Tip sheet 5.1 - Reporting on innovation in international assistance

Canada’s approach to innovation in international assistance includes tracking, measuring and communicating the results of innovative solutions. The goal is to:

• generate knowledge
• support evidence-based decision-making
• adjust programming to achieve results

To find out how Global Affairs Canada (GAC)’s funded initiatives have helped implement innovative solutions, see the Government of Canada’s Open Government portal (data on the Global Affairs Canada’s Departmental Results Framework (DRF) Indicator 3.5.2).

For GAC, innovation in international assistance is a process, mindset and means to enable new or improved locally driven solutions for better results (outcomes)^{Footnote 1} and greater impact. The approach benefits and empowers the poorest and most vulnerable, including women and girls.

Innovative solutions can include:

• business models
• policy practices
• approaches
• partnerships
• technologies
• behavioural insights
• ways of delivering products and services

An innovation is likely to create better results and greater impact for the intended beneficiaries^{Footnote 2} and intermediaries^{Footnote 3} if they are involved and play a decisive role in the innovation process. When women and girls are actively engaged in finding a solution to a problem that affects them, they will likely benefit more from it.

For an innovative solution to be successful, it must meet 3 conditions (see figure 1 below):

1. It is implemented
2. It contributes to or achieves better results or greater impact (generating more value by solving the problem)
3. It is new or improved, when compared to existing solutions used in the implementing context

Reporting potential and unsuccessful innovative solutions is as useful as reporting successful projects. This provides learning opportunities. For potential solutions, focus on estimates of expected outcomes, indirect effects and/or impact. For unsuccessful solutions, focus on lessons learned. For an innovative solution previously reported to Global Affairs Canada, only report on updates or changes for specific elements. This is particularly important when reporting on a potential innovative solutions implemented over multiple years.

Projects with multiple innovations should report on the 3 conditions listed above for each one..

What to include in the report?

Note: Information from the categories 1) problem; 2) implementation; 5) value-added; 6) new or improved; and 7) locally driven might be published on the Open Government portal.

1) Problem: Brief description of the development problem that the innovative solution has solved or is trying to solve.

2) Implementation (description and context): Brief description of the innovative solution. As applicable, indicate change(s) since the previous reporting period or project start. Include updates on the context in which the innovative solution is being implemented, including:

• adaptation measures or actions
• variations in cost
• testing conditions
• enabling environment
• social acceptability
• ethical considerations

3) Type of innovation: Using the labels below, categorize the innovative solution. As needed, you can provide another type of innovation with description and justification.

Types of innovation in international assistance (proposed categories)

Research or knowledge innovation: New or improved applicable knowledge, evidence or technique, including behavioural insights

Organizational innovation: New or improved formal or informal organizational rules or tools, including business models, governance, planning, organizing, managing, controls, processes, information technologies, information management, organizational culture, evaluation and decision-making

Financial innovation: New or improved financial mechanism or instrument to fund development interventions or channel investments for development activities

Production or delivery innovation: New or improved production or delivery of development interventions, including networks, stakeholder ecosystems, approaches, technologies, partnerships, problem-solving techniques, formative evaluations

Product or service innovation: New or improved products or services that create value for the people affected by the problem

Policy innovation: New or improved public policy instrument to address a social problem, including laws, governance, implementation or policy-evaluation instrument

System innovation: New or improved system, or sub-system, that can be both a process and an outcome to solve a social problem that is systemic in nature, often involving a set of interconnected factors or elements (financial, organizational, production, delivery, products, services, etc.). Innovation can involve the emergence of new or improved system structures, with different interacting technological, economic, political and social elements in a system, including relationships and mindsets

4) Innovation stage: Indicate the stage(s) of the innovative solution:^{Footnote 4}

• ideation: defining and analyzing the development problem and generating potential solutions through horizon scanning of existing and new ideas
• research and development: further developing a specific innovation that has potential to address the problem
• proof of concept: field-testing the intellectual concept behind an innovation to gain an early, “real-world” assessment of its potential
• transition to scale: developing innovations that have demonstrated small-scale success and attracting partners to move the innovation to scale
• scaling: replicating and/or adapting an innovation for transformational impact
• sustainable scale: adopting or operating an innovation on a wide scale at the desired level of scale, sustained by an ecosystem of actors

Note: An innovative solution may exist at more than one stage at a time. Example: you are adapting an innovative solution for a larger population. The solution can be at the scaling stage while some of its elements could be at the ideation and testing stages.

5) Value-added: Brief description of evidence of better results. The value-added can be multi-dimensional (see Figure 2). Notably, it can relate to:

• magnitude (how much change was caused by the innovative solution)
• variety (the diverse impacts)
• sustainability (the prospects that the impacts will last)
• equity (how fairly the impacts are distributed, ensuring no one is left behind)^{Footnote 5}
• co-benefits to society, the environment or the economy (or negative impacts)

How do the results achieved compare to other solutions in the same context? Example: a cost-per-outcome analysis can demonstrate the value for money of an innovative solution compared to another.

If applicable, report other positive or negative effects that are not part of the theory of change or logic model.

For a potential innovative solution, provide:

• an estimate of the solution’s potential effects
• an estimate of performance indicators
• a description of how the estimate is made

For an unsuccessful innovation show:

• why the solution did not add the expected value
• whether the lessons helped meet the project’s learning objectives
• how you will pass on these insights to relevant stakeholders

6) New or improved (if not included in #5, value-added): Brief description of how the innovative solution departs from existing solutions in the implementing context to solve the same problem.

7) Locally driven: Brief description of how the process ensured inclusion of diverse participants and perspectives. This includes women and girls, people with disabilities, and local organizations representing them in problem identification, solution design and implementation.

For example:

• Is the solution informed by local knowledge? (Examples: Indigenous and traditional knowledge; local knowledge system; social and cultural traits)
• Is the solution premised on local analysis? (Examples: local innovators; people affected by the problem; local gender analysis and use of gender-balanced incubators; local research teams; participatory approaches)
• Is the solution locally designed? (Examples: design techniques directly involving people affected by the problem in the design of the solution, including the identification of outcomes, measurements/indicators, evaluation questions)
• Is the solution implemented in part or in full by the people affected by the problem? (Examples: participatory/collaborative/empowering implementation and evaluations; women’s representation in pilots; joint decision-making; collective action)

8) Value to beneficiaries/agents (if not included in #5, value-added): Brief description of how the innovative solution is generating value for the poorest and most vulnerable. This includes impacts on ecosystems of actors, gender equality outcome(s) and adherence to the “do no harm” principle.

9)  Methodology and data: Brief description of methods and evidence to demonstrate the positive and negative impacts of the innovation. For potential innovative solutions, provide a description of the methods that are used to measure and assess the impact of the innovative solution.^{Footnote 6}

Send questions or comments about this tip sheet to innov.dev@international.gc.ca.

Figure 1. Successful innovation in international assistance

Figure 2. Ways to measure the value-added of innovation in international assistance

This graph illustrates dimensions or metrics to see the value created by an intervention. It can be useful for stakeholders when discussing and assessing the success of an intervention or an innovative solution.

References: Sustainable Development Goals and Rockstrom & al.