MSF Innovation Newsletter March 2021
Organisational Memory
It is likely that you have recognised the common human need to learn and relearn lessons again until we actually adjust our actions to take this knowing into account. This basic premise also applies to large organisations such as MSF and can be negatively amplified when moving at pace or dealing with turn-over of teams and changing roles, particularly when dealing with innovation in humanitarian settings. Increasingly, we realise that a core part of our innovation efforts need to be focused on the dissemination of findings and insights. In late 2020 we came together with other innovation groups in the movement to discuss learnings from the year and find ways that we can improve our organisational memory. You can get an early insight into this 2020 round-up and one of the key MSF memory exercises, WhoWhat, below.
As we eagerly hobbled out of 2020 and into a hopeful 2021, it was clearer than ever that planetary health would have to be at the top of the agenda. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative highlights this pointed need with the identification of a number of important MSF missions; DRC, Somalia and CAR, at the top of the list of countries most at risk of climate change impacts. This data summarises a country's vulnerability to climate change and other global challenges in combination with its readiness to improve resilience. Learn more about the collective planetary health dedication of MSF and the innovation community to mitigate and adapt using both high and low-tech approaches.
And finally, while there is much justified optimism around the digital opportunity for improving patient access and efficiency in humanitarian settings, there is also an elephant in the room when it comes to the data protection and ethics. This awareness cannot remain in dedicated data and medico-legal circles, but needs to be somewhat ingrained in all different facets of our work. Check out the ICRC Digital Dilemmas series below to get a grasp of these difficult things while they are still easy(ish).
Innovation Highlights from the MSF Movement
MSF Innovation Highlight 1 - Planetary Health Commitment
Overview: Témoignage, or witnessing and speaking out, is a core principle that has been driving MSF efforts since day one of our efforts in 1971. MSF recently agreed upon an Environmental and Planetary Health Pact further formalising our commitment to climate action. The evidence of the health and
humanitarian consequences of climate and global environmental change is extensive, but so too are the tools to allow us to measure, mitigate and adapt and ensure positive health outcomes for the communities we serve. Make sure to check out the short video below by MSF colleagues and Planetary Health leads for a quick and compelling overview of why this matters to us.
Next steps: This year, to highlight the extensive activities and projects in motion, the MSF Sweden Innovation Unit will be sharing a series of blogs to highlight key MSF insights related to planetary health. The first high-level introduction is now available here. You can also learn about some of our core cases including solar-powered air conditioning here.
MSF Innovation Highlight 2 - MSF Innovation Community
Overview: This 2020 MSF Innovation Round-Up Report, available here, is a continuation of a small MSF Innovation workshop held at the end of 2020 with several leads from across the movement. This workshop served as a space for sharing learning of innovation successes and failures, and a platform to discuss what may be next for the MSF Innovation ecosystem.
Next steps: There is still much to explore with the MSF innovation community with a potential shared innovation website and report on the horizon - watch this space! As a group we still have a number of questions to discuss, including what metrics or indicators should be used to measure collective progress, how do we define ‘innovation’ at MSF (anything that is new to MSF?) and how should the website and annual report fit with existing efforts.
Read the MSF Innovation round-up here.
MSF Innovation Highlight 3 - WhoWhat Portal Launch
Overview: The MSF movement can be fragmented, particularly in terms of innovation. Trans-national teams tackle similar
problems without being aware of overlaps and knowledge of past projects is lost when staff leave. These were the issues identified that motivated the launch of the WhoWhat platform.
WhoWhat helps map activity within MSF innovation design, development and delivery teams. The objective is less duplication, more co-ordination, and cross-pollination between different teams and operational centers.
Next steps: Building the platform was only the first step. We will now focus on supporting teams to input relevant project data and integrate the platform into learning efforts. This tool is intended to also help identifying gaps (e.g. why there are no mid wife innovation projects/few nurse led projects) as well as provide baseline indicators for MSF decision makers. While this system is intended for internal MSF use, it will also allow us to identify projects that may be useful for the broader sector to be aware of. Take a look at all projects here.
Working towards less duplication and more coordination - explore MSF's WhoWhat here.
External Resource Highlight
A recent ICRC webinar explored some pertinent questions including:
How are digital technologies and data being leveraged to support the responses to COVID-19 around the world?
Has the pandemic accelerated our use of experimental technologies?
How can we balance the benefits and risks introduced or amplified by these technologies while protecting rights to privacy and medical confidentiality?
You can watch the full webinar below and if you are looking for further guidance in this space make sure to take a look at the ICRC Data Protection Handbook.
ICRC's recent webinar on striking a balance between digital innovation and data protection here.
What We're Listening to
LSHTM Viral: This episode from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine takes a deep-dive into vaccines and speak to experts working hard to address COVID-19. Listen here.
Outrage and Optimism: In this podcast episode the hosts discuss why the climate crisis is ultimately a leadership crisis, and explores the idea of transformative leadership and emerging voices at the core of the climate movement. Listen here.