Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program of the USAID is based upon the President Obama’s Global Development Policy, the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review seeking to significantly improve the development outcomes of investments through innovation – identifying, testing, and scaling development solutions. These innovative initiatives not only give the optimum results but also reduce the costs.
Emphasis of the DIV remains on producing development outcomes optimally at very low costs while managing risks and obtaining leverage by focusing on scale as well as partnerships. DIV is a mechanism for working with partners to identify and rigorously test potential development solutions, and helping to scale only those that are proven to produce development impact.
– Breakthrough Solutions: DIV encourages entrepreneurs, innovators, businesses, academics, NGOs, and others to submit proposals for cost-saving development solutions. DIV seeks proposals with the potential to substantially improve development outcomes, rather than incremental changes.
– Cost-reduction and Leverage: DIV seeks applications that have innovative ideas for addressing development challenges more effectively and more cheaply. DIV utilizes staged financing to maximize cost-effectiveness and minimize risk. In supporting projects with the potential to reach wide-scale, DIV also seeks to leverage other partners in the private, non-profit, and public sectors.
– Rigorous Testing and Evidence of Impact: The DIV model emphasizes testing potential solutions and rigorously evaluating impact – often through randomized control trials – in order to identify what works and what does not, and helping scale only those solutions proven to produce development outcomes.
– Scale: Even at the first stage of funding, DIV is explicitly interested in development solutions that have the potential to reach wide-scale, i.e. tens of millions of beneficiaries.
HOW DIV WORKS:
– DIV seeks applications through an Annual Program Statement
– DIV provides funding at three stages or levels. Applicants can apply at any stage, and those who have received funding at a prior stage do not automatically advance to the next stage.
->Stage 1 focuses on proof of concept and projects must demonstrate that their innovative solution cost-effectively addresses core development challenges and has the potential for mainstream adoption.
->Stage 2 focuses on testing and rigorous evidence collection, and projects must demonstrate clear evidence cost-effective development impact for thousands of people.
->Stage 3 focuses on transitioning to scale proven solutions, and projects must demonstrate cost-effectiveness, the ability to be scaled widely to millions of beneficiaries across multiple countries, and leverage.
For more information about DIV and list of first recipients of grants, please visit this link.
