Social innovation. Introduction Social innovation is an overarching term for a variety of practices that aim to address social problems, and provides a new lens to understand the role of the social in innovation. Social innovation takes the form of products, processes, services and models that meet social needs. The concept has special appeal in policy and not-for-profit circles based on the promise of transformative change for the good of society using innovative means.
Examples of successful social innovations include Alcoholics Anonymous (1935), Open Source Software (1998), Microcredit (1976), the National Health Service (1948), Open University (1969), Fair Trade Labelling (1988), Participatory Budgeting (1989), The Big Issue (1991) and Wikipedia (2001). Lack of clear definition for social innovationSocial innovation is a bit like United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of pornography: ‘I know it when I see it’. Key theme: a new way of thinking about innovation 1. 2. 3. References. Ashoka - Innovators for the Public. Echoing Green | Unleashing your talent to solve the world's biggest problems. The School for Social Entrepeneurs. MaRS Toronto. Young Foundation - The Accelerator.