Applying an ecosystems approach to humanitarian innovation

Abstract

There is a pressing need for innovation in the humanitarian sector, faced as it is with ever-growing demands for it to respond to the plight of people affected by both human and natural disasters. These are arguably growing in scale, scope, and complexity, and look likely to continue to do so. However, despite being referred to more explicitly in the last ten years, the understanding of humanitarian innovation by practitioners, policymakers, and academics is still very much in its infancy. To help address this issue, this paper drawn on and extends the innovation ecosystems literature to present a systematic framework for analysing innovation in the humanitarian sector. This framework is illustrated using evidence from an interview-based survey of ‘informed’ users and a set of in-depth case studies.