(By Dr. R. Ridley, Director, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR); Geneva)

Innovation is the act of bringing about an improvement by introducing something new, such as an idea, product or process. It is applicable to business and technology as well as all areas of life.

Distinction between invention and innovation.

Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process

Innovation includes carrying it out into practice

Diffusion of innovations is in two folds which include:

Cultural diffusion more like geographical diffusion

Process of adaptation and improvement

Innovation for health — can occur at any stage along the value chain of capacity building and knowledge management which may include the following:

New knowledge/discoveries

New and improved tools

New and improved interventions

New and improved strategies

Although ANDI focuses on technological innovation, the whole value chain remains important.

Some examples of innovation for health

Fleming’s discovery of penicillin and its development, production and widespread distribution as a drug.

Discovery of the value of oral rehydration therapy and its scaled-up production and availability in endemic and epidemic situations.

Concept of community-directed interventions for delivery of ivermectin for river blindness and its validation by experimentation and scaled up implementation.

The new TDR Vision is to foster an effective global research effort on infectious diseases of poverty in which disease endemic countries play a pivotal role. However, for disease endemic countries to play a pivotal role, they must be involved in generating innovation of their own as well as testing the innovations of others.

Countries engaging and succeeding in innovation-driven development include South Korea and Singapore while India, China, Brazil, South Africa and the Gulf states are also making progress. Brazil in the 1990s invested only in R&D with no economic growth. It has recently adopted the two pronged approach of R&D and innovation, and they are beginning to experience some measure of economic growth.

For health, it has to be shown that R&D is not just for discovery but for wealth creation. Innovation has to take into account the different fields of human endeavour and not just any singular discipline in order to succeed. The countries of the north see the cost of innovation as not just a cost but an investment for economic growth.

Some activities and behaviours associated with innovation include:

Experimentation

Research and development

– The EU Lisbon Strategy has set as a goal that their average expenditure on R&D should be 3 % of GNP

Entrepreneurship

Risk taking

Persistence

Managing innovation is often complex and reasons for innovation failure are:

External causes

Idea proven invalid or unworkable

Change (reduction) in demand and need for the innovation and/or inability to obtain resources for development

Superior (competing) innovation developed

Internal causes include poor

Organisation and leadership

Goal definition

Participation in teams

Monitoring of results

Knowledge management

Common to both — poor communication

Some observations

Organisation and management can be as important as the idea
Organisational structures can in themselves be innovative
Borrow from others what works well and adapt it to your needs
ANDI concept can lead to innovation ‘potentially’

Some strategic considerations or questions for ANDI are:

Why ANDI now?

What ‘cost-effective’ practices can be used?

Are there opportunities for African innovation to be competitive?

Why ANDI now? Environmental considerations.

There is a new international movement for the initiative through frequent meetings on R&D and innovation. Hence there is a growing international and governmental interest e.g.

There is a growing recognition that capacity for innovation is a pre-requisite for sustainable economic development

The capacity and critical mass for R & D is now present in many countries to provide a platform for innovation to move forward.

Cost consideration: some proven practices with low start-up costs are

Public-private partnerships

Virtual product discovery and development

Venture capital support for biotech start-ups

Technology transfer

Networks — through network, you can access ’scarce’ expertise and build capacities as well as utilise new information technologies. Hence there is no need for reinventing the will.

Opportunities –- There are opportunities that could help drive innovation in Africa and make African R&D and innovation competitive. For example:

New technologies allow for innovative organizations and networking, e.g. mobile phones; internet.

The fact that there are different regional disease burdens and needs of users of innovations. Africans are better placed to develop appropriate tools for African innovation.

Markets that are small in the context of developed countries could be meaningful in developing countries.

Indigenous knowledge is available and may be useful.

NOTES

1. Africa could skip a generation of innovation methodologies by building upon networks as they did in communication technology.
2. Regional variation in disease burden calls for regionally driven solutions.
3. Leading causes of death in Africa are infectious diseases, which account for about 60%.
4. There is a vast array of literature on networking for ANDI to take advantage of and break the cycle of poverty and diseases.
5. There is the need for leadership in quality management of research, network and training at the national, institutional and individual level.
6. ANDI provides an opportunity to:

– Address regional poverty — associated health issues through innovation
– Build regional capabilities critical for economic development through network