Lab Notes - August edition

The August edition of Lab Notes brings together inspiring news, podcasts, toolkits and other content for public sector and social innovators around the world, including a new interactive map of global innovation and tech hubs in humanitarian work, national policy levers for social innovaiton, and more ...

This month's key lab picks

1. This interactive map by the Humanitarian Innovation Fund’s Ian McLelland visualises over 100 academic centres, NGOs, hubs and labs around the world that are engaged in humanitarian and development innovation work.

2. Governments across the world are waking up to the role that social innovation can play in delivering more sustainable and inclusive economic growth. A new paper from Nesta’s Geoff Mulgan outlines the evolving national policy menu.

3. We have looked to innovation labs for creative solutions to society’s big problems, but are they delivering on their promise? This Devex article provides an evaluation and a call to move from hype to greater self-discipline.

4. This GovExec article describes an implicit ageism in the government innovation space, and argues that programmes would be more effective if they targeted middle-aged bureaucrats.

5. High school students in Denver were asked to design their dream school in an effort to help youngsters learn democratic values and to develop healthier relationships with adults. Read more about the project in 303Magazine.

6. A report by New Philanthropy Capital presents new thinking, techniques and technology that are influencing practice in measurement and evaluation in the social sector.

7. The growing enthusiasm surrounding open data has given rise to questions about its ability to improve people’s lives in the developing world. A new report by GovLab explores if it can and how.

8. This commentary piece on OpenDemocracy explores the opportunities and challenges for making Latin America a pioneer in political and democratic innovation, outlining some emerging examples of best practice.

9. A podcast hosted by the Pioneers Post and the British Council explores some of the key drivers for social enterprise and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

10. A series of blogs on Digital Social Innovation (DSI) looks at how technology can deliver social impact in six different areas. Read the collection on the Nesta website.

11. This guide developed by Pulse Lab Jakarta and other partners outlines a wide range of tools and methods used by cities across the globe for participatory urban data collection and design.