Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship and Human Development

1. Innovation, Social Entrepreneurshipand Human Development Perspectives and challengesin the Caribbean

2. Our guide… • Research, Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Caribbean. • The Caribbean's Bottom of the Pyramid market. • Innovation Ecosystems tailored to ourStrengthsand Needs. • A changing world. • Relevance and Pertinence of Research and Innovation. • The power of dreams and the potential to leapfrog. • Building capacity to innovate and succeed.

3. A changingworld “allthingsflow and nothing stands”Heraclitus of Ephesus

4. Is change an exceptional condition? • Have things ever stayed the same? • Name 5 things you knew and took for granted which are now gone. • Name 5 things you now take for granted which did not exist before.

5. Change now and in the past… • The war on Irak: • Oil prices make alternative fuels attractive. • Suddenly our sugar cane fields are valuable again. • Social Networks, Blogging, Personal Homepages. • YouTube, Flicker, the web, e-mail, the Internet. • e-Learning, Wikipedia, Multimedia Tutorials. • Personal computers, fax machines, telephones, TV, the automobile. • On-line radio and streaming audio, MP3 players, CD’s, music videos, audio tapes, 8-track, vinyl records, radio stations. • The oil crisis of the 70’s, World War I and II, The Fall of Rome.

6. Change now and in the future… • Globalization: • New legislation and agreements, bring us closer. • Information Society: • Allow us to do more, faster, better. • The Potential to: • Create new knowledge and capacities. • Reach larger markets. • More competition: • After available resources. • Both internal and external. • At local, regional and global levels.

7. Playing catch up or Leading the way • Do what others do? • If others are doing it, aren’t we already late? • Can we do it better? • Can we lead if we plan to follow? • Can we generate first class output if we settle for second class input, tools and opportunities? • In new fields, our capacities and potentials are the same as everybody else’s. • Sometimes even better.

8. Our responsibility with change • It’s up to us to make it… • Change for better. • Change for worse. • Make change happen. • Can we afford not to? • How can we make it change for better?

9. Chaos, Globalization and the Information Society • A chaotic and complex system: • Keeps on changing. • Changes us. • We can change it. • Not to know what is going to happen, does not mean to be unable to: • plan ahead, build a strategy. • thrive and grow.

10. Finding Order in Chaos and Benefitting from It • Identifying Limitations and Challenges. • Identifying Opportunities and Niches. • Build Capacity not for “the change”, but for any change. • Define and decide our role and position in the system.

11. The Paradox of the Knife Sharpener • The knife sharpener was a common figure in our cities and communities. • The knife sharpener is now an endangered species if not extinct in most places. • Did knives get better? • What could the knife sharpener had done? Picture from http://grumpy-c-bear.org/Bike/Spain/Spain.html

12. Finding Order in Chaos and Benefitting from It • Name 5 limitations or challenges your community, institution, sector or country faces. • Name 5 opportunities and niches you could exploit. • Define a role for you and your community, institution, sector or country in the changing world.

13. Relevance and Pertinence ofResearch and Innovation findingourniches and opportunities

14. Relevance in Research and Development (R&D) • R&D initiatives relevant to our local issues… • are easier to comprehend, communicate and convey to others. • generate less resistance. • leverage more support from stakeholders. • present better chances for innovation when built around our strengths, competencies, existing skills and competitive advantages.

15. Pertinence in Research and Development • The pertinence of R&D influences the viability and impact of innovation. • Good opportunities arise when: • our own needs and issues are addressed and • solutions are built that take into consideration our own particular conditions and strengths.

16. The Power of Dreams andthe Potential to Leapfrog the irrelevancy of relevance

17. Innovation is “endless” • Somepeoplewilltellyouthere are 3 types of innovation, others 4, others 10… • Butbydefinition, thereis no limittoinnovation. • You can notcountor define what has yettoexistorbecreated.

18. To innovate, invent and create the “new” • Theworldisconstantlychanging, whatisrelevantnow, mightnotberelevanttomorrow… • Innovatingbyvisionis as valid and important as innovationbyaddressingissues and problems.

19. Innovation in the Information Society • It is easier to think outside the box, when you are actually outside the box. • Outsiders, newcomers, foresight thinkers enjoy freedom from old paradigms. • ICT give us the power to build new capacities: • Relatively fast. • In new areas. • ICT give us the opportunity to leapfrog in the sustainable human development on-going process.

20. Social Entrepreneurship“capitalismwith a twist”

21. Innovation and Human Development • We live in a global economy. • Sustainable development requires a country to provide: • valuable services and products, • innovative solutions • and profitable activities that generate wealth for its population. • Countries that improved their quality of life in the last few decades have: • invested in education. • exploited new markets. • provided innovative services and products for the new and changing global economies.

22. The Mobile Phone Revolution? • More connectivitydoesnot mean more development. • Highpenetrationnumbersusuallyreflectmarketinefficiencies: • (onecellphone per providertoavoidinterconectioncostsorcoveragelimitations). • Householdsnowspend a significantamount of income in “communication”. • Marginal smallbusiness pop up. • Can theyscale? • Isthistype of smallincrement in incomewhatweneedtodevelop? • Are thesesurvivalactivitiesorentrepreneurial and innovativeactivities?

23. Is Growth Development? • Do business activities generate social wealth? • Is economic growth, human development? • Can business activities generate positive social change? • Can we have human development without economic growth and wealth generation?

24. The Social Entrepreneurship Approach • To address social needs and promote social change through innovative and profitable initiatives. • Not a Charity, non-profit organization, or NGO. • Not a business with a social responsibility program. • Double bottom-line: • Profit. • Impact on Human Development.

25. Challenges of Social Entrepreneurship • Identity and awareness: • Do you mean business or charity? • Legal incorporation and restrictions: • NGO’s should not generate profit. • Businesses are to generate profit and pay taxes. • To be competitive at providing social services: • Businesses generate profit without any “social” restriction and dedicate a part of their earning to social issues. • NGO’s receive funding and focus on social issues without the challenge of becoming sustainable, profitable or competitive.

26. Examples of Social Entrepreneurship • AcciónInternacional: Microcredit and coaching. • Aravind: Affordable health services with vertical integration of processes. • Aspire Public Schools and BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life): High performance schools reshaping all aspects of the learning process (time, calendar, space, mentoring, etc.). • Citizen Schools: Apprenticeship programs after school. • KickStart: Sells inexpensive technologies that improve the competitiveness of small producers, such as foot-powered water irrigation pump. • MicroPlace: Microinvestments to support microcredit and earn return. • Ceres: Environmental impact consulting, investment and reporting. • DonorsChoose: Teachers present projects and the public chooses to support them with donations. • OneRoof: Social franchise of services for communities and telecenters. • Others: Organic Agriculture and Free trade initiatives.

27. Resources for Social Entrepreneurs Non-Financial Funding Acumen Fund. Ashoka. Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Skoll Foundation. Catalyst (UK). Domini SocialInvestments. • Changemakers.net • Ashoka. • SocialEdge.org • Skoll Foundation. • SocialInvestments.com • Catalyst (UK). • Youth Social Enterprise Initiative. • Non Profit Enterprise and Self Sustainability Team (NESST). • The Social Entrepreneur • SocInfo.

28. FosteringanEntrepreneurialSpirit

29. Entrepreneurial Skills: Innate or Built? • An entrepreneur is not just a business person. • Sees things through his own paradigm and understanding. • Identifies opportunities. • An entrepreneur innovates: • Creates something new or improves something already exists. • Is driven by passion and belief. • Takes action. • Takes risks. • Does not fear uncertainty. • Takes responsibility. • Delivers result. • Generates wealth.

30. To be is not to be… • To be resourceful does not mean to be innovative. • An idea is not the same as a project. • A businesspersonisnotthesame as anentrepreneur. • To be capable does not mean to be empowered or enabled. • To be communicative does not mean to be collaborative. • To be validated and in agreement does not mean to be articulated.

31. Building Key Entrepreneurial Skills • Forward thinking and Future Vision. • Critical thinking. • Process related: • Rapid prototyping. • Iterative design. • Gradual implementation. • Communication Skills. • Business Pitch and Presentation. • Planning Skills. • Business plan, resource and needs assessment. • Collaboration skills and team work. • Remove stigma from failure.

32. Building Capacity to Innovate and Succeed • Building Capacities: • Human capacity. • Institutional capacity. • A culture of collaboration, synergy and value generation. • A conducive environment.

33. Key Support Actions and Services • Incentives and awards. • Availability of tools and access to knowledge. • Financial resources: • Angel investors, venture capitalists and investment funds. • Seed funds for Innovation. • SpacesforInnovation. • Coaching and mentoring. • Contacts and networking.

34. An early start can make all the difference… • Capacity building for innovation and entrepreneurship should start early. • In primary and secondary schools: • Critical thinking. • Social innovation and entrepreneurship. • Hands-on projects and contests. • Real life problem solving. • Formulation and structuring of innovative ideas. • Dynamic scenarios.

35. Challenges for Higher Education Institutions • To embrace research with a practical application and development approach. • To improve their relationship with the business sector: • by generating value to the corporate world and • by developing practical ideas and projects and claim their role in our human development process, • To raise funds based on accomplishments.

36. The Role of Higher Education Institutions

37. ConduciveEcosystemsforInnovation and Entrepreneurship

38. The Power of One and The Power of Many • While one person can definitely make a difference and ignite change, • A proper environment can support and drive change to serve our needs and goals. • Innovation not only occurs within an environment, but often the environment is part of the change itself. • The capacity to build healthy win-win relationships among stakeholders and sectors and to generate synergies can make or break an innovationsystem.

39. The Paradox of the Good Middle Man • One common “goal” or component of many strategies is to eliminate the “evil” middle man. • Middle men are usually: • integral part of economic and social processes. • members of the community. • providers of services and enablers of processes, adding value to them. • Eliminating the middle men can: • generate resistance and align forces against change. • force them to engage unpredictable activities. • Force them to migrate or exit the fragile local economy. • A good strategy should: • Acknowledge the role of middle men. • Leverage the knowledge and value-adding potential of middle men. • Find roles or provide paths for the middle men to participate in the new processes.

40. Innovation Ecosystems

41. Conceptual Model

42. Conceptual Model

43. ChallengeswithICT forHumanDevelopment

44. Social Impact from Technology Weneedtotransform…

45. Challenges for Achieving Social Impact from ICT • Weoftenfocus in one and neglecttheother…

46. Research and Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in theCaribbean

47. Research and Development in the Caribbean • Limited Availability of Data. • Limited Funding Available. • Limited Allocation of Resources. • Limited number of journals and publications. • Limited participation in research networks and collaboration initiatives.

48. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the Caribbean • A history of successful regional companies. • Early 2000: • TechnologyParks. • EntrepreneurialPrograms. • Mid 2000: • Business Incubation Centers. • Innovation and Entrepreneurial Centers. • Late 2000: • InnovationSystemsand Strategies.

49. TheCaribbeanBottom of thePyramid

50. The Caribbean: A 40 million people market • Large Islands:38.3 million • Cuba: 11m • Dominican Republic: 10m • Haiti: 9m • Puerto Rico: 4m • Jamaica: 3m • Trinidad & Tobago: 1.3m • Land territories:1.8 million • Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana and Belize. • Medium Island territories:1.5 million • Martinique, Guadeloupe, Bahamas, Barbados. • With easy access to: • The European Union. • USA. • India. • China. • Getting closer and more articulated: • CARICOM, CSME, CARIFORUM, ACS. • A significant diaspora: • Trained and experienced in major business cities outside the region. • A significant GDP: • CSMEUS$24,000m. • Dominican Rep.90,000m. • Haiti16,500m.