In
class we learned that every social innovation needs 3 things: Desirability, Feasibility
and Viability. But maybe there is one more variable, that makes a social
innovation really effective: Distribution.
One of
the articles, we had to read, stated that more than 43 million people worldwide
had to leave their home due to different circumstances. 3.5 million of these
people are placed in UN-provided tents, which offer little to no comfort or
dignified living environment. According to Better Shelter in 2015, they have
delivered more than 10.000 units for humanitarian operations worldwide.[1] One unit can host up to
five persons, therefore 50.000 people are now housed in better shelters. But
what about the other 3 million? Why is the adaptation and distribution of
social innovations going so slowly?
Another
example is the SOCCKET, a soccer ball that stores the energy generated during
the time, that the children play with it, to light an attachable lamp. This
innovation was created by a couple of Harvard Students in 2010 and has sinced
failed to acchieve great success in distribution. One of the main problems was,
that the ball wouldn`t work anymore after few times of using it.[2]
The challenges
that the Berkeley-Darfur Stove faces are from different nature. The problem
they are trying to solve to improve the health of people living in developed
countries and at the same time reducing environmental pollution. More than half
oft he world`s population still prepare their food on open fires or rudimentary
stoves. This energy-efficient cookstove is build so that it reduces the smoke
inhalation, which is bad for your health und proves many risks. Additionaly
they try and modify their stoves for other countries like Ethiopia or Haiti, to
meet the specific need their, which I think is a great implementation of Human
Design Thinking.[3]
Although
this all sounds great, there is still not a Berkeley-Darfur Stove in every needed
household, which brings me to my starting question. It seems that the distribution
of social innovation is dependent on a couple of factors.
The
first would be, if the social innovations is really worked as planned. Problems
like with the SOCCKET can slow down the distribution process and also the trust
that people have in the product.
Another
problem can be, that tob e distributed to different countries the product or
services needs to be adjusted, which takes time for research and production.
This we can see with the Berkeley-Darfur Stove. Also, as may be with Better
Shelter, the innovation is to (to date) expensive to supply shelter for every
person in need.
Lastly
I think that, just as with every commercial product, social innovations, if
helpful, need to be more promoted. This means to also put the media in
responsibility to report more about topics like this. Most of these innovations
i have never heard before, which is really unfortunate. Better knowledge of
this could motivate other people to also help the cause, either with money, ken
or personal innovations.
But
every person can do their part as well, including me. Through social media we
can reach a lot of people with just one click, so I encourage everyone to make
social innovations great.
To
finish this paper, what other reasons could there be for social innovations
slow distribution to the people, these products or services can really be beneficial?
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