Reverse and frugal innovation

The concept of innovation is usually associated with high-tech solutions devoted to solving complex problems in the context of technologically advanced societies. However, innovation can also play a pivotal role in addressing the unmet needs of low-resource settings, in which already available solutions cannot be successfully applied because of their cost or other specific constraints. This kind of innovation must comply with all the peculiar resources, limitations, barriers of their context of use.

The definition and basic concepts of appropriate technology, frugal innovation will be introduced. As those of reverse innovation, in which solutions are targeted to low-resource settings and created from scratch instead of starting by de-featuring expensive solutions and can eventually lead to disruptive innovation even for so-called developed markets.