OpenIDEO, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is currently inviting applicants for its Empowering Caregivers in Immunization Innovation Challenge.
Opportunity Areas
Opportunity Areas are specific calls to action that guide community during the Ideas Phase. They serve as provocations that are intentionally aligned with the Challenge topic and partner priorities, while ripe for innovation. Regardless of the Opportunity Areas chosen, the hope is that all ideas will approach the Challenge question through the lens of accessibility. This will encourage learning from outliers and being critical about the ways in which their solution can be applied to various populations and different persona communities. Paying attention to users outside the mainstream will help us uncover hidden insights and work-around solutions that will strengthen the broader vaccine innovation system as a whole.
- Enhancing service quality and accountability
- High-quality service delivery is vital to ensure that parents and caregivers have a positive experience at the health facility, and are motivated and able to return. Ideas in this category may touch on interpersonal communication, motivation, and community planning.
- Engaging communities and shaping social norms
- Evidence-based social and behavioural change activities focus on improving community awareness and knowledge, creating and continually reinforcing positive social norms towards immunization, as well as providing individualized reminders on where/when to go for services and timely motivational nudges. This helps to bridge the intention to action gap. Ideas in this category may touch on norm setting, behaviour nudging, and social/behavioural adjustments via technology or community programming.
- Managing risks and building resilience
- Sustaining public trust and confidence in immunization is a key objective of national immunization programs, but certain events can erode confidence in vaccines, and in the systems delivering them. Ideas in this category may touch on encouraging a healthy strengthening of risk capacity, social listening to build resilience, and leveraging media engagement for transparency.
- Building social and political will
- Immunization programs benefit from building social and political will from the grassroots level up. Ideas in this category may touch on leveraging cross-sector influencers, supporting and connecting Civil Society Organizations, and ultimately enabling the policy.
- Using social data for learning and decision-making
- Strategic and effective use of quantitative and qualitative data is vital for the success of demand generation efforts and provides a strong foundation for monitoring, learning, making adjustments, and communicating the success of interventions. Ideas in this category may rely on data systems and tools to appropriately understand the real-time status of caregiver experiences and inform further development of innovations.
- Shortlisted concepts will receive feedback from the Gates Foundation and additional expert stakeholders in the vaccine innovation space.
- Up to $50K in prize funds will be available for up to 10 Top Ideas.
- Additionally, selected Top Ideas will be invited to meet with and pitch to the Gates Foundation Vaccine Innovation team.
- Submissions are welcome from registered nonprofit, civil society, community-based, and for-profit organizations working anywhere in the world.
- Individuals or teams without affiliation with a registered organization are welcome to submit, in partnership with a more formal entity. If applicants would like help with this aspect, please submit a draft early in the process and indicate this need in the comments section of their submission.
- All participants should be serious about their commitment to further their innovation and implementation after the close of the Challenge and intend to translate or scale their innovation for impact, especially with consideration for current or eventual implementation within the East African context.
- Clearly articulating an answer to the Challenge question.
- Addressing a problem that is pressing and real by articulating the gap this idea is filling.
- New or in early stages of development, but related to the core competencies of your organization or group.
- Submitted by organizations or groups that have worked in their sector for at least one year.
- Implemented in low resource settings. While the Gates Foundation and Challenge team are interested in innovations implementing in (or translatable to) the East African region, we are considering applicants from all geographical regions.
