Perspectives on Innovation

Many of you have been impacted by the story of SunNight Solar, and their BoGo light (Buy One, Give One). Founded by former US Diplomat Mark Bent, SunNight Solar uses the latest scientific advances in solar and lighting technology to provide light to people in developing countries. When you purchase a light from them, they match your purchase and send a light to the location of your choice. SunNight Solar posted a Challenge to the InnoCentive Marketplace to improve their existing light, so that it could illuminate an entire room as well as work as a handheld flashlight. The Challenge was solved and the company has already begun production of these improved lights, less than a year after posting the Challenge. I recently asked Mark for an update on this exciting project - his thoughts are below:

My name is Mark Bent, and I posted the Challenge to improve the design of my original solar flashlight on Innocentive.  This need for improvement came as a direct result of feedback from World Bank and Department of Energy field research on my lights in Africa.  People liked the original device, but it did not replace a kerosene lantern, because it did not light up a room.  After trying, and failing, to develop a light which had this feature, I turned to Innocentive, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.

Within the next ten days - by the end of October 2008, we will have a second factory come on line to produce our lights - the original factory cannot keep up with the demand.  Via Innocentive, our electronics and other components are pretty amazing and the lights have been very, very welcomed by the consumer and are in use worldwide.

We are starting up a new program to get these lights to our military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan - the SL-2 - SunLight 2, or SuperBoGo, was so well received by the Marines and soldiers, we wanted to do another program to get them more lights - please see http://www.warlights.com/.  These will be camouflage lights - not a good idea to carry bright orange lights in a war zone and the combat soldiers probably would not appreciate the pink lights much either.

We continue to improve this model and will be coming out with variations in the very near future, both in appearance and in function - lights which cure jaundice in infants via blue LEDs will be the next light and we have many more versions planned.

Thanks InnoCentive and thanks to all of the customers who support our BoGo Lights and other social programs.

Best regards,

Mark

CEO - SunNight Solar
Mark Bent

http://www.sunnightsolar.com/blog/

Liz Moise:
I’m joined by Ray Umashankar, Executive Director of the ASSET India Foundation. ASSET India is a non-profit organization that provides computer literacy programs to marginalized children in India so they will have the skills and knowledge needed to escape the sex trade industry in India. ASSET India recently posted a Challenge on InnoCentive seeking the solution of a solar-powered wireless router so they could bring their services to rural parts of India. The Challenge was recently solved by Solver, Zacary Brown. We’ll be putting out the announcement in the next few weeks. Ray, Can you describe the challenges that marginalized Indian children face and how your organization is working to alleviate them?

Ray Umashankar:
Liz, all the new found wealth generated by India’s prominence as a global IT power has not trickled down to the people at the bottom of the pyramid. Life at the bottom of the pyramid has become even more difficult with rising food and fuel costs.

Working with nonprofits to help abused women and children get back on their feet, our daughter Nita was stunned to discover the hopelessness of the children of sex workers. She knew she would see dire poverty in India, but these children seemed to be the most disenfranchised of all: even the poorest of the poor ostracized them. The fear of HIV/AIDS made it worse.

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