INVENTION DURING COVID19
Crises generate a lot of energy that, if harnessed constructively, can be a great source of innovation. The COVID-19 response is producing inspiring innovative responses proving that, indeed, necessity is the mother of invention. What has emerged already and during previous crises provide lessons for our near-term response, but also highlight the underlying and more critical long-term need to better resource and institutionalize strategic innovation in global health. Open innovation, for example, is a proven model that can focus this energy and catalyze problem-solving from anywhere and anyone. My former team at the USAID Center for Innovation and Impact led both the Fighting Ebola and Combating Zika and Future Threats grand challenges during those respective outbreaks. In the heart of the Ebola outbreak, for example, CII and international experts reviewed over 1,500 ideas and quickly supported the development of 14. Twelve o...