Perspectives on Innovation

Chris Wilmer has been awarded for two Challenges – Synthetic DNA Management Software and Water Problems Affecting People in Developing Countries.

Science is a noble pursuit, and I would pay to be a scientist if I had to. You can imagine how lucky I feel then, that the payment works the other way around.

Designing porous materials for carbon dioxide capture and hydrogen storage is my Ph.D. research at Northwestern University in the department of Chemical & Biological Engineering. My advisor, Professor Randall Q. Snurr, has helped me tremendously to become a specialist in molecular simulations and a super-computer systems administrator. These skills, simulations, programming and systems architecture, have been invaluable when approaching InnoCentive Challenges. As the speed of computers increases, there are fewer and fewer materials science and chemistry problems that cannot be better understood by a properly designed computer simulation.

While my current research is in Chicago, I was born in Canada, and I have a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from the University of Toronto. Biology and bioengineering are my hobby sciences, which I pursue (or just read about) in my spare time. Greater exposure to these fields is one of the benefits that draws me to InnoCentive.

I have been participating regularly in humanitarian and bio-related InnoCentive challenges since August, 2009. It is enlightening to read about contemporary problems in the variety of industries to which InnoCentive caters (which as far as I can tell, is every conceivable industry short of the military), and it is also fun to attempt to solve them! I have found that, while it is difficult to come up with a great idea, it is usually easy to make a half-decent suggestion… and sometimes that’s enough!

I would like to see InnoCentive provide additional services to help Solvers and ultimately lead to better solutions for the Seekers (e.g., providing mock solutions to the Solver community that preserved the average number of typographical errors of actual winning solutions). I’m glad that InnoCentive is so successful already, and I’m sure that as it evolves it will become much more successful in the future!

If you are a would-be Solver but are unsure of how to go about it, please feel free to send me an e-mail. I have a wide variety of interests, and am always excited to collaborate on a project!

Best regards and good luck

-Chris

Adriaan Mol was one of the winners of the “Water Problems Affecting People in Developing Countries” challenge

Having worked for over 10 years for international relief and development organizations in Africa and Asia, I co-founded the social-enterprise BushProof in 2005 as a result of growing dissatisfaction with the long-term sustainability of charitable initiatives. With few exceptions, the measurable long-term impact of donor-funded NGO projects is discouragingly low, and over time I became increasingly concerned about this.

My own ‘aha’ moment came a few years ago in Somalia, when I worked for a project responding to floods in the south of this law-less country. We built several community-managed village water systems that purified contaminated river water. Before construction was even finished, a conflict broke out between various clans over the ownership of the systems. Eventually, theft of taps, refusal of the community to pay for guards and unwillingness to carry out very simple maintenance ensured that all filters were out of order within months of installation.

Before construction on the village units started, I placed a simple filter made from a plastic drum near the river, in order to test the filter quality of locally available sand. A number of local militia men were guarding some boats, and I asked them to continuously pour water in the drum for testing purposes. Naturally, they quickly ‘adopted’ the filter as their own once they saw that dirty water came out clean and fresh. Not long afterwards we had to evacuate for security reasons. Frustrated by the project’s failure to unite a violent and historically split community for the purpose of ‘community’ sand filters, I went to the river to collect the small filters. One of the guards asked me a filter as a gift, but annoyed as I was with the whole situation I curtly told him to pay for it or move on. To my surprise, the gunman returned within minutes with the 10 dollars I had asked him for – a substantial amount in that context. When I passed his house a few hours later, I found that his wife had established a small business selling clean water to her neighbors. Within hours several other people asked to buy small filters, but no more plastic drums were available…

This experience really opened my eyes. A gunfight breaks out in town over a free donor-funded village water system – but these same people gladly paid serious money for a privately owned solution. Thus was born the idea of applying entrepreneurship to solve some of the world’s most pressing needs: access to basic social services, such as drinking water or energy, which I and a partner eventually turned into reality with social-enterprise BushProof, and more recently ToughStuff, which sells affordable solar products to low-income consumers.

The opportunity to work towards poverty reduction through a business rather than a charity is very challenging but immensely motivating. Besides delivering true change, the most motivating aspect is the changed relationship with those we serve. Instead of passive beneficiaries, they are now my customers. This puts us on an equal footing, whilst forcing me to deliver true value they need most – otherwise they won’t buy it.

When I found out about the InnoCentive “Water Problems Affecting People in Developing Countries” challenge, I couldn’t resist sharing these insights and experiences: I truly hope they can be put to work and cause true chance in an environment which sorely needs more and lasting positive impact!

Best,

Adriaan

Friends of InnoCentive:

Access to clean, affordable water is something that the developed world often takes for granted. Yet, over half of the world’s population is at risk for water shortages, with far-reaching effects. Lack of adequate clean water has serious health implications, including the prevalence of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and E, and diarrhea. Globally, diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death and 88% of those deaths are due to inadequate sanitation and availability of clean water. Water shortages also foment civil unrest and often lead to violence and regional conflicts, as we have seen in Darfur, Somalia, Chad, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, among others. Lack of water perpetuates poverty, increases the risk of political instability, and affects global prosperity.

The depth and pervasiveness of this problem, spread over some 100 countries, constitutes a major global crisis. And as if this problem isn’t dire enough already, continued climate change, population growth and increased global economic growth will deepen the crisis. The problem is as complex as it is widespread. Industrial pollution, poor management of rivers and dams, policies for conservation, water distribution and pricing, agricultural practices, and idiosyncrasies of local conditions all make this a complicated problem to address.

We are seeking to identify “water issues” currently affecting people in developing countries where limited funding can be expected to create a maximum benefit for the population affected. We are not interested in “water problems” which require long term, high cost solutions but in problems where a cost efficient solution can be realized quickly with wide ranging impact. Problems which allow for smaller incremental changes or improvements are believed to be more actionable.

This Challenge does include financial awards for the best ideas, but it is my belief that the greatest reward is knowing you could have a major impact on the developing world.

Please get involved with this Challenge, either by submitting your own ideas or forwarding this Challenge to anyone/everyone that may be able to make a difference.

Best regards,
Dwayne Spradlin
CEO InnoCentive