LONDON, United Kingdom – British Prime Minister David Cameron recently announced the launch of Global Development Innovation Ventures, an initiative that will receive the equivalent of well over $77 million USD over the next five years. The program, which was launched in partnership with the philanthropic investment firm Omdiyar Network and the US government, which is currently planning to supplement the program with $24 million USD, has four main goals.
GDIV aims to find, test, and develop ideas that may impact society and create economic returns, to create a pipeline of investment-ready concepts and innovations, found a market to facilitate and broker collaboration between innovators and investors, and bring together investors, governments, and NGOs with the resources and experience necessary to implement new concepts.
About the project, Omidyar Network’s Matt Bannick says, “Global Development Innovation Ventures promises to replicate the most effective strategies we’ve deployed as a global impact investor: public and private organizations working together, leveraging technology and investing in both for-profit and non-profit organizations to spark innovation and scale successes.”
Projects already funded by GDIV include providing inexpensive electricity via micro solar grids to parts of India that were previously in the dark and messages in cars promoting driver safety in parts of Africa with high amounts of automotive deaths per year.
Getting to the heart of the issue, David Cameron said poignantly, “We’ve all got to open up our economies to innovation, we’ve got to nurture new ideas, we’ve got to bend over backwards to attract the best and the brightest. A global race is underway and it is waiting for absolutely no one.”
– Samantha Mauney
Sources: Tech City News, USAID
Photo: Yahoo