Why the 'network effect' is essential for innovators

After surviving another bout of malaria in 2012, Brian Gitta dreamed up an app-based malaria diagnostic device. He asked friends at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda — where he was studying computer science — to help him develop the tool, which they called Matibabu, a Swahili term for “treatment.” Gitta’s idea, which involves a hardware device called matiscope that uses light sensors to determine the number of red blood cells and a smartphone app that displays the results, quickly gained popularity. The device, which promises to diagnose malaria without the need for blood extraction, won several awards in various tech and innovation competitions, including the International Technology Award during the Higher Solutions Education Network’s annual technology conference in 2013. Merck also awarded the app creators with 25,000 euros ($26,935) in funding, as well as coaching sessions and workshops under a three-month accelerator program in March 2016. These helped the team secure funding, amend their design and test the product to gauge its accuracy. The team is currently working on a number of new prototypes of the product’s hardware for better user experience and accuracy, Gitta told Devex. Their goal is to reach an over 90 percent efficiency rate, which would elevate the app to the status of microscopy, the current gold standard method for malaria diagnosis. They are currently in search of capital to further test the idea, and still need to re-examine their business model, Gitta said. “Innovation takes time, more so in the medical field because there are lives at stake, so we cannot just release the product, but for us it has been a learning process … from the way you talk to investors to how to bring a product to life from a prototype,” he said. The team has mentors helping them develop their business model, but they’ve also decided to capitalize on a grant offer from the Tangaza University College in Kenya. Currently, one member of the team is pursuing an MBA at the university in hopes this will help them refine their strategy. Gitta admits it’s taken them longer than they initially expected to move the product from idea to market — which he anticipates will take place nine months from the time of this interview. Along the way, he’s learned that the competitions the team entered also allowed them to access a network of investors and mentors, which in turn enabled them to better understand and improve their technology and product design. It’s been that network and the champions that surfaced from it that have propelled his team to overcome roadblocks along the way, he told Devex. As any experienced innovator knows, it takes years — and plenty of trial and error — for a big idea to reach market. At the core of this success are those believers who support the idea through each hurdle, suggested Ticora Jones, division chief of the Higher Education Solutions Network, a program launched under the U.S. Agency for International Development. HESN provides both funding and technical assistance to social entrepreneurs through its partnerships with several universities in the U.S. and Uganda. These universities provide social entrepreneurs such as Gitta and his team physical space where they can iterate on their products, and a network that helps connect them with communities and meet experts who can help them fine-tune their business models. “When you think about the entire expanse of what it takes to get from an idea to something that’s implemented across not just one community or country but multiple countries, there are a lot of … interventions that are necessary,” Jones told Devex. “You need people to support you in the formulation of ideas, implementation into the community, and iteration of prototypes especially if they’re hardware prototypes or iterations on business models. There are so many different pieces of that.” This is why networks composed of researchers, technical experts, investors and entrepreneurs are crucial, according to the HESN chief. “That network effect is really the only one way we’re going to get from ideas and interesting things to implementation, and then potentially scale,” she said. “It can never be a single actor that kind of just ping pongs around from one place to another.” Robert Malkin, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University, knows this all too well. Malkin is part of the team at Duke University that worked tirelessly on the Pratt Pouch, a ketchuplike packet containing antiretroviral drugs that mothers can administer to their newborns from the comfort of their homes. The team conceptualized the idea in 2008, but it didn’t enter the commercial market until 2015. The Pratt Pouch counts five major milestones, according to Malkin. The first was when they decided there must be a better solution to address problems with antiretroviral drug delivery and storage, both crucial in preventing mother-to-infant HIV transmission. Second was coming up with the design. Third was testing whether the design worked. Fourth was getting the products to actual mothers. And finally, clinical trials. Reaching each of these milestones required different levels of effort and time. Testing whether the design worked, for example, took “many, many years” and “many, many experiments,” according to the professor. The team encountered problems with how the drug reacted to the materials of the packet they initially chose, and it took them countless experiments to understand how mothers could use the product without the need for any additional tools. The clinical trials also took a year or two to complete. Coming up with the design for the innovation, meanwhile, took roughly 30 seconds, according to Malkin. In the course of developing and testing the product, Malkin remembers times the team considered giving up because of the barriers they encountered, including financing. Malkin previously worked in the for-profit medical device industry, where he was accustomed to working on medical devices with a multimillion dollar budget, whereas grants for the Pratt Pouch trickled in between $100,000 and $300,000. “This is a crazy small amount of money to fund and develop a medical device,” he said. But having the necessary networks helped. Malkin and his team were able to reach out to technical experts in packaging when they were having trouble with the pouch’s tearing function. Investments from major donors such as USAID and other members of the Saving Lives at Birth partnership helped them research, pilot the product in Zambia and Ecuador, and introduce it in other countries such as Uganda. Regulatory governmental networks also helped, given the tremendous regulatory burden countries put on innovations, particularly on medical devices, Malkin said. But if there’s one crucial network that every innovator requires, it’s a champion, said the professor. “Many people thought we should give up,” he told Devex. “We had a lot of questions. We had many people we approached to get their financing, who just told us flat out that this is a dumb idea and nobody should be funding it. The project has to have a champion, because different constituencies … at different times of the project, are going to tell you that it’s time to abandon the project.” Only a champion — or better yet, a network of them — can keep an idea afloat during those tough periods, he added. Having passion and confidence in your own work helps inspire others to believe in what you’re trying to do and become your advocates, Malkin said. Eventually, you end up with those who are ready to stick with your project even when the going gets tough — a key fallback for every innovator to lean on. Devex Professional Membership means access to the latest buzz, innovations, and lifestyle tips for development, health, sustainability and humanitarian professionals like you. Our mission is to do more good for more people. If you think the right information can make a difference, we invite you to join us by making a small investment in Professional Membership.