Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario
Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario
THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INNOVATION• Budgetary constraints, rising costs and lack of resources for newprogramming: In the context of government deficit reduction, civil servantsare under increasing pressure to effectively allocate resources to ensure thatsociety has the services and resources to succeed, yet allow industry toremain competitive. The costs of an aging society, pension liabilities,decreasing tax revenues and other social issues threaten to hamper publicspending in the foreseeable future.• An era of change: Much of what is currently taken for granted in socialpolicy and service delivery began as promising ideas and unproven practicesin the 1940’s. For the next 60 years, government was viewed as the primaryor sole “problem-solver” of social issues through public policy discourse orfunding. Over the past decade, policy experts have come to understand thatthese problems may require solutions beyond the traditional ones. There isan increasing sense that we have reached a tipping point towards a newparadigm of shared responsibility. Most governments, non-profits, and evenmany businesses, understand that they need to move beyond isolated rolesand dynamics to find new ways of creating social well-being. This concepthas begun to dominate policy discussions over the past several years and thetraditional paradigms of what constitutes public and private responsibility aredissolving.2. THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INNOVATIONInnovation has to start somewhere. The birth of a new idea may be promptedby a creative person, organization or government interested in solving a newproblem or a difficult problem that has remained persistent despitetraditional remedies.Innovation counts for little unless it produces something tangible that people can use, a product ormethods that makes them more productive or which helps solve a problem. Our innovators have allcreated reliable, repeatable methods, processes, services or tools which people can use to learn moreeffectively. The kernel of these projects is a simple innovation that successfully meets a clear need(Leadbeater, 2012).The concept proposed by the Stanford Center [see Four elements of innovationsp. 9] provides a framework for defining the “innovation” in social innovation as anovel solution that is more effective or efficient than pre-existing alternatives(Phills et al., 2008).8• Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs?
THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INNOVATIONFour elements of innovations:• the process of innovating or generating a novel product or solution, which involves technical,social and economic factors• the product and invention itself – an outcome that is called “innovation proper”• the diffusion or adoption of the innovation, through which it comes into broader use• the ultimate value created by the innovationSource: The Stanford Center of Social Innovation(Phills, Deiglemire and Miller, 2008, p. 38)However, while “innovation” may be a clear concept, often rooted inmanagement theory and practice, it is harder to define the “social” in socialinnovation as it lends itself to ambiguous and arbitrary definitions and an endlessrange of activities. In general, “social” is taken to describe specific societalrelations and motivations, a class of issues or problems or activities that aredistinct from financial or economic values.Looked at this way, the term “social innovation” can be differentiated from othertypes of innovations whose purposes are primarily for-profit and may havepotential secondary social benefits. Social innovations focus primarily on socialbenefits, with an incline towards the perpetuation of social values – benefits tothe public or society as a whole – rather than on private values of gain forentrepreneurs, investors and direct consumers. Social innovations can take theform of products, production processes or technology, a principle, an idea, a pieceof legislation, a social movement, an intervention or combination of these (Phillset al., 2008).Smartphones: Innovation with unintended social benefitsSmartphones offer a good example of the nuance that distinguishes social innovation fromtraditional notions of innovation. Created for the benefit of their companies’ shareholders,smartphones have generated social benefits well beyond their economic profits. Smartphonetechnology has provided a revolutionary platform for social innovators to create softwareapplications (apps) that have become indispensable to many fields and used for a range of socialimprovement purposes. Apps such as Audible, LookTel Money Reader and VizWiz, for example,have revolutionized communication for the blind and deaf-blind in ways unmatched since theinvention of Braille. In the context of this paper, smartphones are a traditionally understoodinnovation, while apps created by social innovators with the intent to improve lives,communities and whole societies – rather than as a means to generate profit – can beunderstood as social innovation.Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs? • 9
- Page 1 and 2: TheCentreforLiteracyLe centre d’a
- Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTSOverview . . . . .
- Page 5 and 6: AUTHORSJohn MacLaughlinJohn MacLaug
- Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTIONWhat is social innovati
- Page 9: FIVE DRIVERS OF SOCIAL INNOVATION1.
- Page 13 and 14: WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN
- Page 15 and 16: WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN
- Page 17 and 18: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLD4.2 New C
- Page 19 and 20: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDThree cha
- Page 21 and 22: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDCharacter
- Page 23 and 24: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLD4.5 Socia
- Page 25 and 26: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDFrom an i
- Page 27 and 28: CAN SOCIAL INNOVATIONS HELP LES PRO
- Page 29 and 30: TO CONSIDER: A CHALLENGE TO THE FIE
- Page 31 and 32: GLOSSARYSocial Enterprise LendingTh
- Page 33: WORKS CITEDAcker, C. & Rowen, N. (F
- Page 36: ISBN: 978-1-927634-00-4 Copyright
THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INNOVATIONFour elements of innovations:• the process of innovating or generating a novel product or solution, which involves technical,social and economic factors• the product and invention itself – an outcome that is called “innovation proper”• the diffusion or adoption of the innovation, through which it comes into broader use• the ultimate value created by the innovationSource: The Stanford Center of Social Innovation(Phills, Deiglemire and Miller, 2008, p. 38)However, while “innovation” may be a clear concept, often rooted inmanagement theory and practice, it is harder to define the “social” in socialinnovation as it lends itself to ambiguous and arbitrary definitions and an endlessrange of activities. In general, “social” is taken to describe specific societalrelations and motivations, a class of issues or problems or activities that aredistinct from financial or economic values.Looked at this way, the term “social innovation” can be differentiated from othertypes of innovations whose purposes are primarily for-profit and may havepotential secondary social benefits. Social innovations focus primarily on socialbenefits, with an incline towards the perpetuation of social values – benefits tothe public or society as a whole – rather than on private values of gain forentrepreneurs, investors and direct consumers. Social innovations can take theform of products, production processes or technology, a principle, an idea, a pieceof legislation, a social movement, an intervention or combination of these (Phillset al., 2008).Smartphones: Innovation with unintended social benefitsSmartphones offer a good example of the nuance that distinguishes social innovation fromtraditional notions of innovation. Created for the benefit of their companies’ shareholders,smartphones have generated social benefits well beyond their economic profits. Smartphonetechnology has provided a revolutionary platform for social innovators to create softwareapplications (apps) that have become indispensable to many fields and used for a range of socialimprovement purposes. Apps such as Audible, LookTel Money Reader and VizWiz, for example,have revolutionized communication for the blind and deaf-blind in ways unmatched since theinvention of Braille. In the context of this paper, smartphones are a traditionally understoodinnovation, while apps created by social innovators with the intent to improve lives,communities and whole societies – rather than as a means to generate profit – can beunderstood as social innovation.<strong>Uncharted</strong> <strong>Territory</strong>: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and <strong>Essential</strong> <strong>Skills</strong> Programs? • 9
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