Social innovation is everyone’s business

With the world facing some of its greatest social, political, economic, and environmental challenges today, India, like most developing nations, is disproportionately vulnerable to threats such as health issues, natural catastrophes, and the effects of climate change. The choices that we make in such an environment should be decisive and bold, and inclusive of calculated risks that enable us to plan better, save more, build stronger, and prosper all round, in the long term.

India has made good progress on many socio-economic and developmental indicators over the years, and we now need to take the next step by leveraging the full potential of technology and social innovation to comprehensively tackle chronic issues such as access to health, climate action, malnutrition, natural resource management, etc.

Technology is one of the biggest enablers of social innovation for addressing these disparate challenges from the grassroot level upward, with solutions that haven’t been thought of, or weren’t possible, before. Private-sector assistance in the form of capital, technology, mentoring, incubation, and partnerships can go a long way in developing solutions that can eventually be adopted and scaled up through mainstream funding.

Businesses are cognizant of societal challenges; what they need to do now is leverage their capabilities and resources to catalyse all-round, inclusive societal development and economic growth through social innovation in collaboration with governments, businesses, startups, academia, and grassroots-level organizations.

Exploring synergies between business and social entrepreneurship.

The importance of collaboration lies in the fact that these entities collectively have the necessary expertise and resources required to make a large-scale difference. Such a purpose-driven ecosystem of partners can achieve their joint developmental goals while also meeting the business objectives of each.

Early-stage social enterprises and innovators often have great ideas but need capital and technical support to develop solutions that suit the needs of society and the market. They can get much-needed support from the private sector.

According to NASSCOM, India had over 140 incubators in the year 2017, and various industry sources estimate that the number has risen to over 326 since then. These incubators guide and mentor entrepreneurs in the initial stages of their journey and subsequently help them solve problems and develop their business by offering business guidance, technical assistance, initial seed funding, lab facilities, networking opportunities, and industry linkages.

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Mentoring in areas such as marketing and product development, especially when it comes from seasoned industry professionals with specialized domain expertise, can help social startups give shape to their innovations in ways that are impactful, commercially viable, scalable, and meet compliance requirements.

Some incubators invest capital themselves, while some have links to potential sources of funding. Beyond incubators, more and more private companies are launching programs that support startups in different ways. Some even offer the opportunity to participate in industry events or provide a networking platform for various stakeholders to come together and explore mutually beneficial arrangements.

The underlying objective is the same in all cases: to leverage and maximize synergies between startup, business and social development goals.

Synonymous to the above ideology, Swiss Re’s Shine is one such program that aims to address socioeconomic challenges using innovation and technology to build resilience. Now in its fifth edition, Shine is an opportunity for early-age social entrepreneurs that are working to develop solutions for climate risk management, disaster risk reduction, net-zero transformation, climate-smart agriculture, healthcare access and nutrition and become overall partners in social change.

The impact of such collaborations makes it pertinent that corporates and startups continue and strengthen their commitment to social innovation as a powerful, holistic force of positivity for societal resilience. It is my opinion that this will meaningfully contribute to the larger ecosystem growth and sustainability for years to come.