The Big Why
Inefficient legacy processes (procurement, due diligence, insurance, reporting) seriously stifle innovation and scale, yet they are rarely resourced as innovation problems.
What will change?
Reduces friction and transaction costs; accelerates safe experimentation; normalises learning-oriented compliance. Potential to benefit all operational actors. Biggest gains can potentially be had for local organisations burdened by duplicative checks.
What the idea involves
Due Diligence Passporting for innovation subcontractors : Shared KYC/AML and safeguarding attestations with interoperable standards serving as an ID card for organisations with mutual recognition across major donors/NGOs.
Parametric & Pooled Insurance: Sector-tailored products (e.g., drought/epidemic triggers) for agencies/consortia; premium subsidies linked to resilience benchmarks.
Procurement Innovation: Pre-approved supplier marketplaces (see Idea #6), outcome-based contracting, and local vendor enablement.
Learning-Centred Reporting: Replace narrative-heavy reporting with machine-readable data and reflective learning notes; standard indicators to report once, using common data definitions, and having it flow automatically to every innovation donor that needs it rather than reformatting dozens of reports by hand.
Change Management: Cross-agency working groups, policy commitments, and sandbox environments to test reforms safely.
What would it take to deliver it?
Delivery process: Design sprints with cross agency standards working groups; pooled grants to build shared services.
Structure: Coalition under neutral convener; legal MOUs for mutual recognition.
Staffing needs: Legal, risk/insurance, procurement, data standards, change management, MEL.
Partnerships required: Major NGOs and UN, donor blocs, insurers, platforms.
Key capacities: Standards design, actuarial/insurance, GovTech, policy.
Where it stands and what's next?
Stage: Mixed—some threads already in motion in different agencies but no real coordination efforts underway.
Next steps: Formalise the effort across innovation donors; select 2–3 ‘low-hanging fruit’ (e.g., passporting, parametric pilots).
Opportunities to get involved
NGOs and UN to co-design products; donors to underwrite sandboxes; operations leaders to champion adoption.