Amplify is the UK’s Department for International Development’s attempt to bring a truly innovative and collaborative approach to aid. Will it work?
What’s the best way to get fresh new ideas for development problems? If the collaboration between the UK government and a Californian tech company has got it right, we need to be encouraging different sectors to work together, rather than against each other.
“DfID has traditionally used competition as a driver for innovation,” says Jonathan Wong, who is taking the lead on the project at the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). “Now the intention is to form interesting collaborations.” He believes that innovation happens when different people with different perspectives work together. The aim is that this project will bring development professionals together with the private sector, tech startups, local experts and anyone else who has an idea and interest in solving the challenges.