Trends in Social Innovation

The Collective Intelligence Committee (CIC) of Red Innova, thanks to the participation of social entrepreneurs from different continents and diverse economic environments, brings together experiences and ideas that impact our society. In the new reality we are facing, their impact investment projects are more important than ever.

The world is undergoing profound changes that affect countries, businesses and people. Start-ups, thanks to their resilience have been the first to react by adapting their businesses to the ever changing situation and offering altruistic solutions to new needs.

The coronavirus crisis has made it clear that innovation and technology are here to stay. Now the big challenge is to get social services, that can be offered through technological channels, to reach those who need it most, without leaving anyone behind due to lack of resources.

Digital technology has become a powerful tool allowing young refugees to study and develop their full potential in order to access skilled jobs. Through technological solutions they can study, receive training for skills development and mentoring, and participate in specific employment programs and entrepreneurial incubators.

Water and soil quality are fundamental to agriculture, a sector that feeds us all and is threatened by over-exploitation and climate change. We talked to two experts in this field who told us about the opportunities provided by social innovation and technology.

In Murcia, a project based on regenerative agriculture aims to change agricultural practices and provide training to farm workers to stop soil degradation and encourage entrepreneurship among small farmers in the area.

Through events with entrepreneurs, investors, project incubators and universities, Laura McDermott, Design Lead at the IE Center for Social Innovation, reveals the main players supporting and promoting social entrepreneurship in each country. Improving our knowledge of every area of reference for our Fundación MAPFRE Awards for Social Innovation reinforces this competition’s potential.

In the United States, diabetes prevention programs (DPP) are being developed specifically for the variety caused by obesity and high sugar levels. However, the time and travel costs involved are the two major impediments for joining these types of program. Digital medical care appears to offer a solution, not just for diabetes but for other chronic diseases.

The goal of the Collective Intelligence Committees is to provide a space to facilitate knowledge sharing among members of the Red Innova network, as well as to provide valuable information for society in general. We present you with the findings of the first committee on the behaviors of millennials.

At the beginning of 2019, Red Innova launched its first Collective Intelligence Committee (CIC), and since then its members have been collaborating and thinking about how millennials take part in companies with a social impact. The fact that the Committee members hail from different regions (Brazil, Spain, Chile and Ireland) has provided the conversation with diverse points of view but has also demonstrated how similar their ideas are.

Whether we are looking at a company’s output or the outcome of their activities, impact is an invaluable variable when evaluating an investment or social innovation project. However, do we know exactly what this means or how to measure and compare so many different realities?

Agile methodologies are gaining ground over traditional methods of managing technology projects. Their strength lies in dedicating all their efforts into creating a product which is of the highest value possible for the client. In applying them to social innovation, this drive and dedication is focused towards carrying out tasks that create the biggest impact possible for the beneficiaries, learning with each step what provides true value.

Second-hand bicycles that enable Indian children who live in remote areas get to school or changing the lives of people in India and Bulgaria by involving them in the world of flamenco are simple actions can become innovative initiatives, changing the environment in which they are carried out and meeting some of the needs of places with economic limitations.

Over the last 20 years, the concept of privacy has changed radically. We have gone from a situation of total mistrust when it comes to sharing personal data to not knowing, in some cases, who we are sharing them with, for what purpose and what is done with them. The implementation of the GDPR could be a turning point that will make us much more aware of who we are sharing our data with and the power they have.

How do you get plants to grow in the garden of HealthTech companies? If we take the major companies of the health sector and carefully graft onto them startups belonging to the HealthTech species, we will see how the strengths of one variety compensates for the weaknesses of the other.

Every social innovator, especially those that start companies, face the following paradoxes on a daily basis: generating social value as opposed to economic value and the use of technology versus empathy towards the communities that receive or participate in services. Every time, the social innovator needs to come up with a fresh solution. This also involves innovating.