The Ripple Effect from IDEO

The Ripple Effect is an emerging collaboration between the global design consultancy, IDEO, and the global social venture fund, The Acumen Fund. The initiative is sponsored by the Gates Foundation and it seeks to address the challenge of making safe drinking water accessible to the poor, especially those in rural locations.

The initiative is an exciting example of the concept of human centered design thinking.

From IDEO's site: "The project is entirely public: Acumen Fund and IDEO teams are working closely with local companies and NGOs that provide safe drinking water, and capturing learnings for others to benefit from. The first phase of the project takes place in India (November 2008 to June 2009), and the second phase is in East Africa (July 2009 to March 2010). In each region, our work starts with field research to understand the needs and desires of stakeholders in the water journey, from customers to providers. We then gather organizations to share insights and collaborate around solutions—products, services, and systems that improve water delivery and storage. This is followed by the Ripple Effect Award, an eight-week funded pilot phase during which the awardees prototype new business ideas with help from the IDEO and Acumen Fund teams." -Source (IDEO)

Watch the video below and let's find ways to bring human centered design thinking to the issues we work on in the Circle!

The Ripple Effect in India, by IDEO and Acumen Fund from IDEO on Vimeo.