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ABSTRACT
Innovation is becoming an important issue in international development cooperation. As the main driving force behind innovation had been the profit-seeking behavior of the firm, integrating innovation in the activities of international development cooperation requires a new framework. Here in this study, concept of social innovation was explored to create a framework so that role of each actor – government, private sector, civil society – are identified to facilitate collaboration to respond social challenges in developing countries, while international cooperation agency act as an intermediary. The validity of framework was tested using a project implemented in Africa and Japan by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The case demonstrates how innovation can be approached by international cooperation agency, acting as an intermediary, stimulating innovation not only in the recipient but also in the donor country.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 This project won the Prime Minister's Award of the 5th Open Innovation Awards, sponsored by the Japanese Government.
2 The results show that the “accepted team” might show a higher learning effect; although the members of the “accepted” and “non-accepted” teams are not randomly selected, it is assumed that they might be similar in their willingness to acquire skills, since they studied in the same schools until the selection of TC student teams through the Open Innovation Event.
3 It was also commented that the local network, such as demonstrated by Nagaoka City, helped expand the impact of the Project through reverse innovation.
4 The project was developed in anticipation of the change in the Development Cooperation Charter.