Philips launches search for the #nextbigidea in SA healthcare

South Africans reckon they’re pretty innovative. In fact, a good percentage of people in the country reckon they’re sitting on “the next big thing”. That’s according to a recent survey conducted by Dutch electronics giant Philips.

According to the survey, 60% of South Africans consider themselves to be innovators, with 20% expressing the belief that they are not reliant on others to create solutions. Innovation is also deeply rooted in people who are educated, independent in their businesses or hold senior positions in companies.

Interestingly, KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the highest number of people who consider themselves innovators. High confidence levels where noted amongst young black and Indian people living in more developed areas, whose innovations were often conceptualised. Based on the results, Philips says, finding daily innovative solutions to everyday problems was higher amongst young people seventy-four per cent (74%) in comparison to older respondents twenty-six per cent (26%).

“Africa is filled with opportunities and we have long seen this potential. Upon entering South Africa over 100 years ago, we have been committed to delivering meaningful innovations,” said JJ Van Dongen, Senior Vice President and CEO Philips Africa. “Following our research, we now want to show our support in offering South Africans the opportunity to showcase their own tangible innovations that can fundamentally change and improve the lives of others. We are committed to delivering on our promise of ‘innovation and you’ and will support the entrants as they realise their success.”

Read more: Accenture partners with TEDxCapeTown to help foster innovation

Overcoming barriers to innovation

Among the biggest barriers to innovation identified by the survey are a lack of money (57%), poor infrastructure (29%), an unsupportive corporate culture (23%) and government regulation (22%).

Most respondents also found it easier to come up with innovations to social problems that impact their immediate communities with the likelihood of turning ideas into something tangible quite high. However, functionalities like money and motivation proved to be barriers.

In a bid to address some of those barriers, especially in the healthcare sector, Philips has launched its first South African Innovation Fellows competition.

The competition, run in partnership with The Innovation Hub in Pretoria, is aimed at unlocking the talent and address locally relevant challenges in Healthcare and will see Philips provide R200 000 as a research and development budget to the #nextbigidea in improving access to primary healthcare.

Read more: Is disruptive technology driving innovation or causing chaos?

“We believe that everyone has the potential to change the way we live for the better. Submit your next big idea and we will help you make a real difference to the current challenges identified in our African Innovation Research report”, say Van Dongen.

“Innovation is a catalyst for economic development and increases the competitiveness of our local economy. As The Innovation Hub and an agency of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development collaborating with Philips on the first South African Innovation Fellows Competition will enable us to unlock technological innovations sitting amongst South Africans. These are the innovations that will assist in improving the living conditions of the South African communities,” says McLean Sibanda, CEO of The Innovation Hub.

Interested participants can register online.