Collaborative Platforms: Ripple Effect (India)

A novel approach transforms access to safe drinking water by those at the base of the economic pyramid.

      Acumen Fund + IDEO set out to improve access to drinking water with their Ripple Effect project. Pioneered in India, they took a unique approach to seeding innovation amongst various water providers. They held a collaborative design-thinking workshop with various local organisations from which ideas were developed that suited their respective contexts. Five ideas were taken forward with seed funding and support from Acumen and put into action on the ground.


      The Ripple Effect created a platform for ideas, collaborations and impactful solutions. It illustrates that seed funding alone isn't the only route to innovation – *cross-pollinating, motivating, brainstorming, incubating, collaborating* can also be part of the picture if we are to transform various global challenges.


What other examples are there of initiatives which foster these activities? And I don't just mean in the development sector. How about for education, technology, transport, health, finance, governance, etc in both affluent and non-affluent countries?


     (Shout-out to my buddies and collaborators at Quicksand in Delhi who made the Ripple Effect video! We've been working further in the Indian sanitation space here: http://bit.ly/9xUwr7)