A talk delivered in Barcelona at a conference on the future of the internet, and on innovation and the social web. The talk focuses on African innovation and the lessons we can learn from African innovation for innovation in social media

1. how do social change
organizations innovate?

2. how do social change
organizations innovate?
they don’t
badly
slowly

3. as a rule:
social change organizations
are unrealistic about what’s
possible with network
technologies

4. should
how do social change
organizations innovate?

5. should
how do social change
organizations innovate?
learn from
African innovation

6. how to fail out of
graduate school

9. Picasso, “The Tragedy”, 1903

10. Gaudí, Sagrada Familia, 1882-

11. Miró, “Ladders Cross the Blue
Sky in a Wheel of Fire”, 1953

12. innovation arises
from constraint

13. photo by “mistersnappy”

14. when you have nothing,
anything is possible
photo by Eric Hersman

16. photo by Markus Wichmann
photo by Clearly Ambiguous

18. hacking the hammer

19. Lead user theory
User innovation
Eric von Hippel

20. learning from extreme cases

22. photo by JanneM

23. constraints:
cost
electric power
local materials
local maintenance
photo by JanneM

24. zeer pot
evaporative
cooling

25. Mohammed cost: $2
Bar Abba 25-30% increased profits

27. photo by Genocide Intervention

28. culture matters

29. Jiko
Berkeley-Darfur stove
locally made
3x efficiency of 3-stone fire
$30 - too expensive

30. photo by malangali

31. photo by John and Mel Kots
deforestation, 2m deaths from air pollution

33. protos stove by Bosch
und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH

34. biomass charcoal

37. Dr. Amy Smith - “carbon macrotubes”

38. • don’t fight culture

39. • don’t fight culture
• embrace market mechanisms

40. • don’t fight culture
• embrace market mechanisms
• innovate on existing platforms

41. Peter Kahugu, Nairobi (via Afrigadget.com)

42. bicycle ambulance, Namibia

43. freight vehicle,
Uganda
photo by YoungRobV

44. motorbike, Kenya

45. payphone,
Uganda

46. photo by Erik Hersman
objects become familiar, then hackable

48. photo by mooste

53. The Malawi Times, November 20, 2005

56. innovation is using the
ordinary in extraordinary ways

57. photo by Erik Hersman
what we hack now

58. photo by Esthr
-100 million handsets in sub-Saharan Africa
- 2.2 billion worldwide, rising to 3.3 billion in 2010
- 97% of Tanzanians say they can access a phone

60. blackboard +
mobile phone =
market information
system
photo by steelmonkey

61. Cash accounting, Ghana

62. photo by magganpice

63. Village phone operator, Gikongoro,
Rwanda
very close to
hawala, hundi
illegal or
innovative?

64. Over $135m
in year one.
Remittance
market is
almost
$750m per
year.
Celpay - 2%
of the
Zambian
economy

67. tracking dangerous predators

69. Citizen reporting
via blogs.

72. mobile phone
companies and diesel
incremental
infrastructure?
Ericsson tower/
turbine prototype

73. problems not always obvious from afar
what you have matters more than what you lack
infrastructure can beget infrastructure

74. innovation (often) comes from constraint
don’t fight culture
embrace market mechanisms
innovate on existing platforms
problems not always obvious from afar
what you have matters more than what you lack
infrastructure can beget infrastructure

75. Goal: Educate children in the developing world by giving
every child access to a powerful and flexible computer.

76. “education project, not a laptop project”
“blank sheet of paper” design
personal vision, quest
ambition - largest computer manufacturer in the world

77. innovation (often) comes from constraint fail
don’t fight culture pass
embrace market mechanisms fail
innovate on existing platforms pass
problems not always obvious from afar fail
what you have matters more than what you lack fail
infrastructure can beget infrastructure ?

78. Goal: support developing world entrepreneurs
via microloans from developed world.

80. heavy reliance on field partners
social networking
is capital the biggest problem?

81. innovation (often) comes from constraint pass
don’t fight culture pass
embrace market mechanisms pass
innovate on existing platforms pass
problems not always obvious from afar fail
what you have matters more than what you lack ?
infrastructure can beget infrastructure ?

82. Goal: Reform international news by amplifying
voices from the developing world.

83. filter
translate
contextualize
amplify for
mainstream
media

84. innovation (often) comes from constraint pass
don’t fight culture ?
embrace market mechanisms ?
innovate on existing platforms pass
problems not always obvious from afar fail
what you have matters more than what you lack fail
infrastructure can beget infrastructure pass

85. social innovation
never comes from
blank canvas
comes from
understanding the
needs of all parties

86. ¡gracias!
ethanzuckerman.com globalvoicesonline.org