What is Frontier Tech Futures?
Three things we want you to know, in five minutes.
The world and the frontier technologies that now exist and are affordable are moving fast. New combinations of technologies brought to new contexts make exciting new solutions possible. But as with all things frontier, there are many unknowns. Like, what are the technologies showing most promise to make impact at scale? If tech works and is effective in one place or context, what do we need to do to make it work in another? What are the ethical considerations, and how do we make sure that in moving forwards, we leave no one behind? These are just some of the questions we are tackling through Frontier Tech Futures.
What we do
Frontier Technology Futures is a programme which supports Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff to better understand frontier technologies and innovation methods and how they can enhance development impact around the world.
We are working with FCDO teams to build up their ‘innovation muscles’, confidence and understanding of technologies and how they can be applied in the real world. We believe that this makes it easier to imagine and, crucially, try out new ways they could experiment with tech-enabled solutions within their own work.
When we say frontier technologies, we mean new tech like blockchain, drones, Internet of Things. But to us it’s not always about how frontier the technology is but also its application or combination with another technology to solve a specific challenge or the context in which it is used. Why do we focus on innovation methods to guide learning? Simply put, frontier tech + complex environments = extreme uncertainty. And in situations of such extreme uncertainty, we believe learning through experimentation is the single most important return you can generate on a pound of investment.
We work with teams to explore frontier technologies in 3 ways:
Increasing awareness of technology trends and their relevance to the local context
In order to experiment with frontier technologies, we first need to understand them. So we start by asking: what is this? While we might have heard about drones, blockchain, machine learning or big data, that doesn’t necessarily mean we know what they are or what they are capable of. So we support learning on the basics of these technologies, and explore how they have been or could be applied in contexts ranging from those with an established relationship with technology to those with extraordinary barriers to access.
Building confidence and capacity to experiment with tech within FCDO staff’s work
FCDO teams are working on varied and complex challenges, like education, the climate crisis, humanitarian aid and governance. By combining tech know-how with agile innovation methods like design thinking, lean startup and human centred design, we imagine with teams how to uncover opportunities and tech-enabled experiments in their own programmes and areas of expertise, however complex the environment. Read more about our method here.
Connecting individuals and teams with experts and opportunities
We believe that sustainable innovation comes from connecting with and nurturing local tech ecosystem in each country FCDO teams are working in, which is why we bring in a local facilitator and local entrepreneurs and technologists to support region-specific engagements. With that said, there is much we can learn from other contexts and places, so we make the most of being online and bring in technologists from all over the world to offer concrete insight on specific technologies.
Ultimately, our aim is to open the door for FCDO staff to experiment with frontier tech in their work. This could be by embedding tech in business cases or existing programmes, or even starting with smaller projects that generate quick learning, like submitting their ideas for running a tech-focused pilot under Futures’ sister programme, Frontier Technology Livestreaming (FTL), which was launched in 2016.
Futures from its origins to today
Two years after we launched Frontier Technology Livestreaming, the FCDO Bangladesh office in Dhaka asked us: how can we integrate tech into our strategy and programming and increase connections with local entrepreneurs, to better achieve development goals. We answered this call with a five-day, bespoke engagement with the office in July 2018, which we called Futures.
Since then we’ve iterated and adapted Futures, and brought bespoke engagements to life in Central Asia, India, Rwanda, Tanzania and Sudan.
COVID-19 then provided us with an opportunity to reimagine Futures as a virtual learning journey that expands beyond country office needs. We pioneered this new format in West Africa in partnership with the FCDO’s West Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Regional Hub, part of Research and Evidence Division.
Futures West Africa not only brought our programme online but was also the first engagement focused on a whole region, instead of a specific country. While a regional focus allowed us to engage and share learning with multiple offices in the region at once, broadening coverage was counterbalanced by the risk of losing focus on country specificities.
Despite common challenges, countries might have different needs and ecosystems and a different level of fluency and confidence with tech. Moreover, some country teams may need to dive into specific sectors which are related to their ongoing or planned programmes.
This learning has informed what Futures looks like today: a year-long partnership with Science, Technology and Innovation Regional Hubs, consisting of sessions which could be relevant and open to various countries across a region, or focused on thematic challenges that expand beyond regions. We couple these with deep dives that are tailored around a specific country office and programme. The deep dives allow us to dig deeper into challenges and opportunities and coach specific teams through how they can embed innovation and frontier tech within their work.
What’s next for Futures?
In 2021, we will co-create engagements with the Science, Technology and Innovation Regional Hubs in South Asia, Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Middle East and North Africa and the Sahel Department. We will also continue to deliver sessions around specific technologies or hot topics such as climate change, where the use of tech could have a transformational impact.
We will continue to share what we learn along the way, so watch this space for more information and if you are on Twitter, follow @FrontierTechHub for updates.
Are you also using frontier tech to tackle gnarly challenges and are uncovering promising applications? Then we want to hear from you.
Email us at FTLenquiries@imcworldwide.com
