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Written by Jo Taylor
Jo Taylor worked as a Pro Bono Associate at SIX the summer of 2011. During his time with the Young Foundation, Jo did a cursory scan of the global field of hubs, labs and incubators for social innovation. These are some of the insights from his reasearch.
Introduction:
In the summer of 2011 I did some pro bono consultancy for The Young Foundation. There seemed to be a general feeling amongst the big Social Innovation organisations that a greater understanding of the landscape of the movement was needed so I undertook a cursory scan of a few of the most notable landmarks in the movement. It was clear that a much more rigorous interrogation would be needed. During the process I came up with some interesting questions that the Social Innovation may wish to consider.
Definition:
A simple working definition of Social Innovation (SI) could include the words efficiency, effectiveness and change. Those involved in SI know the organisations that are working hard and pushing progression in the sector. However, this knowledge seems limited to specific initiatives or projects. As SI is a young movement it is an interesting possibility that the sector may eventually develop into a landscape where certain Centres for Social Innovation may become reputable for innovating in certain domains, in a similar manner to Universities being considered superior for research across certain subjects.
Association:
Associations were very high across all organisations that were analysed. This is not a surprise as the pragmatic and efficient problem solving that social innovation involves is maximised through pooling of knowledge and resources. However, an interesting trend is that the most popular association type was academic, not government or corporate. The majority of organisations identifying themselves as Centres for Social Innovation had an academic association, compared to just under half with corporate associations and under a third having governmental links. While this was the case at the time of the report being carried out there is no doubt that the Social Innovation sector is fast evolving. The interesting question is; how will organisations change their associations as they develop their practice?
Development:
Every organisation I looked has website, but some use the internet to conduct seminars, distribute research, provide training and to allow others to network. The question for the future is how can the internet be used to the greatest effect?
I feel that generally speaking the inclusion of a cyber aspect to your organisation allows for the greatest reach at the smallest cost. However, while a cyber aspect to your organisation may increase your efficiency and productivity, an increased provision by those SI organisations with a cyber aspect may actually be due to an increased demand. In that, individuals and organisations wishing to access your services are quickly channelled into a cyber space aimed directly at the collection of such interest. This raises the question of: what is the best practice for the inclusion of a cyber aspect to your organisation? Is demand for internet delivered service led by the merits of such a service or actually due to the ease of access? It will be over the next few years that organisations working on Social Innovation solutions will decide how to use the internet in their work. And, indeed, some may commit to being entirely without walls, accessible only through cyber space.
Incubation:
Incubators are an invaluable part of social innovation. Without them seeds would struggle to become pilots and pilots would fail to flourish into small organisations.
The majority of organisations I looked at did provide support for ideas to turn into pilots or small organisations. However, I was not able to establish the types of support that were most effective, needed or efficient. It is clear that at some point Social Innovation organisations will need to share ideas and practice on what works best when incubating, and to develop a blue print for others on how to help others do it better.
Conclusion:
While the sector of Social Innovation is pragmatic and fast moving there is a coherent movement towards networking and incubation. It could be argued that those involved in the social innovation movement may benefit from a deep analysis of the sector. After all, the idea of finding novel and efficient solutions is what social innovation is growing from.