Innovation is a key driver of growth for firms and nations worldwide. But we can no longer rely on the "more for more" innovation formula — costly R&D, resource-intensive and polluting supply chains — that sustained growth in the West for decades. We need a new approach to innovation that is inclusive and sustainable in today’s global context of climate change and growing inequality.

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The United Nations (UN) has acknowledged the world needs $5 - 7 trillion in funding to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is mission impossible since post-COVID-19 all countries worldwide will lack the funds needed to invest in SDGs. But this scarcity can also be an opportunity. Tighter budgets, climate change, new technologies (3D printing), and empowered customers and conscious Gen Y and Z are compelling businesses and governments to learn to "do better with less". It’s time we all learn to innovate better with fewer resources.

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Radjou will discuss the past, present, and future of Frugal Innovation, a radically new paradigm to generate greater social and economic value using fewer resources. Frugal innovation is a breakthrough concept born in India, where it's long known and widely practiced as jugaad—the ingenious ability to solve problems with limited means. Millions of entrepreneurs in emerging markets such as Africa, China, and India are using frugal innovation to leapfrog the West in education, finance, energy, and healthcare.  Radjou will reveal how the private, public, academic, nonprofit sectors could adopt frugal principles and techniques to boost agility, innovate efficiently, and co-create an inclusive, healthy, and sustainable society.

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Join our public AES Online Speaker Event “Frugal Innovation & Jugaad” on Tuesday, June 2 from 5 to 6 PM (CEST) via Zoom. Please register via the button below.

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We are delighted to welcome Navi Radjou, an Indian-born French-American scholar, an innovation and leadership advisor, and a bestselling author based in New York. Navi’s most recent book, Frugal Innovation: How To Do More With Less (with a foreword by Paul Polman, ex-CEO, Unilever), published by The Economist in 2015, shows how companies can innovate faster, better, and sustainably in today’s customer-driven global tech economy shaped by climate change. In our webinar, Navi will give insight into the concept of Frugal Innovation, followed by an open Q&A.