Your Monday Citizen Innovation Brief

Citizenship. Innovation. Design. These topics ground the Citizen Experience Lab. Each week we share a curated crop of stories on these topics that caught our attention, along with our thoughts on business model innovation. You’re invited to join our conversation on how innovation can transform the citizen experience?

This week: Inclusion. How can business, non-profits and civic leaders create value for marginalized communities through inclusive innovations?

tech embraces autism; Microsoft evolves design thinking; Reid Hoffman pitches labor system transformation; policy succeeds in practice; citizenship is explored.

This Visionary May Completely Disrupt The Tech Industry As We Know It

It’s unfathomable that today, a segment of the population suffers an 80% unemployment rate, when total unemployment was just 10% at the peak of the Great Recession. That this same population segment displays higher-than-usual skills in concentration, analytical ability and attention to detail makes the situation even more absurd. Yet this is precisely the experience of people with Austism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Danish social entrepreneur Thorkil Sonne turned this “disability” into a competitive advantage by hiring people with ASD and contracting them to software companies. Sonne’s innovative model paves a new path to meaningful employment for this marginalized community, creating value for everyone involved.

Microsoft’s Radical Bet On A New Type Of Design Thinking

Microsoft has taken steps to establishing a new direction to the design thinking movement. The tech giant has rolled out a new set of principles called Inclusive Design that take the human-centered approach a step further. Inclusive Design places those with disabilities at the center of the design process, under the premise that focusing the design process on users with disabilities will generate better, more innovate products and services for everyone. We look forward to seeing how Microsoft’s new principles catalyze a wave of inclusion-centered innovation across industries and sectors. As we say at BIF, it’s a user-centered world. Design for it.

Reid Hoffman Demonstrates How to Pitch an Idea

Fast-growing civic enterprise Opportunity@Work is transforming the IT industry by creating more inclusive forms of education and workforce development. By spearheading an approach bringing together policy-makers, business owners and non-profit leaders, the enterprise has been able to create impressive impact and attract national attention. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman was willing to pitch Opportunity@Work to Adam Grant, making a compelling case for a compelling and innovative model.

Workforce Development Is Growing Way Past City Lines

The much-heralded Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, WIOA, passed in 2014, is now bearing fruit. WIOA encourages regionally-based workforce development organizations to innovate their business models and create value for a wider range of users. This change of focus has led regional organizations to greater impact as they create new pathways to job placement and spark growth in local economies across the nation. The nascent success of WIOA shows how federal policy can create value for citizens by fostering innovation and encouraging more inclusive labor systems.

ERIC LIU’S POWER (AND TIMELINESS) OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP

What is citizenship? One would assume that this question, fundamental to living in a democratic society, would be thoroughly discussed, debated and understood. Not so, says Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University, an organization seeking to revitalize citizenship. Liu galvanizes a network of civic innovators, hosts conferences and develops online courses and tutorials to create a broader and more informed civic discourse. Citizen University also supports immigrants as they become naturalized as full citizens, fostering the diversity and inclusion that are crucial for the health of our society.