WFP Innovation Accelerator’s Post

🚀 Discover the future of innovation! 🚀 I'm glad to share a blog by my colleague Celia Hannon and myself on how to track innovation trends. Check this out if you're looking to understand and drive change in complex systems, whether it's in climate tech, health, or anything else. 🔍 Key Takeaways: Understanding systems: Learn how to map the dynamics of an innovation system, from funding flows to emerging technologies. Innovation Sweet Spots: Discover how Nesta uses data science and machine learning to identify promising innovations. Strategic insights: Gain valuable insights for funders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs on targeting investments and resources effectively. 🛠️ Why It Matters: Stay ahead: Anticipate where future growth will happen and make informed decisions. Targeted investment: Use geographical and institutional data to identify active innovation hotspots. Real-time monitoring: Leverage continuous insights to guide mission-driven work and achieve impact. 🌟 Read the full article to learn more about our approach for tracking innovations - and reach out if you would like to talk more about data-driven horizon scanning! #Innovation #DataScience #MachineLearning #SystemsThinking #FutureTrends #Nesta #InnovationSweetSpots #PolicyInnovation #ClimateTech #FoodTech https://lnkd.in/e-NdNj7m

With collaboration comes powerful change 💡 Over the past 6️⃣ months, World Food Programme ventures have been working closely with the WFP Innovation Accelerator and Google ’s Accelerator Team, refining their technologically innovative solutions to end global hunger. ⬇️ 🚀 With Google's tools and mentorship, the team has cut SHAPES setup time - a platform evaluating WFP's intervention effectiveness in response to shocks - from a month to two days, boosting efficiency and enhancing WFP's analytical and response capabilities. 🚀 Route The Meals - an optimization tool to improve supply chain logistics - was able to demonstrate its potential to improve efficiency and transform it into a widely usable global planning solution. 🚀 Using Google's expertise in #AI technology, UN Booking Hub implemented an AI solution ready for global scaling in just two months, enabling humanitarians to reduce mission planning time, accelerate rapid responses and optimize resources for greater efficiency. Find out more about the power of collaboration below ⬇️ © WFP/Benoit Lognone

Innovation 💡 takes many forms. Beyond creating economic well-being, innovation contributes to making our societies safer 🛡, greener ✅ and more resilient 🌱. 20+ years ago the first edition of the European Innovation Scoreboard 🇪🇺 was launched to help those involved in designing, delivering and assessing the impact of policy to benchmark the performance of their national (and regional) innovation system. The EIS has evolved over time in terms of the indicators used and the methods applied. In parallel, the speed and complexity of innovation has increased and the framing of innovation policy has shifted towards transformative innovation. Hence, the need for more time sensitive statistics that can feed data-driven story-telling is greater than ever. In this context, we are excited to have signed the contract with the European Commission to deliver the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) and the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) during the period 2024-2027. With our partners, we will build on the methodological foundations to ensure continuity of service while further developing the EIS and RIS so that they provide a robust evidence base for policy and help users to visualise how trends in innovation are impacting the life of all Europeans.     Technopolis Group Visionary Analytics Old-Continent OneTandem Cambridge Econometrics 4FRONT NEBS srl

Over the past decade, as internet usage has doubled in low- and middle-income countries and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence have unlocked new capabilities, many of the great hopes for how technology could improve our world have started coming to fruition: technologies are bringing life-changing health services, knowledge, and economic opportunity to even the most remote and marginalized communities. However, these developments also risk increasing gaps between the digital haves and digital have-nots, perpetuating inequities and biases, and giving authoritarian governments increasingly powerful tools to harm populations around the world. USAID Administrator Samantha Power will deliver keynote remarks and sit down with Carnegie President Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar to explore how technology is perhaps the single most decisive force shaping global development today—and to outline how to minimize the risks and maximize technology's potential to improve people’s lives. Tune into this special conversation on Thursday, July 25 @ 10:30 AM: https://lnkd.in/ewiSF8xG

For technology to be sustainable, there needs to be a shift towards businesses providing to the public sector. After attending Saïd Business School, University of Oxford's, event with Colin Mayer on capitalism, crises and the larger economic impact through business I’ve understood a couple key insights: - Procurement, licensing, and utilities amount to a substantial percent of GDP, and government policy should support businesses that improve public sector provision. - Particularly in AI and emerging technologies, regulation could lag behind the curve of our advancement. Thorold Barker provided an insight to my line of questioning, other global models incentivise companies to take responsibility rather than ineffectively attempting to regulate. The efficient and sustainable approach to managing industries like technology could involve the mobilisation of the private sector to systematically improve public sector provision. 

Just completed a fantastic course on measuring Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)! Here are some insights: - There are 17 goals with 169 targets and 231 unique indicators. - Sources include national statistical offices, international organizations, surveys, and censuses. - Data gaps, quality, comparability, and timeliness are major hurdles. - Big data, AI, and geospatial data are revolutionizing how we measure progress. - Achieving SDGs requires teamwork across governments, NGOs, and the private sector. Measuring SDGs is essential for a sustainable future, and it's exciting to see how data and innovation are driving progress.

“Innovation in our industry is truly moving at the speed of light,” said ITS America president & CEO Laura Demeo Chace. “Software-based solutions will become more commonplace. We don’t have a playbook for that. It’s not just about adopting new technologies: it requires a mindset shift – we need policy structures, workforce availability and societal acceptance. We need to explain that value to people who can’t see what we’re talking about.” Transportation is a huge area where we need to build a digital mindset. One example of how to do this is the Michelin Safer Roads project, which uses data from 40 million+ US drivers and 1 billion miles captured on the roads each day to help transportation agencies identify roads in need of repair and measure the impacts of safety improvements. As I teach in my #digitaltransformation class in our Master of Technology Management, UC Santa Barbara, there are so many opportunities to produce data to improve our businesses and change the world - but we need to know where and how to look for them. That's what developing a digital mindset is about. https://lnkd.in/ghUEPdNY

🚀 New Research Report Alert! 🚀 The Tech For Good Institute is excited to announce our latest research report: Leveraging Digital Platforms for Public Benefit. ✨ This in-depth study examines how digital platforms are not only driving digital transformation but also promoting sustainable practices across a variety of crucial sectors, including e-commerce, digital financial services, healthcare, tourism, transportation, logistics, education, and food and beverages. 🌐 Insights were gathered through a roundtable discussion with industry leaders and civil society, highlighting practical use cases and challenges in leveraging these platforms for public benefit. 🤝 Supported by Ant International, this report builds on our May roundtable (read more here: https://lnkd.in/gwBdsUCw) and illustrates the significant impact of digital platforms on communities and individuals. 🌟 🔗 Explore the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gwW6iFQf #DigitalPlatforms #TechForGood #PublicBenefit #Sustainability #DigitalTransformation #Technology #Innovation #TechForGoodInstitute Ming T. Keith Detros Regina Ng Bas Claudio Hamizah Myra Seah Hui San Carrie Suen Cecilia Hough Fiona Tan Gaurav Bhasin Gladys Chun Jamie Ko Janessa Kong Dr Joey Tan Kenneth Ng Matin Mohdari Rachel S Teo Tony Soh Peimin Lin 

Do you believe we’re now halfway through 2024? And, while AI may have dominated the headlines, exciting new innovations have been bubbling underneath the surface. Government investments, supply chain worries, and increasing pressure to meet 2025 sustainability targets are all driving organizations to deploy new technologies. Join our upcoming complimentary webinar to hear what we think are the five technologies corporate innovation leaders can move forward with confidence in the back half of 2024. https://lnkd.in/gzMzJAky

Here are answers as I questioned the AI about why there is no silicon valley like hub for water? The idea of a "Silicon Valley for Water" is an interesting concept. While there isn't a single, universally recognized hub for water technology that mirrors the status of Silicon Valley in the tech industry, there are significant efforts and clusters around the world dedicated to innovation in water management, treatment, and conservation. The absence of a centralized "Silicon Valley for Water" can be attributed to several factors: - **Diverse Challenges**: Water issues vary greatly by region, requiring localized solutions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. - **Decentralized Innovation**: Water technology innovation often happens in response to the specific needs of a local area, leading to a more distributed network of innovation hubs. - **Different Industry Dynamics**: The water industry has different market dynamics compared to the tech industry, with public utilities playing a major role and often less venture capital investment in water technologies. However, there are initiatives like the **Global Water Tech Hub Alliance** and the **National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI)**, which foster international collaboration and innovation in water technologies, acting as a collective network of hubs rather than a single location. Moreover, the tech ecosystem is evolving with new models of innovation beyond Silicon Valley. Remote work and the rise of other tech hubs show that innovation can thrive in diverse environments¹. Similarly, water technology innovation can and does occur globally, addressing the unique challenges faced by different regions.