MSF Innovation Newsletter December 2021 – Democratization of Innovation

Dec 8

Innovations can be big or small, tangible or abstract, a technical solution or a behaviour change process. MSF Sweden Innovation Unit (SIU) works to broaden the innovation landscape by supporting and promoting social and user-driven innovations.

A critical component of innovation is access to information. This edition of the MSF Innovation Newsletter features the recently launched MSF Science Portal, which aims to democratize access to MSF’s research outputs to empower more people across geographic settings and diverse backgrounds to participate in MSF’s work and program- and project-building. Patricia Kahn, Scientific Editorial Director at MSF-USA, provides insights into how the Portal team embedded user-centricity in the design process from the get-go in this recent article on the SIU website.

Beyond access to information, another critical component of inclusive innovation is a user-centric and bottom-up approach to identifying and framing the problems at hand. This edition also features the Sapling Nursery, a fund that helps MSF staff who have identified a solution to explore, develop and test innovative new approaches to the challenge. Calls for Exploratory Grants are open until December 15, 2021.

Wrapping up, we come full circle with a quote from Stephen Cornish in his speech at the Futures Lab: Climate-Smart Healthcare for a Healthier Planet session during COP26: “...new tools and technologies are not enough, there is, in fact, not an app for everything. We also need innovative partnership models and more local, regional and agile emergency response capacities.”

As always, we have included a curated list of innovation themed readings and podcasts in this edition – the last of 2021!

We hope you enjoy the read.

Innovation updates from the MSF movement

MSF Science Portal – beta-version launched

Overview: The Science Portal aims to be a web-based one-stop-shop for MSF’s public medical research content. As part of our humanitarian mission, MSF conducts hundreds of research studies each year. The evidence and knowledge this generates are published across different MSF sites, making finding and accessing the material difficult – compounded by the fact that many of these sites were not designed for low-bandwidth settings.

By embedding user-centricity in the design process from the get-go and working with Google on the plan, the rationale of the Science Portal is to simplify and democratize access to MSF’s wealth of information. The project was developed and funded by MSF-USA under the auspices of an intersectional Steering Committee convened by the DirMed platform.

Update: A beta version of the Science Portal went live this month. This first version includes MSF co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals, materials from MSF and Epicentre Scientific Day events, and MSF Ethics Review Board information. It also accommodates MSF research study protocols and technical reports. Next steps include expanding the content available and marketing the platform within and outside MSF to ensure that people in the countries where MSF works know about it and can use it to stay informed and feed into their decision-making. New features and functions will be added with time. How the platform grows and evolves will depend on user feedback.

Learn more about the process of developing the Science Portal here, or dive right into the tool here. If you have any questions or feedback, please connect with Patricia Kahn (patricia.kahn@newyork.msf.org), MSF-USA.

Sapling Nursery: Call for Exploratory Grants 2021-2022 open

Overview: Finding and fostering promising innovative ideas from all corners of a global humanitarian organization as large as MSF can be challenging. To help solve this problem, MSF’s Manson Unit – a London-based team of specialists who provide medical, technical, and research support for MSF programs – founded the Sapling Nursery to help advance MSF’s most promising innovations. The Sapling Nursery helps MSF staff explore, develop and test early-stage innovative ideas for challenges in MSF’s projects, to ultimately give people better access to medical care.

Update: The Sapling Nursery call for Exploratory Grants 2021-2022 opened on October 20 and will close at midnight CET on December 15. In 2021, the Sapling Nursery is encouraging applications that address the strategic topic, “new innovative ways to engage with patients and/or relatives, caregivers, individuals or communities in the work we do as an organization.” Successful applications will receive dedicated design support and mentorship to build out your idea.

All MSF staff contracted through MSF OCA, OCBA, and OCB, both in country projects and in headquarters, can apply to the Sapling Nursery.

Learn more about the Sapling Nursery, what the Exploratory Grant includes, and how you can apply here. If you have any questions or want to brainstorm ideas, please reach out to cesc.galban@london.msf.org.

Mobile Outbreak Laboratory (MOL) – Phase 1 completed

Overview: In MSF emergency settings, laboratory confirmation of disease outbreaks is often unavailable at the field level. Early detection of infectious diseases is critical for a timely and adequate operational response. The Mobile Outbreak Laboratory (MOL) pilot project, funded by MSF Transformational Investment Capacity (TIC), aimed to develop and evaluate a fully portable “lab in the box” which can be deployed to remote settings within 48 hours of receiving an alert notification. The MOL is autonomous in terms of power supply and cold chain, the latter is an innovative lightweight model explicitly designed for the MOL.

Update: The 2.5-year MOL project wrapped up this November. The minimum viable product of the MOL was evaluated during a 10-month pilot study in the Central African Republic, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), focusing initially on measles, rubella, pertussis and monkeypox as this cluster of diseases has been known to cause outbreaks in the region. The MOL was first tested in controlled settings, testing stored samples to evaluate the efficacy and accuracy of the lab equipment. Proven successful, the MOL was then used by the MSF OCBA (Operational Center Barcelona) Mobile Emergency Response Team during a measles outbreak in June this year. The MOL team has submitted an extension for the project into a second phase for 2022 to further develop the portable lab.

Resource Highlight

Ehlra Humanitarian Innovation Fund: Ethics for Humanitarian Innovation

This three-part resource is designed to help organisations, teams, and individuals manage innovation journeys responsibly and successfully.

The Background Paper serves as a guide to the methodology and evidence that informed the Toolkit, composed of five tools designed to work independently. The four Case Studies provide a window into the type of ethical challenges confronted by humanitarian innovation teams to help innovators recognise ethical challenges in their own work.

What We're Listening To

Civil Society Futures and Innovation
Debate 6: On ethical red lines for the use of digital tools by Civil Society Organisations

Hosted by Barb Iverson, this episode focuses on ethical red lines in the use of digital tools in civil society. Guests include Zara Rahman, Deputy Director of The Engine Room, which helps activists, organisations, and other social change agents make the most of data and technology to increase their impact. She talks about how civil society and humanitarian organisations can translate their mission and values into a digital strategy that reflects and prioritises the needs and rights of the people they work with. Listen here »

Global Health Matters
Climate change’s impact on health

In recent years, persistent droughts have made Maasai communities in northern Tanzania vulnerable to sleeping sickness, a disease spread by the tsetse fly. In this episode, Paul Gwakisa of Sokoine University speaks about his research to better understand and prevent outbreaks of sleeping sickness in Maasai communities. Pierre Quiblier of the UN Environment Programme also talks about global efforts to better tackle climate change through an integrated “One Health” approach that brings together sectors such as agriculture, health and the environment. Listen here »

Until Next Time 👋

As always we would love to hear of any global health innovation insights or thoughts. Anything you would like to feature in the next newsletter? Reach out with any questions or comments on comms.siu@stockholm.msf.org – we would be delighted to continue the conversation!

Best wishes,
The MSF Sweden Innovation Unit Team & MSF Innovation Movement

Hanna Phelan