Reflecting on What Has Been Accomplished: The Southern Innovator Impact Summary | 14 January 2015

 

The 2012 to 2014 Summary of Impact for Southern Innovator has been published. It sums up what has been achieved to date, details the top features of the magazine and why it is the way it is, and, most importantly, makes a pitch for the magazine continuing past the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline year of 2015. Southern Innovator was founded to aid in the push to achieve the MDGs as the final years approached. It seized on two phenomena running in parallel that could super-charge the meeting of the goals, if seized upon by governments. One was the rapid and widespread take-up of mobile phones and information technology; the other was the 21st-century innovator culture this technology was shaping.

Now that the next goals are being debated, it is time for Southern Innovator to scale-up and build on its achievements to date. Have a read of the Impact Summary and dream with us of a bigger Southern Innovator!

© David South Consulting 2017

Looking Back Over the Past 6 Years | 5 April 2012

I was asked to pull together a brief summary of what has been achieved since work began on the e-newsletter in 2007. While it can be difficult to gauge some aspects of this work – and resources are limited – it is possible to sketch a journey from a very different place back in 2007. This was just the beginning of the global economic crisis, and for many people, the turbulence of the following years has come as a big shock.

What has been noticeable is how far-reaching many of the ideas featured in the e-newsletter have been. What seemed fringe and marginal, is now front-and-centre in much of the world’s media. Think of the noise now generated about Africa and technology. The e-newsletter has tried to balance catching the drift of new trends with seeking out a common element of human resilience and innovation in the face of enormous obstacles and challenges. It is this aspect that seems to cross borders so well. Human ingenuity and creativity in the face of hardship is a compelling story.

Since 2010, in collaboration with Icelandic graphic designer and illustrator Sólveig Rolfsdóttir, we have tried to express this innovation culture in a visual form. It feels like we have more started on a journey still than come to its end. Like we have only just scratched the surface and have so much more to learn and experience.

Southern Innovator's Graphic Designer and Illustrator, Solveig Rolfsdottir.