126 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION
Championing innovation Individual roles can be created to scout out, highlight, and disseminate innovations. These individuals can work within, or across, organisations. They can be involved in adopting or adapting existing innovations. Or, they can be responsible for embedding processes within an organisation to enable innovation to flourish. These kinds of role are increasingly popular within the public sector. 276) Innovation scouts are responsible for discovering innovations which can be adapted, adopted, or replicated within their organisation. Small and medium firms in northern Italy, such as the clothing producers in Carpi, Emilia Romagna, form consortia to fund scouts of this kind. The scouts travel to international trade fairs and conferences to identify the latest technologies, and then report back through the region’s Centres for Real Services. The Young Foundation has employed an experienced investigative journalist to play a similar role in healthcare, scanning for promising new projects, and looking in detail at which elements could be adapted or replicated. 277) Innovation champions are individual consultants who produce ideas, network to find what else is being tried, and build coalitions of support. They embed processes and procedures within their organisations to develop a more creative culture which encourages new ideas and experimentation. The co-operative movement has developed a number of intermediaries of this kind. 278) Social intrapreneurs are people who work inside large organisations to develop and promote practical solutions to social or environmental challenges. Social intrapreneurs apply the principles of social entrepreneurship inside a major organisation. They can also be characterised by an ‘insider-outsider’ mindset and approach.1 One example is Win Sakdinan at Procter & Gamble who developed the company’s Future Friendly initiative, which helps consumers to save energy, water and packaging with its brands.2 Another example is the nurses as social entrepreneurs programme developed at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. 279) Social entrepreneurs in residence are entrepreneurs who are brought in to develop the innovative capacities of an organisation. One recent example is the Young Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur in