“Once a Lab has been established in country, we use GIE to help us to scope and research the new location we will be operating in. Our team on the ground look to GIE to see what innovators are already active in the country and to look for funding opportunities within humanitarian innovation. When we launched the online Matchmaker platform, we started using GIE to support our work in matching humanitarian challenges in the field with tested solutions. Now with the number of applications to the Matchmaker growing, GIE is still one of the first places we go to find innovations.”
Catherine Green, Global Program Director Response Innovation Lab
“In every solution package that I’ve worked on, I’ve used GIE. It is the first place I go when a Humanitarian Matchmaker application lands in my inbox."
Catherine Green, Global Program Director Response Innovation Lab
“With the GIE you can search quite an extensive database by sector and region. Some of the other databases out there are sector-specific or just aren’t as extensive as GIE. When I go to other databases, often some of the innovations are ones I’ve already come across on GIE.”
Catherine Green, Global Program Director Response Innovation Lab
“I recently on-boarded our new Iraq lab Manager. Together we reviewed GIE to support her to understand the humanitarian innovation ecosystem in Iraq. It provided her with new contacts she was able to follow up with and will assist her to be better able to bring different parts of the ecosystem together”.
Catherine Green, Global Program Director Response Innovation Lab
I keep going back to the platform to keep abreast of the developments in the global innovation scene and to refer innovative local organizations to sources of funding in the GIE that could help them test their model or scale it up."
Charlene Cabot, Uganda Response Innovation Lab Manager
"To address this, the Iraq country Lab is using the GIE database of innovators to identify innovative solutions that could address some of the challenges raised by humanitarian actors in Iraq, hence connecting actors together.”
Nathalie Rami, Iraq Response Innovation Lab Manager
“GIE is a great first stop. It gives you a really good first cast of the net of what’s out there. If you’re looking for humanitarian innovations in a particular sector or country, GIE can give you a good overview and, if you want to take it further, some entries in GIE include contact details so you can reach out directly to the the innovators.”
“We look to GIE to help us build a picture of the humanitarian ecosystem once we have established a new lab. What funding opportunities are available for humanitarian innovation there? What innovators are already working in the country? Are there interesting innovators and projects in the country can we invite them to RIL convening events? Can we meet up with these innovators to understand their innovation better and understand where they are testing their innovations in-country?”
Catherine Green, Global Program Director Response Innovation Lab
"The RIL and our Matchmaker platform is only going to grow. We’re going to use GIE more and more as a number of challenges submitted in the Matchmaker increases."
Catherine Green, Global Program Director Response Innovation Lab
“At a really practical level, the completeness and detail in the innovator’s pages is useful. When it’s not complete, it means that great ideas might not be able to be connected with the people and organizations who are working on the challenges that your innovation could solve!"