Billions of people worldwide have inadequate sanitation and lack access to clean drinking water.
In September 2018, UNICEF, Arm, The African Academy of Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a Grand Challenges Exploration – Digital Innovations for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) in Urban Settings – with the aim of improving access to safe, clean, affordable water in urban areas by investing and mentoring the competition winners. This pilot business incubation programme aims to build a foundation for growth for the Grand Challenges grant awardees. From a record 547 proposals, 15 were selected to extend their proof-of-concept phase for their digital solutions.
Goals
Mentor teams to refine project plans and conduct deep dives to accelerate the development of selected solutions.
Equip teams with the tools needed to operate sustainably and autonomously after the programme
Allow teams and innovation experts the opportunity to identify common challenges, make connections, and establish long-term strategic partnerships. Gather and share insights, tools, and best practices
Present teams with the opportunity to pitch their updated solutions in front of partners, potential donors, and humanitarian experts for feedback
Approach
Lead teams through a design sprint by introducing design principles, creating user journeys and personas, identifying pain points, and prototyping solutions
Provide one-on-one mentorship and address specific questions/challenges over the course of the bootcamp
Support teams through prototyping and pitch development by creating visual assets to help communicate their product-service offerings to an audience of peers, funders, and members of the industry
Work with partners and the UNICEF Office of Innovation partnerships, comms, and design team post-event to summarize, document, and share findings
Impact
With the bootcamp experience, and continuous support and mentorship throughout the grant period, UNICEF and Arm will further identify 1-3 of the interventions to help transition to scale, with more funding, creation and linkage to more partnerships and investments, and collaborations across industries as needed. With the experience, teams have set the foundation to successfully develop their proof-of-concept and potentially receive up to $1M in follow-on funding.
Featured In
Roles
Workshop design and facilitation, mentorship, technical support, event support
Team
UNICEF, Arm, The African Academy of Sciences with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Dates
June 2019