System change: Facing Canada’s toughest challenges

Joeri van den SteenhovenDirector, MaRS Solutions Lab

@joerivds #systemchangesolutions-lab.marsdd.com

Planet Earth is blue, and there is nothing I can do. David Bowie, Space Oddity

System

an interconnected and interdependent patterns of action involving many institutions

Food system Health system

Economic system

Education system

Political system

Transport system

Water system

Social system

1969 - 1989

1969 - 1989

What will be our legacy?

Our legacy:

The transition to the knowledge society

1969

1989

The basic economic resource – the means of production, to use economist’s term – is no longer

capital, nor land, nor labor. It is and will be knowledge.

Value is now created by productivity and innovation, both applications of knowledge to work.

Peter Drucker (1993)

20 - 30 years

DEPLOYMENT PERIODINSTALLATION PERIOD

20 - 30 years

Due to the difficulty of social absorption of revolutions and new paradigms

EACH GREAT SURGE IS BROKEN INTO TWO DIFFERENT PERIODS

“Creativeconstruction”

Widespread application of the new paradigm

for innovation and growthacross the economy

Spreading of social benefits

Led byproduction capital

From “golden age”to maturity

Rec

essi

ons-

Inst

itutio

nal c

hang

es-R

ole

switc

h

TurningPoint

???

“Creative destruction”

Battle of the new paradigmagainst the old

Concentration of investment in new-tech

Income polarisation

Led byfinancial capital

From irruption to bubble collapse

MajorMajortechnologytechnology

bubblebubble

CollapseTime

Deg

ree

of d

iffus

ion

of th

e te

chno

logi

cal p

oten

tial

BIG-BANG

GESTATION

Next big-bang

Next Installationperiod

We are here

MATURITY

Carlota Perez. 2002, Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages.

Time%

Complexity

%

Public%Systems%

Social%Challenges%

System failure

Tensions of Transition

Generational: young vs old

Educational: higher educated vs lower educated

Geographical: urban hotspots vs disconnected

Technological: old infrastructures vs new technologies

Ethical: technological possibilities vs moral ethics

What kind of knowledge society do we want?

Government Society

Difficult to attract and retain people, potential shortages

Less public resources due to the financial crisis

Operating in vertical structures

People better educated and informed, and many want to be engaged

More private capital for social good available than ever before

Technology enables us to collaborate and perform complex tasks horizontally

Decrease of problem solving capacity Problem solving capacity record high

Social Innovation Labs& change / design labs

Strengths

Having a system perspective

Understanding the user

Ideation & Prototyping

Long term

Pitfalls

Not scaling

Lack of learning

Just brainstorming

Just a process

Mission: To help solve complex societal challenges that require system change.

The lab process

H R T M

Hypothesis Research Test Market

Developing new solutions

So D Co PR SC

Solutions Define Co-create Prototype Scale

You only understand the problem once you start to solve it.

Developing new solutions

So D Co PR SC

Solutions Define Co-create Prototype Scale

Developing new solutions

So D Co PR SC

Solutions Define Co-create Prototype Scale

Policy Change

Po F V Ev PF

Policy change Frame Vision Evidence Policy formulation

Building capacity for change

CA ST I EA EM

Capacity Stakeholders Innovators Early adopters Early Majority

Periodic Table of System Change

Po F V Ev PF

So D Co PR SC

CA ST I EA EM

H R T M

In next 5 years we want to prototype new solutions in 5 communities across Ontario,and then help scale what works.

We need to change the behaviour of people at individual, community and system level.

Making healthy eating the easy choice.

Unhealthy eating is #1 factor with 2.9 billion direct health costs in Ontario alone.

55% of direct and indirect health costs are caused by chronic diseases,

and it is growing dramatically.

Challenge #1: Future of Health

We want to select a value chain and explore what can be done to promote a more sustainable, healthy food

economy, leading to better food and more jobs.

For a healthy and more sustainable food economy, we need to change. From production, processing to retail.

But is it competitive for the future? In terms of export value Canada is surpassed by many countries.

And also in terms of sustainability Canada has fallen behind.

The food sector is one of biggest employers in Ontario with 740.000 jobs. It has the 6th largest food processing

sector in North America.

Challenge #2: Future of Food

We want to develop solutions to increase labor participation of youth, starting with young people with disabilities.

Are we preparing our youth for 21st century jobs? Is our labor market ready for the changing structure of

Canada’s economy?

But 13% of Canadian youth are not in work or school. And for some vulnerable groups that number is even higher.

Canada has one of the best education systems in the world and one of the highest educated population.

Challenge #3: Future of Work & Learning

We plan to develop different actions to help government become more open and citizen-centered.

And connect innovators inside and outside government.

Start to redesign public services. Learn to operate from a citizen perspective.

Connect with society to solve problems.

This calls for fundamental government reform. Build a government for the knowledge society.

Governments today face complex challenges in a transforming world

while public resources are decreasing.

Challenge #4: Future of Government

Doing it together

Creating partnerships Building communities

and many more...

Lab Learning

solutions-lab.marsdd.com

and many more...

What kind of knowledge society do we want?

1969 - 1989

System change: Facing Canada’s toughest challenges

Joeri van den SteenhovenDirector, MaRS Solutions Lab

@joerivds #systemchangesolutions-lab.marsdd.com