Two very interesting articles discussing different angles on developments viewed from Sydney and London via expert lenses, happy reading:
Building Social Capital Can Deliver Big Returns
Rosemary Addis – SMH
In April 2012, Harvard Professor Michael Porter launched the Social Progress Index, to be used in tandem with GDP.
He said that leaving the social dimensions out of competition and economic theory had been a huge mistake.
As we embark on a new national conversation about innovation, it’s important to ensure that we don’t repeat the same mistake.
I have spent nearly three decades in innovation, within the private, community, philanthropic and public sectors, including as social innovation strategist in the Australian government.
The more time I spend in the field, the clearer the interrelationship between social and economic progress becomes, and the more mystified I become as to why we don’t utilise the same toolkit for innovation in how we tackle the most pressing issues for society, as we do in economic policy and other areas of R&D.
The toolkit for social innovation is the same: enterprise development, capability and talent, measurement, regulatory settings and capital.
The role for government is the same: as a market builder contributing to the market infrastructure and incentivising participation; as a standard setter; and as a market participant using targeted funding to create a multiplier effect.
Our recent Financial System Inquiry agreed, particularly as it relates to mobilising private capital as a vital enabler of the innovations addressing social challenges.
Impact investment is the growing field for achieving this, whereby investments are purposefully designed to deliver both positive social impact and a financial return.
Impact investing is an innovation story in its own right. It is a new conception of how we can integrate social purpose and finance.
Paul Waugh – The Huffington Post
Iain Duncan Smith – UK The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Do you think Government can do more to help small charities? Or should it just step back?
I think the biggest change that could come down the road now is the thing we’ve been working on very hard, which is social investment bonds. I think this is going to radically change the relationship between local authorities and local charities and even government.
What we are saying is rather than be dependent on a local authority or the government that says you will get funding this year and maybe next year, charities will find that a priority changes in the council, they decide to pull the money – it’s always the charities that get the money pulled from them first – and the result is it’s very difficult for them to find replacement funding at that point because they don’t have a lead time.
We want to expand dramatically here, I’ve talked to lots and lots of people in really good organisations out there. The idea is that if you have a programme that works and quantify what it saves, then you now have the beginnings of a new relationship.