Reverse Innovation: When Disruptive Health Solutions Go West
Zipline drones populate the Rwandan skyline, portable
electrocardiogram machines help doctors diagnose in clinics in rural India, easy
testing lets cure children in Botswana. Beyond being brilliant medical
innovations, at some point, all these technologies were brought to or should be
applied to high-income countries after their success in their original settings
in Africa or Asia – as they have been available for
a fraction of the cost, they have represented a highly creative solution
and/or the regulatory environment has allowed them to thrive. That’s what
researchers call reverse innovation, and
we tracked down the most prominent examples in digital health.
Necessity is the mother of (disruptive) invention
The idea of reverse
innovation or as others called it “trickle-up innovation” and “innovation
blowback” is connected to Clayton Christensen’s famous model of
“disruptive innovation”. This encompasses a
process by which a product or
service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market
and then relentlessly moves up, eventually displacing established competitors.
Reverse innovation twists the term and challenges the existing and hidden narrative in
disruptive innovation
whereby it is assumed that high-income countries ought to be the sole driving
force for innovation. Although the name itself could still be refined as calling
it “reverse” already assumes that it counters a more “natural” idea about the
direction inno...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Future of Medicine Portable Diagnostics Telemedicine & Smartphones Africa asia development digital health disruption disruptive drones empowerment Healthcare Innovation medical drones reverse innovation technology West Source Type: blogs
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