The ideas so far, and the Frontier beyond
There’s just one week to go until the application deadline for our 9th call for ideas, and we’re already seeing signs that an incredible new cohort of FCDO Pioneers is soon to arrive.
The Frontier Tech Hub receives far more ideas than are able to be funded, but every idea, regardless of its outcome, is a signal of where FCDO staff are spotting opportunities to harness technology in their development and diplomacy work. This in itself is a fascinating insight into the extent of the space available to harness tech within FCDO’s work.
Over the past month we have been joined by hundreds of FCDO colleagues in ideation workshops
In these workshops we hold space to explore development and diplomacy challenges alongside technologies such as IoT, sensors, solar power, blockchain and AI. In a quick, agile setup teams combine the two: looking for an idea where the technology is solving the challenge.
At the Frontier Tech Hub, we believe that playfulness, brainstorming, and testing are important ingredients for innovation. With that in mind, the goal of these workshops aren’t for FCDO staff to create refined or excellent ideas that could actually be applications to our programme. It wasn’t even to come up with technically possible or viable ideas.
In this space, attendees had the opportunity to experiment, ideate, and play in the hope that we might spark an idea with potential merit, that we could then support them to develop further. Each session is an “innovation mash-up" to inspire tech-led problem solving and, hopefully, inspire some applications to our 9th call for ideas.
There is plenty in our pilot portfolio to inspire more ideas
If you haven’t made it to an ideation workshop, then don’t worry. We have a wealth of stories and insights to inspire the next generation of FCDO Pioneers, and you can explore the entire portfolio on this page.
Here are three areas of interest which attendees shared in our last workshop, with links to videos, photo essays and pilot profiles which align with each:
If you’re interested in strengthening local community resilience, we would recommend watching this short film about our community based adaptation pilot in Nepal. They are equipping local communities with the data needed to plan against natural disasters such as flooding and landslides, and even won a knowledge-into-use award which enabled them to present their project at COP last year.
If you’re interested in digital finance and inclusion, we would recommend diving into this interview with Pioneer Matthew MacDevette, who asked: Could we use digital remittances to upend the way we think about informal business support in Southern Africa – and let businesses themselves decide what they need? OR read a photo essay about the mobile-money bikes which supported female farmers in Zambia to double their income.
If you’re interested in smart agricultural solutions, take a look at three pilots, all of which are experimenting with new ideas in the sector: Testing the production of hydroponic fodder for cattle in Nigeria, optimising insect protein production in Kenya and enabling smallholder farmers to access the global carbon markets in Uganda
Have you applied yet?
There’s still time! Watch a 2 minute video which explains the programme on our Call 9 page and book a coaching call to discuss potential ideas.
If you’re not quite ready to apply this year, then we would love to invite you to join the FT Network, to keep learning, exploring and considering the role of tech in FCDO’s work.
We look forward to seeing your applications soon.
