I am Charles Kenny, and I spent part of yesterday at a United Nations Foundation meeting with Dr Maura O'Neill, Chief Innovation Officer at USAID.

There was a lot of discussion of development applications using mobile phones (m-development) and how to do them better - things like interoperability and collecting models in an 'm-app marketplace.' And there was the usual back-and-forth between those who wanted to see more transformative projects where IT reformed whole agencies and ministries and those who thought that way madness (or at least obscene overruns) lay.

But I thought the most interesting discussion was around learning from experience - particularly in an area where technology is evolving rapidly, so a robust evaluation may not be completed before the project itself looks as dated as an integrated rural development scheme or a structural adjustment loan. The randomized trial result suggesting limited evidence of educational spillovers from a distribution program of Nintendo 64's might not carry too much weight for those wanting to hand out Wiis as part of a youth fitness program.

One way to speed learning is to encourage project managers and implementers themselves to highlight if things seem to be going particularly well or badly early on in the process. Think of it as the development equivalent of stopping the medical trial because the product so obviously doesn't work -or works so well it would be immoral to deny the control group such a valuable treatment.

Things are rarely so clear cut successes in development as they can be in medical trials, but we really didn't have to wait around too long to declare m-finance in Kenya a rip-roaring wonder, for example. On the side of failure, the problem is a little different - it might be complicated to get managers and implementers to come forward and admit so rapidly that their project is a waste of time and resources. And more than one person at the meeting suggested it is just too risky in general to say you've failed. Dark things were muttered about 'the current climate' (stormy with a 70 percent chance of budget cuts?).

The good news is that USAID doesn't look like it is shying (further) away from risk. The new Development Innovation Ventures program is designed to mimic a venture capital model to identify, test and scale solutions to development challenges. The model stages funding - so projects that don't work out at the identification or test stage won't get more money to roll out.

The meeting also discussed the possibility of a USAID FailFaire - or even Fail Summit - that would encourage people to come out in the open and say what didn't work and why. If the authorizing environment could allow, another change to encourage early exit from bad projects would be to let project managers keep some or all of the remaining budget resources from a self-declared failed project to spend on something else in the same sector and country that might actually work.

But what about 'the current climate'? First off, I'm not convinced that even the Agency's most committed supporters would be surprised that some USAID projects are duds. And they don't need a FailFaire to find examples (Google "USAID Project Failure" if you have any doubts). Second, if USAID projects never failed, that would suggest the Agency was being obscenely, counterproductively, risk-averse in a field where risk (political, administrative, economic, climate) is everywhere.

Any portfolio of investments has some bad apples - as long as it has some stars as well, that's OK. Does every enterprise supported by the Small Business Administration grant turn into a Starbucks or a Facebook? Of course not - and lots fail, miserably. But when it turns out that the market in Topeka for Che Guevara Beanie Baby knock-offs was more limited than the financial plan projected, and the business folds, the SBA moves on. USAID should do the same thing - and not be afraid of telling Congress that's the approach.

This post was originaly published as Next USAID Innovation: Learning from Failure

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a proud history of transforming development through science & technology. As part of the ambitious reform effort, USAID Forward, USAID is developing a set of Grand Challenges for Development, a framework to focus the Agency and development community on key barriers that limit breakthrough development progress.

Last Thursday, Ticora V. Jones, Ph.D., an AAAS Fellow in the USAID Office of Science & Technology, and Dave Ferguson, also of OST, informally spoke with us about the Grand Challenges for Development initiative.

Do note that while Ticora and Dave talked at the meeting, these notes are not their statements nor the position of USAID - this is my impression of the cumulative input of all twenty-five Technology Salon participants.

What is a Grand Challenge for Development?

First, USAID is trying to identify what a Grand Challenge could be. There are two questions that are framing their search:

1. What are the biggest solvable problems in development that can be addressed through science, technology, and innovation within the next 10 years?
2. Of these solvable problems, what can be readily deployed? What can be scaled? What is affordable? What could be transformative?

Note that they're trying to find a challenge that can be solved - so less "world peace" and more like the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges in Global Health:

The [Gates] Grand Challenges initiative is modeled after the grand challenges formulated more than 100 years ago by mathematician David Hilbert. His list of important unsolved problems has encouraged innovation in mathematics research ever since.

Similarly, the Grand Challenges in Global Health focuses on 14 major global health challenges with the aim of engaging creative minds across scientific disciplines - including those who have not traditionally taken part in health research - to work on solutions that could lead to breakthrough advances for those in the developing world.

Yet USAID seeks Grand Challenges in more than just health. So far, the challenge search is focused around the following initial key sectors:

• Biodiversity, Conservation, Climate Change, & Water
• Health, Nutrition, and Population
• Agriculture, Poverty, and Hunger
• Energy Access, Renewables, and Infrastructure
• Fragile States, Conflicts, and Disasters

USAID is putting the call out to us all to give them ideas for Grand Challenges, there is even a Transforming Development website that is crowd sourcing ideas from the general public with over 100 submitted so far.

Impact on Development Community

While we were all excited that USAID has a resurgent Office of Science and Technology and is embarking on Grand Challenges, the Salon discussion mainly focused on how these Grand Challenges would impact the development community - from the detail of the challenges themselves to the system in which they would be executed.

An Education Example

In education, access to primary education is generally universal across the developing world - if at least at the policy level. Yet there isn't a corollary increase in the resources applied to primary education or an increase in outcomes - children are now going to school, but are they really learning anything, or is school now an inefficient daycare?

A Grand Challenge in Education could be: ensure every child can read and write in their own language after 3 years of primary school.

Creating a solution that is affordable and effective at scale could motivate donors like USAID, governments themselves, as well as private industry, philanthropy, and new entrants to development. The challenge is also measurable, and would be transformative in the countries where it was applied.

With that as an example, what Grand Challenges can you think of?

New Systems

As noted quickly by participants, USAID does not have prize making authority from Congress, and its current procurement processes are huge barriers to entry. So USAID will need to adapt an existing contracting mechanism or seek approval to create a new system to be able to facilitate a Grand Challenge.

And "facilitate" is key. Rather than just an X Prize approach, where winners get a big check and global recognition, each challenge should attract significant non-USAID support and have its own funding mechanism. There may be mechanisms for established USAID implementers and other systems to recognize outside-the-beltway solution providers.

One example discussed was an initial grant that allows for piloting, then a larger award for solving the challenge. As well the award may not be funded by USAID at all, but defined by the beneficiaries of the challenge (maybe government funding in the education example).

Would you have ideas on how to fund a Grand Challenge?

Feedback Requested

As the Grand Challenge initiative is still in its formative stages, both Ticoa and David were very adamant that they wanted feedback - ideas for Grand Challenges, ways to implement them, and how both could have great impact on methods and results of international development.

So be sure to offer your advice in the comments below and join us at the next Salon.

US Government agencies have issued a number of Grand Challenges to spur science, technology, and innovation. There is even Challenge.gov to solicit new challenges and solutions from the public. USAID is also looking at Grand Challenges, and had a recent conference to discuss them: Transforming Development through Science, Technology and Innovation.

As part of this overall initiative, Ticora V. Jones, Ph.D., an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in the USAID Office of Science & Technology will be leading us in a discussion on USAID's renewed focus on science and technology in development and how a USAID Grand Challenge might bring greater impact to our work.

Please join her and your Technology Salon peers to share insights on the largest solvable problems in development and the role of science and technology in addressing them.

USAID Grand Challenges
December DC Technology Salon
Thursday, Dec 2, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

We'll have hot coffee and Krispe Kreme donuts for a morning rush, but seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first fifteen (15) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

On April 15th, we had a lively discussion on public-private partnerships with Robert Schneider, Senior Alliance Advisor, in the Office of Development Partnerships, Private Sector Alliances Division at USAID. Rob is the ICT partnerships lead for ODP/PSA, or as many may recognize better, the Global Development Alliances (GDA) office

Do note that while Rob Schneider presented at the meeting, these notes are not his statements or the position of USAID - this is my impression of the cumulative input of all twenty-five Technology Salon participants.

Evolution of Partnerships

Public-private partnerships, of which GDA's and PSA's are a subset, have moved from what was once more of a corporate social responsibility activity to assuage international critics, to become a key competitive business advantage for companies that may also improve relations with host country governments and the local communities in which they operate.

"Avoiding Nigeria" has also become a common refrain, as companies want to make sure the communities in which they operate see them as net benefactors, not as pure extractors.

"Picking Winners"

Good partnerships do not distort local markets; they drive increases in market size and new market penetration where there isn't currently a market to begin with. To take agricultural inputs as an example, when a donor subsidizes business loans for an innovative, first-mover company expansion or guarantees borrower payback of inputs, the donor is helping private enterprise realize the market potential in a risky market. The company, now understanding the risks and returns, can price accordingly, which over time helps other companies do the same - leading to competition, not monopolies.

Incorporating Small Companies

Often, we only hear of partnerships with Fortune 500-type companies and there can be the impression that alliances overlook small American companies and local country firms. To an extent this is true, but mainly because big firms have the capacity to invest the staff time and resources in building partnerships, and the resulting activities have outsize impact - changing Wal*Marts purchasing habits impacts the global retail market.

However,,USAID Missions are encouraged to have close relationships with local companies and many form partnerships with firms at the district and national levels..

Measurement & Evaluation

Funding for measurement and evaluation has been on the decline for years, which makes any level of assessment difficult. In addition, contracting mechanisms discourage long-term review of projects - expenses are not allowed after the contract period, which can be much too soon to see big impacts.

Even when evaluations are performed, they risk being suppressed. Politically, bad news is not encouraged by either public or private organizations, and private companies seeking to sustain a competitive advantage over rivals do not always welcome the publicity of good news.

Yet, social networking technologies like Facebook and Twitter, could allow greater beneficiary participation in evaluations without a large increase in resources.

Strategies for Success

Successful alliances usually are multi-party partnerships - several entities coming together to achieve common goals. This may be daunting at the onset, but by having several participants, partnerships have greater resources and can better survive the defection of a participant.

Concentrating efforts in countries with USAID missions that encourage public-private partnerships and are already bought-in to the benefits that alliances can bring is one way to increase the likelihood of success. However, not every Mission is focused on building alliances at the moment, so implementing partners should assess both mission and private sector appetite for partnership before spending a lot of time creating a partnership.

In addition, implementing partners should seek idea buy-in from all stakeholders - from private industry to USAID to local organizations - before they create a project or seek resources for it. This is key as staff turnover can derail projects if there isn't deep organizational commitment.

Other Impressions

For more participant impressions of the event, please check out PPPs and Sustainability by Matt Vanderwerff of IREX.

Global Development Alliances (GDA's) are USAID's innovative public-private alliance model to mobilize business and civil society to stimulate economic growth. Yet GDA's and Private Sector Alliances (PSA's) can be confusing and intimidating, especially when a proposal deadline is approaching too quickly.

Successful alliances take commitment, so invest a morning of your time learning how to create Private Sector Alliances with USAID, courtesy of Rob Schneider, Senior Alliance Advisor, Office of Development Partners.

Rob will explain the overall GDA strategy, dive into PSA's, and answer your ICT alliances questions at the next Washington DC Technology Salon:

USAID Private Sector Alliances
April DC Technology Salon
Thursday, April 15, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

We'll have hot coffee and Krispe Kreme donuts for a morning rush, but seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first fifteen (15) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

Competitive private companies know that just adopting the tools of ICT will not magically lead to productivity gains - it takes much change and investments in business processes to really reap the rewards that ICT can bring. But this basic tenant can be lost in the hype around specific devices or technologies.

So how can donor-funded projects that aim to increase enterprise competitiveness using ICT, make sure companies can take advantage of technological advances to create a sustainable advantage? Or even a strategic advantage.

In the November Technology Salon, we'll get an exclusive sneak peak at "How Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can Catalyze Enterprise Competitiveness", a brief from the Business Growth Initiative (BGI), that's not yet released.

In our forum, we'll be able to review and give our opinion on the brief's ability to inform those who design and implement donor-led ICT projects through its four sections:

1. A framework for supporting ICT as a tool to improve enterprise competitiveness for donor projects
2. Examples of framework operation in agriculture/agribusiness, tourism, and manufacturing sectors.
3. Lessons from donor-initiated ICT projects with greater impacts, more sustainability, and larger scale
4. Recommendations to donors on creating better ICT-enabled business and competitive environments.

Please join us Thursday, November 19, for what will be a lively discussion around enterprise competitiveness and donor funding at the intersection of technology and development. We'll be led by Michael Ducker, an ICT development specialist focused on supporting ICT, entrepreneurs and innovation.

Can Donors Improve Enterprise Competitiveness with ICT?
November Technology Salon
Thursday, November 19, 8:30-10am
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

Do note that we'll have hot coffee and Krispe Kreme donuts for a morning rush, but seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first fifteen (15) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.

The Technology Salon returns to Washington DC this September 25th to explore an innovative initiative from USAID: ICT4D Challenges.

Akin to the contests that had Lindbergh cross the Atlantic and Rutan/Branson cross into space, ICT4D challenges (contests, makeovers, and competitions) will leverage user-driven innovation to create ICT-based solutions for major development challenges, with the incentive of cash prizes and possible inclusion in a USAID project.

These challenges will spur innovation at the nexus of development and technology while forging new connections between the technology and development communities.

What better forum to explore where USAID is going with these challenges and help shape that path than the Technology Salon, our intimate and informal discussion of technology and development?

Leading the conversation will be Seema Patel, Alliance and Management Specialist for DAI, who is consulting with USAID on the Global Development Commons Initiative - the sponsor of the ICT4D challenges. Our gracious host is the UN Foundation and I'll have coffee and donuts for a good morning sugar rush to wake everyone up.

September Technology Salon: USAID ICT4D Challenges
Thursday, September 25th, 8:30-10am,
UN Foundation Conference Room
1800 Mass Avenue, NW, Suite 400,
Washington, D.C. 20036 (map)

Do note that seating is limited and the UN Foundation is in a secure building. So the first dozen (12) to RSVP will be confirmed attendance and then there will be a waitlist.