Analysis: A frugal approach to innovation may be a way to align our planet's financial, social and sustainable needs
By Kevin Dominic Delaney and Yurie Maeda, TU Dublin
Many stories have been told of how used cotton flour sacks were boiled and reused to provide bed linen for children in post-war Ireland. Even one of our grandmothers is known to have done this. Such imaginative repurposing emerged from the need to avoid purchasing new bed clothing, but also meant that there was no need to dispose of used packaging. Necessity is truly the mother of invention!
Similarly, innovators today must empathise with stakeholders to fully identify and appreciate the problems they are actually solving when developing new products and services. Such empathy leads to human-centred design solutions. It must be realised that not all innovation comes from high tech corporate R&D labs demanding significant amounts of money and resources to accomplish. Even if we have large sums of money and access to vast resources, a more deliberate and frugal approach to innovation might be most appropriate.
Frugal innovation is a creative problem-solving approach focussed on delivering maximum value with minimal resources. Affordability, accessibility, and effectiveness for users drives such innovation in products, services and processes. Developing countries tend to apply frugal innovation, driven by the desire enshrined within the UN's Sustainable Development Goal to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere" and in doing so address the so-called "bottom of the pyramid". This refers to the poorest two-thirds of the economic human pyramid, a group of more than four billion people, commonly defined as those with annual incomes below $3,000 in local purchasing power, who live in relative poverty.
From National Geographic, the story of Mansukhbhai Prajapati, founder of the mitticool zero electricity clay fridge and is now planning to create a sustainable clay home
But frugal innovation is about a lot more than making things cheaper. It makes high tech features more affordable and available and gives us the opportunity to align key aspects of economic, social, and environmental sustainability without sacrificing product quality. Economic sustainability leads to creating new jobs, business models and affordable products.
Social sustainability provides people with access to basic services, improves participation, realises health benefits, educates children, increases resource security, builds sustainable communities, and creates more participatory societies. Environmental sustainability encourages the use of locally available resources, reduces pollution, saves natural resources, encourages re-use through the circular economy and reduces waste.
This definition aligns with the Indian concept of Jugaad which describes the use of skill and imagination to solve problems or to repair or make something using cheap, basic materials. India leads the way globally in frugal innovation with many examples such as the mitticool, a fridge made of clay and based on the principle of natural evaporation, and AlgoSurg, a startup using AI to convert 2D X-ray images into 3D models, allowing hospitals to more accurately diagnose conditions without costly CT scanners or MRI machines.
Frugal Innovation can create high-tech, low-cost solutions when only low budgets are available. Companies like Renault-Nissan Alliance and Grundfos initially moved into the Indian market to sell their products but have now used the advantages of frugal innovation to start to export to western markets.
Demand for these products is driven by western consumers who can't afford expensive products, but whose basic needs can be met without unnecessary technological gimmicks. For example, do nursing home residents suffering from the onset of dementia need Smart TVs with complicated remote controls they can't operate or would a more basic model facilitating channel and volume control in addition to on/off functionality be more appropriate?
Business models for some long-established companies illustrate characteristics of frugal innovation. IKEA was founded in post-war Sweden to furnish apartments for an emerging but cash-poor middle class and that cohort exists in most countries today. Ryanair has built a robust business creating travel opportunities for people who could not afford to fly with legacy airlines (and who've now cut fares to compete with the disruptor).
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From RTÉ 2fm's Louise McSharry from 2020, interview with three Irish designers about producing facemasks and helping the community during lockdown
Frugal innovation is certainly not new, but innovators now better appreciate that it could play an important role in improving our society. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw many examples of frugal innovation in Ireland as DIY facemasks and visors were fashioned from readily available materials. Companies and community groups produced open-source ventilators assembled from off-the-shelf components and controlled by smartphone apps at a fraction of the cost of commercial products when strong global demand meant ventilators could not be sourced.
Frugal innovators apply creativity to achieving more with fewer resources by following such principles as (i) adapting business models to reduce costs while providing an acceptable and needed service; (ii) designing and shipping a product or service quickly with key features that address users’ most fundamental needs; (iii) using resources and assets which are already widely available and (iv) thinking and acting horizontally to respond quickly to local needs and offer personalized solutions.
By understanding how economic, social and environmental needs intersect, frugal innovators can inspire companies and individuals to adjust and create business models to be innovative and resourceful, and to promote growth for economic, social and environmental sustainability. It achieves the same outcome with less, enabling more people to benefit from innovative products and services without costing the earth. Maybe it’s time for more innovators to include frugal in their remit and refocus on the necessity of their inventions?
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Dr Kevin D. Delaney in a lecturer in the School of Mechanical Engineering at TU Dublin and an Educational Developer for the Enterprise Academy. Yurie Maeda is a lecturer at TU Dublin in the areas of Business and IT.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
