Reflections on Innovation Week 2020

This year, for the first time, ThinkPlace had the opportunity to participate in Innovation Week 2020 - Latin America's largest public sector innovation event. The ThinkPlace Keyna team reflects on the experience - scroll down for Portuguese.

To see highlights from the event, check out this video.

Innovation Week is a massive annual conference that brings together thinkers from across the globe to catalyse broad-reaching innovation across the public sector in Latin America. Taking place from November 16th to 19th,  the event was run by the National School of Public Administration (Enap), the Ministry of Economy, the Federal Audit Court (TCU) and the Latin America Faculty of Social Sciences (Flasco), with the support and participation of several Federal Government institutions, as well as international organizations, civil society groups, and representatives of the private sector.

Things had to run a little differently for the 2020 edition, as bringing together thousands of people in one space just isn’t feasible during the pandemic. The event transitioned to an online format - but true to its name, Innovation Week took on this challenge with creativity and delivered a virtual experience that was deeply engaging and inspiring. They created an entire virtual city - Entrelugar - that hosted all of the free activities of the event. 

This innovative format enabled the event to run at a massive scale. There were more than 20,000 innovators participating, 450 speakers from Brazil and abroad, and over 200 hours of activities. Bruno Santos, Director of Innovation at Enap, reflected that “the mission of the Innovation Week, which is to be a meeting point, a hub, where people connect, we managed to fulfil, even in the digital environment.” We couldn’t agree more.

Our presentation

ThinkPlace delivered an activity around behavioural design. On the second full day of the event - the 18th - we gathered participants in the ‘Thematic Trails’ room inside Entrelugar to watch a case study delivered in Portuguese by Designer Jacqueline Oliveira.

The case study showcased the application of behavioural design in the control of endemic disease. In 2019, ThinkPlace was given a challenge by SightSavers, an international non-government organisation - to develop an understanding of the barriers and limitations in rural Ethiopia with regard to hygiene and sanitation.

The objective of the intervention was to develop new measures to control trachoma, the main infectious cause of blindness worldwide, that would have the greatest chance of successful uptake in areas that had experienced low response rates to previous eradication efforts. We applied a new method of rapid assessment led by prototypes, with the support of innovative ethnographic techniques and close relationships with governments and communities. The project demonstrated that, through behavioural design, existing programs to combat disease that may seem stuck at a set efficacy rate can be transformed and made more effective. 

After Jacqueline presented the case study, we took the participants on an exploration of Entrelugar to identify and discuss possibilities for innovation in the virtual city using behavioural design. 

The activity ran incredible well, and there has been no shortage of praise from participants. Some of the lovely testimonies we heard include:

Congratulations on your work. I learned a lot today.” (Manuela S.)

Very good indeed. You are to be congratulated.” (Marcos M.)

Congratulations for these wonderful works.” (Luciana Freitas)

Fantastic case exhibition. I loved this class.” (Silene X.)

Behavioral design is a new methodology with a gigantic potential for use in society.” (Otávio).

I am an anthropologist and also work at the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency. This type of approach that was presented today is exactly what I think it might be the best approach to our health problems.” (L.F.)

How important is this talk for our reality in Brazil! Quilombola and indigenous communities need to be analyzed in that way.” (M.R)

We’re honoured to have been able to participate in such a wonderful event, and inspire participants to embrace the transformative potential of behavioural design. 

Check out the video to see the best moments of the day.

PORTUGUÊS

O maior evento de inovação em governo da América Latina, que aconteceu de 16 a 19 de novembro, trouxe não apenas especialistas de inovação no setor público como também a experiência online do Entrelugar, uma cidade virtual criada exclusivamente para levar os participantes a todas as atividades gratuitas do evento.

O evento é uma realização da Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (Enap), do Ministério da Economia, do Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU) e da Faculdade Latino Americana de Ciências Sociais (Flacso), com o apoio e a participação de diversas instituições do Governo Federal, além de organismos internacionais, grupos da sociedade civil, e representantes do setor privado.

São mais de 20 mil inovadores conectados, 450 palestrantes do Brasil e do mundo e 200 horas de atividades. Para Bruna Santos, diretora de Inovação da Enap, “a missão da Semana de Inovação, que é de ser um ponto de encontro, um hub, onde as pessoas se conectam, nós conseguimos cumprir, ainda que no meio digital”.

A ThinkPlace trouxe a agenda do design comportamental e reuniu participantes na sala das Trilhas Temáticas para assistirem a um estudo de caso que foi apresentado pela Designer Jacqueline Oliveira, em língua portuguesa, no dia 18.

O caso apresentado mostrou a aplicação do design comportamental no controle das doenças endêmicas. Em 2019, a ThinkPlace recebeu da SightSavers, organização não governamental internacional, o desafio de compreender as barreiras e limitações, na zona rural da Etiópia, no que diz respeito à higiene e ao saneamento.

O objetivo da intervenção foi contribuir com medidas para o controle do tracoma, principal causa infecciosa da cegueira mundial. A ThinkPlace aplicou um novo método de avaliação rápida conduzida por protótipos com o apoio de técnicas etnográficas inovadoras e estreita relação com governos e comunidades. O caso demonstrou que, por meio do design comportamental, pode-se aprimorar programas existentes no combate à doença.

Juntos, exploramos o Entrelugar, a cidade virtual, para acompanhar e refletir possibilidades inovação pelo design comportamental. Elogios não faltaram:

“Parabéns pelo trabalho. Aprendi muito hoje.” (Manuela S.)

“Muito bom mesmo. Vocês estão de parabéns.” (Marcos M.)

“Parabéns por esses trabalhos maravilhosos.” (Luciana Freitas)

“Fantástica uma exposição de caso. Adorei essa aula.” (Silene X.)

“Design comportamental é uma metodologia nova, com um potencial gigantesco de uso na sociedade.” (Otávio)

“Também gostei. Trabalho na Vigilância Sanitária, mas sou antropóloga também e esse tipo de abordagem vai exatamente ao encontro do que penso a respeito das abordagens ideias para nossos problemas sanitários.” (L.F.)

“Como é importante essa palestra para nossa realidade no Brasil. Comunidades quilombolas e indígenas precisam ser assim analisadas.” (M.R)

Assista ao vídeo e confira os melhores momentos do 2º dia da Semana de Inovação 2020.