TRACK SUMMARY
Many challenges face the world, and some situations are getting worse so rapidly that viable solutions seem daunting. In this track we explore (1) how technology can be used to bring about systemic change, quickly, and (2) tools to help investors make sense of this evolving landscape.
INTRODUCING TRACK CURATOR: JESSICA MARGOLIN
I’m Jessica Margolin. For over two decades, I’ve been intrigued by the way different “sectors” of our economy fit together. How is the home related to the community and the workplace? How do for-profits and non-profits complement each other? If someone has a bad day at work, does that affect the efficacy of the school system? If we created a person-centric model of the economy (like a carbon cycle or a water cycle) how might that inform the way we think and feel about our lives?
All these different sets of information interact. As a social entrepreneur, I’ve seen the potential of building products around access to information and technology. As an impact investment analyst, I enjoy the scale.
TRACK SESSIONS
Innovative Environments: Socially Good Products from Open Data
What can data tell us about where to invest and what projects to pursue? Jay Nath leads a panel with expertise in governmental, non-profit, and supply-chain data, discussing building alliances to source data, and the products for social good that can emerge from open data sources.
Technology Solutions: Ready to Scale
The UN Foundation leads a panel discussion of energy entrepreneurs, discussing energy poverty, working with countries on energy access plans, setting up a new platform for private sector and NGO engagement on the issue, and promoting innovative energy access solutions.
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Things that Work: Amplifying Impact Through Effective Partnership
Fostering effective and efficient innovation requires best-in class thinking and practices. Drawing on the experience, methods and resources of partners from the design, academic and private sector, UNICEF has been able to build on open-source technology platforms to co-create solutions that amplify impact. Using successfully piloted projects as examples, this panel will explore how skill sets, insights and a contextual understanding of the challenges help cross-sector teams work together to design for development.
Harnessing Disruptive Innovation: How the Rules of Innovation Can Accelerate Social Impact
Disruptive innovation and business model innovation help social entrepreneurs to drive change by democratizing and decentralizing products and services to make them more accessible and affordable for millions of people. This interactive workshop is led by innovation consultancy Innosight and will discuss how social entrepreneurs Water for People, Frontier Markets, and Ayllu are using these principles of innovation to change lives—and how those in attendance can apply these lessons to their own social impact work.
Power Shift: Making Modern Energy Affordable, Accessible and Investible at the BoP
A panel of leading BoP-aligned energy enterprises will discuss and debate how their companies are deploying innovative technology and business models, including discussions on logistical considerations and pricing strategies.
Investing for the Future of Technology
Join Jamais Cascio, one of Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers, in a sensemaking discussion. He’ll consider the intersection of emerging technologies, environmental dilemmas, and cultural transformation and introduce three future scenarios, then curate a discussion helping attendees make personal sense of their learnings. Cascio has been featured in multiple television programs discussing foresight and environmental issues, including National Geographic Television’s SIX DEGREES, its 2008 documentary on the effects of global warming, the History Channel’s SCIENCE IMPOSSIBLE, its 2009 series on emerging technologies, and the 2010 Canadian Broadcasting Company documentary, SURVIVING THE FUTURE.
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TRACK QUESTION
What opportunity is there for a technology solution to help aggregate information around social enterprise for both investors and entrepreneurs?
