The Social Innovation Unit exists to unite the great ideas that people have everyday, with the people and organisations that can make those ideas come to life and make a difference.

We started in the public sector, which is possibly the least easy place to implement new ideas, but we managed it. We are particular keen on how services can be improved. And we are concerned with ensuring voluntary sector organisations are able to deliver services as well.

Added to this is our work on Corporate Social Innovation. We firmly believe that all enterprises can benefit from social innovation as a way to develop new products, deliver improvements, engage customers and build brand awareness. It is far more proactive than CSR, and can deliver increased profits and market share.

Overall we are most excited by trying to capture the great ideas that are never heard. The whispered ideas that are stuck against a wall of bureacracy or stubborness or 'we always do it this way'. The mediocrity that gets in the way of fantastic innovations, for the sake of a single listening ear.

Friday, 15 April 2011

Week 2 of setting up the SIU

It's being an odd week so far. The amount of ideas we have is great, but it's starting to ask questions about what we focus on, and, more importantly, where do we get our income from? I think that other Social Enterprises must go through a similar process, but it's tough. And it's especially tough for those of us that are not simply delivering something tried and tested, but as a social enterprise. Rather, we are in pursuit of something specific to being a social enterprise, but so far only the two of us are able to see it.

Andrew is storming ahead with his 'ideas' idea, which I have been able to make little contribution to so far. I am feeling a bit stuck doing tenders and contracts. This feels like submitting job applications, in that you know the one you don;t do is the one you might well have got, but it doesn't leave much time for anything else. We have a marketing meeting tomorrow, a free Business Link session with a specialist. We will have to see what that brings.

Dr David Land
Co-Managing Director
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