User innovation as problem solving: perspectives from the global South G ILLIAN M. M ARCELLE Visiting Research Scholar Tata Center for Technology and Design, MIT Energy Initiative, MIT Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC- CESTII), South Africa University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Research programme that explores innovation dynamics in the global South. Innovation policy is either silent or deeply flawed in terms of providing an understanding of enterprise level perspectives on and dynamics of both users and producers(Marcelle 2014, 2012, 2011). A number of empirical studies of the practice of innovation in a variety of settings in the developing world and uses insights gained from these studies (Marcelle et al 2013). Efforts to institutionalise user innovation perspectives in the national innovation survey of South Africa and to develop policy recommendations based on those insights.

Process and Value Innovation is an intentional process of generating, acquiring and applying knowledge aimed at producing economic and/or social value. In developing countries, this process typically takes place through the unfolding over time of a wide variety of learning and capability building processes, rather than through the mastery of science and technological knowledge. Innovation is an investment effort in which, knowledge, financial capital, and other resources including cultural and social capital are deployed over time to create value. Deftly undertaken innovation can lead to the transformation of systems, values and culture as well as the production of new and/or improved products or processes.

Synergies and Contrasts Interaction through bidirectional knowledge flows that involve free circulation and a variety of paths Likelihood of increased value arises from shared meanings, common understandings and mutually reinforcing objectives Often not well understood by policy makers In the global South, both producers and users are often ignored as innovation policy functions essentially as science policy and effort is on increasing the STEM human capacity stock and publicly funded science research, little exploration of innovation processes and supporting mechanisms Global South users are typically operating under resource constraints, have a different psychological profile, possibly different set of aspirations and motivations from the well researched lead user communities Less well established networks of intermediaries and poorly functioning knowledge circulation systems User innovation as a category typically not measured and seen increasingly as a means of enhancing social value rather than exploring commercial potential

Public Policy: intended outcomes and next steps Improve definition and measurement of innovation processes by users Improve scaling up, replication and commercialisation of user innovated solutions Improve functioning of innovation ecosystems, for example by users and other performers of innovation finding each other and better supporting their respective roles Improve budget allocation decisions Redesign STI public policy measures to focus on performers (both users and producers) Increase the likelihood of innovation being focused on real-world developmental challenges ( health outcomes, water, sanitation, decentralised and affordable energy, accessible education and low-cost housing ) Improved understanding of the nature and dynamics of innovation processes at the coalface in the global South.