Can innovation end global poverty? | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

Can the seemingly intractable problems of global poverty be addressed by the latest wonders of science and technology?

Last month, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the launch of its new Global Development Lab, which will bring together entrepreneurs, corporations, NGOs, universities, research institutions, and USAID personnel “to discover, incubate, and scale breakthrough development innovations in sectors like water, health, food security and nutrition, energy, and climate change,” in the words of Andrew Sisson, its acting executive director.

USAID is attempting to “foster science- and technology-based solutions to help end extreme poverty by 2030”.

With a staff of 150 and a US$151.3 million budget for fiscal year 2015, the Lab represents a “fundamental shift” in USAID’s approach to development, said Lona Stoll, a senior adviser to USAID administrator Rajiv Shah. Of USAID’s total $20 billion budget, some $611 million is allocated for research, innovation, and applied solutions in science and technology.

Stoll illustrated the new thinking by describing the longstanding practice of making a request for proposals for, say, a five-year programme addressing infant mortality. Perhaps five ideas will be considered, she said, and one chosen. But under the reordered priorities represented by the Global Development Lab, the process of finding a solution could be expanded to a much wider spectrum of expertise. “You are opening up the problem to everyone, rather than basing the funding you give on your conception of how to best meet a goal,” she said. Thousands of ideas could be considered rather than a mere five.

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