Policy Lab: Innovation Ecosystems: Poverty and Creativity, Constraints and Collaborations

(1 Credit Hour) · Undergraduate

This course explores innovation as it emerges from poverty and resource constraints, challenging views of "the poor" as mere targets for or recipients of technological change. Instead we analyze and contribute to building concrete case studies of ingenuity from marginalized individuals and communities (for instance, early open platforms for knowledge exchange such as hip hop's OK Player, or secure indigenous-led servers for governance of vulnerable communities' biomedical or ecological data). We review concepts from economics, sociology and geography such as "core" and "periphery" in globalized world economies, or "bottom of the pyramid" marketing and scale models for innovations that occur in the top wealth percentiles of society. Through a combination of reading and discussion, and hands-on contributions to an emerging open source software and content platform as it integrates with the platforms of global partner institutions learners will: 1) develop robust current conceptual models for innovation, 2) contribute as co-authors with senior researchers media and data rich interactive online content, and 3) acquire communications and technical skills for collaborative and individual innovation in tomorrow's digital and actual ecosystems.