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Trickle-up innovation

Globe A growing number of first-world companies are looking to less affluent countries as a source of innovation brainpower, Business Week reports.

This 'trickle-up innovation' trend has recently been embraced by GE with the release a highly portable first-of-its-kind electrocardiograph (ECG) machine for heart testing.

Originally developed for rural and remote hospitals in India and China, the easily transportable ECG machine has been modified by GE for doctors' offices in western nations.

According to Business Week, the key benefits of trickle up innovation include a faster time to market as well as cost savings for both customers and suppliers.

One of the key advocates the concept is C.K. Prahalad whose book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits describes a number of trickle-up case studies. (See Google Books for a preview)

Posted on 19 March 2009 at 08:45 AM in Innovation |

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