ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of inclusive innovation, as “the pursuit of innovation motivated by environmental and societal aims, with problem-owners – often working with multiple stakeholders – responding to challenges experienced in their local context.” It provides a history of inclusive innovation, with the 2007 use of the precise term by Mark Dutz in a World Bank report, and it establishes the appropriate technologies movement as an antecedent. It also compares inclusive innovation with related terms, such as climate innovation, distribution-sensitive innovation, and mission-driven innovation. The chapter develops the book’s analytical framework for examining inclusive innovation in terms of three essential questions, or types: “how,” “what,” and “where.” The chapter establishes the book’s core argument, that inclusive innovation should be understood as (1) comprising low-tech solutions and social processes – in addition to information and communications technology – as essential means of driving innovation, (2) innovation that addresses environmental concerns alongside societal aims, and (3) emanating from problem-owners innovating, often with multiple-stakeholders, to solve problems that they are experiencing.
