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Conceptualising Inclusive Innovation: Modifying Systems of Innovation Frameworks to Understand Diffusion of New Technology to Low-Income Consumers

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Abstract

Inclusive innovation is the means by which new goods and services are developed for and/or by the billions living on lowest incomes. Although a topic of increasing interest, it has been relatively under-researched and under-conceptualised to date. This article studies arguably the most successful new technology to reach low-income groups: the mobile phone, focusing specifically on its diffusion in Kenya. Systems of innovation are shown to be an appropriate frame for conceptualisation of inclusive innovation. However, the conventional content of this framework must be modified to allow for particular features of inclusive innovation, including the nature of innovations required, the actors involved and their interrelations, the type of learning they undertake, and the institutional environment in which they operate. Four system domains must be effective if inclusive innovation is to succeed: the product, its retailing and support, the micro-enterprises that provide these demand-side services, and the wider context.

Abstract

L’innovation inclusive est le moyen par lequel de nouveaux produits et services sont développés pour et/ou par les milliards de personnes aux revenus les plus faibles. Bien que ce thème fasse l’objet d’un intérêt croissant, il reste à ce jour relativement peu étudié et sous-conceptualisé. Cet article examine la technologie qui a probablement le mieux réussi à atteindre les populations à faibles revenus, à savoir le téléphone mobile et, plus particulièrement, sa diffusion au Kenya. Nous montrons que les systèmes d’innovation constituent un cadre approprié pour la conceptualisation de l’innovation inclusive. Toutefois, le contenu traditionnel de ce cadre doit être modifié pour pouvoir prendre en compte les caractéristiques particulières de l’innovation inclusive, notamment la nature des innovations nécessaires, les acteurs impliqués ainsi que leurs interrelations, les types d’apprentissage qu’ils entreprennent et l’environnement institutionnel dans lequel ils évoluent. Quatre domaines de système doivent fonctionner efficacement pour permettre le succès de l’innovation inclusive: le produit lui-même, sa distribution et les services d’assistance, les micro-entreprises qui fournissent ces services axés sur la demande et, enfin, le contexte général

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Notes

  1. During research work in a single mobile trading area in Nairobi – albeit a particularly dense one – a street-by-street survey found more than 2000 micro-enterprises connected to either mobile phone sales or demand-side services. Such figures are only indicative: informal enterprises are often missed in surveys, and it is not possible to extrapolate nationally from this single urban cluster. However, it is estimated that phone and airtime sales, public payphone operation, and related activities employ 157 000 full-time equivalent people in Kenya (GSMA, 2011); a figure consistent with findings in other African nations of around 10 informal sector phone-related jobs for every 1 formal sector job (Nzepa et al, 2011).

  2. Figures not substantially different from the proportion of the Kenyan population that each of these groups represents.

  3. The policy was not perfect: local council police still sometimes tried to enforce other licensing rules – such as fire safety or signage – in order to extract bribes. And it was reported by respondents that licensing rules were poorly implemented outside Kenya's main cities.

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Foster, C., Heeks, R. Conceptualising Inclusive Innovation: Modifying Systems of Innovation Frameworks to Understand Diffusion of New Technology to Low-Income Consumers. Eur J Dev Res 25, 333–355 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2013.7

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