USAID’s grant and prize competitions and open innovation programs engage a global community of innovators and solvers to apply science and technology to find high-potential innovations to overcome critical barriers to development challenges. These programs stand apart from other programs for their problem-set orientation, global scope and reach, and use of open innovation models for sourcing and accelerating innovations. These features create unique opportunities, challenges, and considerations for the design process and implementation approaches. Articulating a problem that inspires innovation is a critical first step in these programs because it constructs a solid foundation upon which to build the program objectives and make design choices. By defining the problem clearly and presenting the barriers based on evidence and research, USAID can galvanize a broader, more diverse community of solvers to develop innovative solutions and create new pathways to achieve impact on a grand scale.
This document will explain and offer guidance on the following activities:
• Assembling the Team. Begin with a lean team and build staff and resources as needed to ensure success of the program over the long term.
• Identifying the Problem. In the problem identification phase teams will identify, assess, define, and select the problem by conducting research, ideation workshops, and stakeholder engagement.
• Drafting the Concept Note. The Concept Note is the first articulation of the problem statement and is a critical document throughout the program design process.
• Conducting the Barrier Analysis. The Barrier Analysis is a research-based exercise that helps to validate and refine the problem statement by gathering evidence about the specific barriers that hamper progress.
• Finalizing the Challenge Statement.
Following these efforts, the team will draft a concise Challenge Statement that articulates the problem, the critical barriers that need to be overcome, and what the program hopes to achieve.