The United States Agency for International Development needs institutional reform to meaningfully improve lives and prosperity in the global south. Like many federal agencies, USAID has wrestled with modernization, often failing to adapt its practices to keep pace with a rapidly changing world, and in turn, struggling to deliver development results to meet American foreign policy objectives.
Programs such as Development Innovation Ventures, a cornerstone of innovation at USAID that leverages a tiered funding model to grow early-stage development solutions, have succeeded in identifying and scaling evidence-based innovations yielding a $17 to $1 social return on investment. Yet despite this high return, USAID has left opportunities on the table to disrupt development with DIV’s successes, failing to build the proper scaffolding, processes, and teams that enable tested innovations to grow through its bureaus and missions worldwide.
Recognizing the need for transformation, in April bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress proposed the Fostering Innovation and Global Development Act, or FIGDA, putting forth necessary reforms and investments in USAID to improve development outcomes through better use of evidence and innovation. Policymakers striving to revitalize USAID should use FIGDA as an opportunity to rethink the agency’s approach and invest in its capabilities to advance evidence-based innovations.
About the authors
Joshua Schoop
Joshua Schoop is the principal director for technology and innovation at the Federation of American Scientists and director and co-founder of the Day One Project. Dr. Schoop has developed innovation policy with public sector and international organizations including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in International Development from Tulane Law School.
Jay Sullivan
Jay Sullivan is an innovation and technology fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. Previously, he created open innovation programs and advised early-stage social innovation startups at Conservation X Labs. He holds a B.A. from Duke University and an M.Phil. in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge.
