Humanitarian Innovation Fund: Managing Innovation in Humanitarian Aid

The humanitarian sector is characterised by an extreme innovation challenge. Under disaster conditions there is an urgent need for problem solving and normal solution pathways may be blocked off; much depends on finding new ways to deal with the crisis. Yet, although innovation has been a core feature of the sector it is only recently that thinking has moved towards how it might be managed more systematically and in particular how learning about good practice might be exchanged across the sector. This case study explores the context for humanitarian innovation (HI) and looks at the emergence of a system level model for managing it in systematic fashion. Based on the experiences of humanitarian innovation, this reinforces that taking a more systemic and systematic approach would pay dividends in terms of more effective innovation processes. It highlights the specific issues in this context and the value of generic frameworks which might enable cross-sector learning around good innovation management practices. Finally, the discussion suggests that there are promising signs that a more strategic approach is being taken, informed by a well-developed understanding of innovation.