The Development Innovation Accelerator

Global Development Lab. It is a competitive process that enables the co-creation and co-development of development solutions with various organizations, including public, private, government, non-government, for-profit, and non-profit entities. The Accelerator is not a procurement instrument but rather a method to communicate the U.S. Global Development Lab's interest in addressing a specific development problem. The Accelerator process involves several key elements, including the announcement of the BAA, the co-creation of an initial concept, the review of the concept by the Science-Peer Review Board, and the co-development of the solution. The process is designed to be flexible and allows for the involvement of various stakeholders, including development professionals, from the outset. The Accelerator focuses on creating the right relationships for the project based on a common understanding of the problem and the solution. The Accelerator has several advantages, including the use of design to solution, which allows for the definition of the problem, the development of solutions, the identification of competencies, and the exploration of resources. It also enables the engagement of talent and stakeholders early in the process, structures the involvement of the Chief of Party and the Acquisition Officer early and throughout the process, and permits highly customized frameworks for relationships. The Accelerator is modeled to make decisions late in the process, allowing for maximum flexibility. The Accelerator has been used to fund several projects, including the Innovative Fellowship Programs, which were awarded on September 12, 2014. These awards demonstrated the effectiveness of the Accelerator approach in enabling collaboration and shortening the time to implementation. The presolicitation phase of the Accelerator has been reduced from six months to three weeks, and the Science-Peer Review Board has been able to review concept papers and make decisions in just three hours. The Accelerator is not a funding mechanism, and there is no funding set aside for the Accelerator. Funding levels are not generally announced in the Addenda, and it is not possible to anticipate the funding required before the problem is defined. Partner organizations do not propose timeframes or funding levels, and these issues are addressed collaboratively. The partners expect a fast engagement and no loitering, and everyone pays their own way to come to the table. The Accelerator has several general areas of research interest, including food security and nutrition, modernizing food assistance, ending preventable child and maternal deaths, energy access, water solutions, child literacy, financial inclusion, rights, participation, and accountability, and humanitarian response. The Accelerator is managed by Bruce McFarland, Operational Innovations, and the Accelerator Contracting Officer is Stephanie Fugate, Contracting Officer, Management Bureau, Office of Acquisition and Assistance.