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Frugal Innovation
Where innovation changes more for less
“We can do things differently, and we can do different things…
Innovation is not only the most sophisticated technologies, sometimes it’s the simplest of things.”
Preventing disease and promoting hand-washing through simple devices made with low-cost salvaged materials. Saving preterm lives through skin-to skin contact and cloth wrapping in places where incubators are rare.
These are just two examples of frugal innovation: developments that change the lives of children for the better without demanding the latest in cutting-edge technologies. Instead, frugal innovation is born out of necessity and a lack of resources, built by local people with the materials they have available.
The places in which UNICEF works demands frugal innovation, turning constraints into advantages and making the simplest of innovations into invaluable inventions and developments for the people who need them most.