I deeply appreciate this response. I’m always excited to hear about new arguments for addressing international development that focus on institutionalizing capacity building of all forms, especially when it comes to innovation.

A concern I have, however, is that innovation is considered always and consistently useful to those involved in extreme poverty. A large amount of world-changing ‘innovations’ were revolutionary for the global market, but supported the exploitations of marginalized’s livelihoods and human rights. The cotton gin. The railroad. Laptop computers. The current clothing industry.

My point is, by considering the global consumer and building an ecosystem with solely them in mind, the rest of the stakeholders (those in the supply chain and the world’s ecology, for instance) falls by the wayside.

I agree that a large focus should definitely be on developing flexible, institutionally supported innovation ecosystem that solve global problems for consumers and develops wealth for communities. However, globally disruptive innovations are only a slice of the pie.