The Big Why
Capabilities, agenda-setting, and funding for research and innovation remain centralised which constrains relevance, speed, and legitimacy of evidence and innovation.
What will change?
Tilts the balances from global expertise towards local leadership; accelerates context-fitting solutions; builds enduring institutional capacity and talent pipelines. Local universities, CSOs, line ministries, and response agencies across the region could have acquire skills and expertise. Diaspora networks can be used for mentorship.
What the idea involves
Hub Campus: A light physical node (hosted by a university or consortium) with a methods lab, an applied policy studio, and co-working space for local innovators.
Programmes: (a) Rapid Research Cells for activated crises; (b) Longitudinal learning partnerships with governments; (c) Innovation sprints targeting ‘boring’ process bottlenecks; (d) Fellowship tracks for local researchers and crisis-affected practitioners.
Data and knowledge: Regional data collaboratives linked to national systems; open repositories; ethics boards and data-sharing agreements.
Market and scale: Brokerage to match ideas with implementers and pooled funds; IP guidance; evaluation support.
Governance: Local steering group with donor observers; public accountability dashboard; inclusion quotas (for example: gender, displacement status).
What would it take to deliver it?
Delivery process: Programme grants and service contracts (agencies and companies could outsource innovation to the hubs).
Structure: Consortium anchored by a regional academic host with NGO/government co-leads.
Staffing needs: Hub lead, research director, innovation lead, MEL lead, ops/finance, community manager.
Partnerships required: Universities, research councils, ministries, NGO alliances, private tech.
Key capacities: Mixed-methods research, facilitation, policy translation, safeguarding, multilingual comms.
Where it stands and what's next?
Stage: Early exploration with precedents – Start Network and RiL.
Next steps: regional landscape scans, understand why existing initiatives are falling short for certain innovators. Explore linkages with idea #11.
Opportunities to get involved
Prospective hosts to bid; donors to endow core ops; agencies to co-design sprints; diaspora mentors to join fellowships.