What are we learning about Innovation Exchange

What are we learning about…

What’s the problem?

In the public sector, people don’t feel allowed to innovate. In the third sector,

they don’t feel supported to innovate.

A ‘thousand flowers’ are free to bloom and decision-making is radically distributed.

However, that creates barriers to sustaining and scaling innovation.

It’s hard to scale and sustain third sector innovation

Too few third sector innovations change the world

Size

Age

That failure to change the world is largely a systemic failure

Someone in the third sector has an idea

They write a letter to the Minister

The Minister gives the letter to a civil

servant

The civil servant writes a letter of congratulation

There’s no market for third sector innovation

Demand

Supply

As a result, innovators are disconnected from potential collaborators and supporters

Commissioners and investors

Innovators in the third sector

What’s the solution?

We need to connect innovators and potential supporters

Public service commissioners

Social investors

Third sector innovators

The Exchange first works to identify opportunities for innovation

Great third sector innovations

Commissioners’ and investors’ needs

Advice and support

with individual budgets

Support to overcome

social isolation

It then helps people to connect around those opportunities, build alliances and

develop their work

It seeks to add value by focusing on incentives to develop and grow

Focus on new ideas:

• Immersion

• Stimulus

• Horizon-scanning

Upstream incentives

Downstream incentives

Focus on scaling up:

• Brokerage

• Development

• Growth

What are we learning?

We added a fourth diamond to take account of the market context

We are doing more sourcing of innovation than stimulating

Identifying Source & sense-check

Incubating Accelerating

Research

Engage stakeholders

Seek innovators

Scan the horizon

Identify demand and supply

Market test

Broker connections

Enable feedback

We are trying some new approaches

• Use of open online tools

• Importance of video

• Insight Journeys

And we are encountering a set of challenges

• Open innovation vs secretive match-making

• Wisdom of crowds

• Pitching mentality vs co-creation

• Issues around locality

What do you think?

And…

• How does this connect to your work?

• What advice do you have for us?