By Divya Giyanani
From November 8th-10th, researchers, students, entrepreneurs, innovators, field practitioners, and private sector professionals convened at the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN) coference, TechCon 2014 in Berkeley, California. TechCon showcased innovations emerging from the eight HESN Development Labs and the broader development and higher education communities focused on innovation for social good. These various stakeholders met to energize science and technology solutions for development. We will be featuring blog posts from Duke students reflecting on their weekend at TechCon.
We have all heard the facts – preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia take the lives of 2 million children each year, more than 805 million people lack enough food to lead a healthy life, 61 million children of primary school age are out of school, etc. We have also all heard the call to action – that while the development world is making progress in addressing these issues, we need new, innovative ways to solve the world’s greatest challenges.
At the USAID Technical Convening a few weeks back, we had the opportunity to place ourselves in the shoes of an international development decision-maker through the innovation marketplace. We were given 1000 development dollars to “invest” in innovation[s] being presented, and it was our decision how to allocate those dollars.
I will be the first to admit that I am drawn to development work because of an opportunity for impact. In my mind, I wouldn’t really say that the specific type of impact matters much; the idea that the work that I am doing will have tangible (positive) impacts on the world around me is enough. So, when given the chance to “invest” in new ideas, I decided that I would give my money to the impactful innovations.
And looking back, I still remember walking in and feeling overwhelmed by the 40+ innovators vying for my attention. I still remember strolling around the room once, twice, and even three times before selecting a place to start. I still remember, many conversations later, staring at the development dollars in my hand, questioning whether I could even make an investment.
Because sometimes impact is not enough.
During conversations at the USAID Technical Convening, the idea of purpose within innovation was always emphasized. Purpose meant that you knew (1) what issue you were trying to address, and (2) how that issue fit into the bigger picture.
Because sometimes impact is not enough.
My weekend at the USAID Technical Convening helped me to realize the significance of strategy behind innovation. We are living in an incredibly exciting time, where globalization and the rise of modern technology bring us all just a little bit closer. And this translates to the potential for small ideas to make huge impact. But when there are limited resources, impact is only one factor in creating the development agenda.
At the USAID Technical Convening a few weeks back, we had the opportunity to place ourselves in the shoes of an international development decision-maker through the innovation marketplace. We were given 1000 development dollars to “invest” in innovation[s] being presented, and it was our decision how to allocate those dollars.
I will be the first to admit that I am drawn to development work because of an opportunity for impact. In my mind, I wouldn’t really say that the specific type of impact matters much; the idea that the work that I am doing will have tangible (positive) impacts on the world around me is enough. So, when given the chance to “invest” in new ideas, I decided that I would give my money to the impactful innovations.
And looking back, I still remember walking in and feeling overwhelmed by the 40+ innovators vying for my attention. I still remember strolling around the room once, twice, and even three times before selecting a place to start. I still remember, many conversations later, staring at the development dollars in my hand, questioning whether I could even make an investment.
Because sometimes impact is not enough.
During conversations at the USAID Technical Convening, the idea of purpose within innovation was always emphasized. Purpose meant that you knew (1) what issue you were trying to address, and (2) how that issue fit into the bigger picture.
Because sometimes impact is not enough.
My weekend at the USAID Technical Convening helped me to realize the significance of strategy behind innovation. We are living in an incredibly exciting time, where globalization and the rise of modern technology bring us all just a little bit closer. And this translates to the potential for small ideas to make huge impact. But when there are limited resources, impact is only one factor in creating the development agenda.
Divya Giyanani is a senior at Duke University, studying corporate strategy and global health through a self-created major. During her time at Duke, she has made a point of applying what she has learned in her coursework to her fieldwork. Divya has worked for a national NPO in San Francisco to mobilize students in the fights against HIV/AIDS and with a Duke research team to measure mental health trauma in Haiti. She has also spent time in Geneva studying development policy and global health. Most recently, Divya spent this past summer interning in the US Global Development Lab at USAID, where she worked on a business case for scaling of an agricultural innovation in sub-Saharan Africa.
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