As the Covid-19 pandemic took its grip on the world in early 2020, global demand for oxygen surged. Pure oxygen in cylinders is expensive, and proved hard to find. Simple technology exists to turn ordinary air into medical-grade oxygen - but that technology is fragile, and manufacturers couldn’t see viable or profitable ways to build something tougher. By bringing people together to discuss the issues, we helped to pinpoint a crucial problem - and a simple solution, which saved thousands of lives.
Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge is the first innovation challenge to focus on humanitarian crises caused by conflict. Launched in 2018, partners collectively contributed USD $38 million to enable humanitarian actors and agencies, local emergency responders, and the private sector to work alongside affected communities to respond more nimbly to complex humanitarian emergencies. This Humanitarian Grand Challenge identifies and scales innovations to help people affected by humanitarian crises caused by conflict.
In 2022 we partnered with Macmillan Cancer Support to evolve the way the organisation designs both for and with marginalised people living with cancer. In just five months we designed and tested a CoLab proposition that fundamentally shifted how Macmillan’s service design and innovation teams develop inclusive solutions.
