MSF Innovation Round-Up 2021

Innovation is about exploring new ideas and ways of working. As such, innovation is a critical component of MSF’s operations. In rapidly changing contexts, we should challenge ourselves to find the best solutions to address both new and old challenges.

Finding and fostering innovations by staff on the ground in over 70 countries and sharing lessons learned from these activities can be challenging—compounded by the fact that innovation is a broad and sometimes abstract concept, defined by many across the movement in different ways

The term democratization of innovation is at the forefront of our strategic objectives and looks to find the best way to empower MSF staff to take their innovative ideas from concept to solution. Critical to achieving this is implementing mechanisms to ensure that innovations are rooted in field needs and embedding innovation activities into MSF’s global work and vision. Further, this requires transparency and collaboration across the movement.

In early 2021, we published the first edition of the MSF Innovation Round-Up to showcase the breadth of the MSF innovation ecosystem. This year, we continue the tradition of sharing (some of) MSF’s innovation successes and failures from the past year. The second edition of the MSF Innovation Round-Up maintains the same easy-to-digest Q&A format, now complemented with short case highlights. Beyond providing an overview of eight MSF innovation entities’ work in 2021, this edition also provides a glimpse into their goals for 2022 and beyond.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or feedback on the MSF Innovation Round-Up 2021, please contact us. We would be delighted to hear from you and continue the conversation.

Enjoy the read!

PS. To stay up to date with the latest news and updates from MSF’s innovation work, sign up for the bi-monthly MSF Innovation Newsletter or follow us on Twitter (@MSF_Innovation) and LinkedIn (MSF Sweden Innovation Unit).