The Role of the Marginalized and Unusual Suspects in the Production of Digital Innovations: Models of Innovation in an African Context

The rapid proliferation of innovation concepts addressing experiences in the Global South raises crucial questions about the relevance of this phenomenon for development. In an effort to bring conceptual clarity, this paper reviews several related understandings of innovation and related approaches to, firstly, map overlaps and differences, and secondly, understand how they are situated within the development discourse. This study uses a literature review and applies thematic analysis in identifying the various innovation concepts, and the extent to which they include the marginalized in their framing and operationalization. In particular, this study evaluates whether these innovation concepts are framing innovation as something developed outside of poor communities but on behalf of them, whether innovation is designed alongside poor communities, or whether it is designed by and within poor communities. The findings of this study revealed that in most cases, these concepts are pro-poor, with very few exceptions of innovations done in collaboration with the poor, in a per-poor process.