“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
Focus Areas: Humanitarian Assistance
Geography: Iraq, Jordan, Somalia, Uganda, Puerto Rico
First Stop to Find Solutions
With RIL’s new Matchmaker program (supported by USAID, DEPP Innovation Labs, Start Network and DFID) the team matches humanitarian challenges with innovative, tested solutions. With every incoming challenge submitted to the Matchmaker online portal, Global Program Director, Catherine Green, and team work quickly to find existing solutions that meet the challenge parameters. RIL’s comprehensive search looks for solutions in the affected country/region and globally. Results of the Matchmaker search are presented in a “solution package”. The RIL then works with the challenge-holder to think through which solution may be most appropriate to their context and, if requested, set up meetings with the solution-holders.
“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
Landscaping to Foster Local Innovation Ecosystems with GIE
RIL harnesses GIE’s global database to support local lab managers whose day-to-day work is to connect the local humanitarian community with the local innovation community and support the use innovation within a humanitarian context to better respond to the challenges in the context. GIE has supported RIL’s lab managers to expand their network and quickly dig deeper into their local humanitarian innovation community. The GIE has even been integrated into RIL’s orientation guide as on the online resources to review in order to get up-to-speed with what is happening in the local context.
“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
RIL harnesses GIE’s global database to support local lab managers whose day-to-day work is to connect the local humanitarian community with the local innovation community and support the use innovation within a humanitarian context to better respond to the challenges in the context. GIE has supported RIL’s lab managers to expand their network and quickly dig deeper into their local humanitarian innovation community. The GIE has even been integrated into RIL’s orientation guide as on the online resources to review in order to get up-to-speed with what is happening in the local context.
"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.”
Using GIE Data to Drive Growth and Expansion
With the growing number of humanitarian emergencies, RIL is looking to open new labs in locations where the humanitarian need is great. Catherine and the team use GIE to quickly get an overview of the humanitarian innovation landscape when a lab has been established.
“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
Looking to the Future with GIE
The RIL has ambitious plans. The team looks to solidify the RIL as the go-to institution within humanitarian response for innovation capacity and advice. The RIL aims to grow both the services that in-country labs are able to offer and Matchmaker capabilities into 2019 and beyond:
"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
Response Innovation Lab's advice to innovators looking to make connections through GIE
“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!"