CREATING SOCIAL CHANGE 10 INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
By John Voelcker
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Summer 2006
ALMOST EVERY DAY WE READ ABOUT some cool new technology that promises to change the world. Many of these products will indeed do that but their impact will be greatest for those of us already living comfortable lives in industrialized nations. Meanwhile, most people in developing countries are left to contend with deadly diseases, smoggy air, dirty water, poor nutrition, widespread illiteracy, outdated tools, and unreliable electricity. Who creates gadgets to change their world?
The 10 social entrepreneurs profiled in this article do. But they don’t just invent gizmos – low-cost eyeglasses, sanitary toilets, cleaner-burning engines. They products’ distribution, adoption, and maintenance. What’s the payback period? Will users perceive enough financial return to part with their very hard-won cash? Is the product ready to use on its own, or will someone need to build an infrastructure to support it?
Most of the enterprises profiled here are not in business to make a profit. Yet all apply the principles of running a commercial venture: clarify the value of the product, test the product extensively before launching it, and always listen to customers. Whether rich or poor, customers will let you know whether a product improves their lives.
These social entrepreneurs also discount many of the widespread myths about technology in the developing world. They agree that poor people can afford technology as long as they see how it financially benefits them and their children. And poor people can maintain technology, as long as someone trains them to do so.
A few of the products we profile are technically complex: Envirofit’s engine kit (see p. 47), which reduces pollution from two-stroke engines while improving fuel economy; Hib Vaccine Team’s vaccine against influenza (see p. 51), which relies on a completely synthetic antigen; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s OpenCourseWare (see p. 49), which takes advantage of the Internet to offer its course materials to everyone.
Other projects use small-scale, local technologies that sidestep reliance on expensive infrastructures like electricity. The Enviro Loo (below) provides sanitation without water or electricity. The VitaGoat (see p. 48) uses only human power and local fuels to preserve food. And the Kinkajou LED projector (see p. 50) lets people study at night without electricity or books.
All 10 enterprises received awards for "technology benefiting humanity" from the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., in November 2005. For these awards, the museum received 560 nominations from 80 countries, and then chose 25 recipients. The 10 technologies profiled here were selected from among these 25.
