSR wings and offer subsidies on their mainstream businesses.

This way, while governments are busy handling matters like diplomacy, terrorism and law enforcement, social entrepreneurs will get busy solving the more pressing social problems, most of which are unseen or unknown to many of us.