As I face the last
stages of my Master's programme on Sustainable Development and CSR here in Madrid, I have been
extremely occupied in these past few weeks with my group's final project and
preparation of our final presentation. The theme for the topic of our project
is centered on social innovation. Perhaps some day I will give you a sneak peek
of what our project is about, but for today, I would like to highlight what I
learned about a social enterprise from one of the courses we attended on social
entrepreneurship.
First of all, some of you may be wondering what a social entrepreneur is. Well, there are many definitions out there and different people have a different understanding of what this term means since the use of the term became more popular in recent times. For now, we will refer to the definition provided by Ashoka:
"Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Social entrepreneurs often seem to be possessed by their ideas, committing their lives to changing the direction of their field. They are both visionaries and ultimate realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else."
First of all, some of you may be wondering what a social entrepreneur is. Well, there are many definitions out there and different people have a different understanding of what this term means since the use of the term became more popular in recent times. For now, we will refer to the definition provided by Ashoka:
"Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Social entrepreneurs often seem to be possessed by their ideas, committing their lives to changing the direction of their field. They are both visionaries and ultimate realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else."
A mission to innovate, play and empower
With the 2012
Eurocup Finals looming around the corner, I thought I would post here an
example of a social enterprise, Unchartered Play, that was co-founded by Jessica O.
Matthews and Julia Silverman. What started off as one of their class projects
at Harvard College developed into an innovative
product named SOCCKET that holds the potential to address social and, to some
extent, environmental issues as well.
According to the company's website, Soccket is a soccer ball (or football) that generates energy as it is kicked around. The clean electricity is produced through kinetic energy and stored in the battery of the ball. It has a little socket that allows for small electronic devices such as lamps, water purifier, and cellphone chargers to be plugged in and powered. This is how Soccket functions as a toy and as the first portable generator that comes in the form of a soccer ball. Thirty minutes of play would be able to power an LED lamp for three hours. It may not seem like much but it makes a world of difference for people who live in areas where energy infrastructure is poor or not available. At the moment, Soccket weighs four ounces more than conventional soccer balls, but the developers are hoping to reduce its weight with the use of lightweight materials.
According to the company's website, Soccket is a soccer ball (or football) that generates energy as it is kicked around. The clean electricity is produced through kinetic energy and stored in the battery of the ball. It has a little socket that allows for small electronic devices such as lamps, water purifier, and cellphone chargers to be plugged in and powered. This is how Soccket functions as a toy and as the first portable generator that comes in the form of a soccer ball. Thirty minutes of play would be able to power an LED lamp for three hours. It may not seem like much but it makes a world of difference for people who live in areas where energy infrastructure is poor or not available. At the moment, Soccket weighs four ounces more than conventional soccer balls, but the developers are hoping to reduce its weight with the use of lightweight materials.
Through their
innovative thinking and design, the enterprise was able to successfully combine
the function of play and the need to address a pressing issue faced by more
than 1 billion people in the world, who rely on kerosene lamps to light up
their homes after dark.
The enterprise seems to make efforts in trying to meet the needs of the end-user, and its team has begun developing several other products with early engagement to understand the people’s needs. They also immersed themselves in the environments that their users live in to appreciate and comprehend their daily lives and routines. Matthews, who is CEO of Uncharted Play, states that 3,000 of these balls will be distributed this year to Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haiti, and South Africa.
They have also begun collaborating with partners across the globe. One in particular is linked to Huecco, who is a Spanish singer that established an organization called Fundación Dame Vida. This foundation functions to distribute Soccket to energy-impoverished areas. The plan is to donate royalties from the record sales of Huecco’s album entitled "Dame Vida" for manufacturing and distributing these balls that are referred to in Spanish as “el balón con luz” (the ball with light) or “el balón verde” (the green ball). The foundation is working to distribute Dame Vida Soccket balls so that one family will get one ball. The singer’s celebrity status has successfully managed to attract football stars and other sports stars to participate in promoting the cause of his foundation and through the sales of his album, 500 balls have been manufactured thus far.
The enterprise seems to make efforts in trying to meet the needs of the end-user, and its team has begun developing several other products with early engagement to understand the people’s needs. They also immersed themselves in the environments that their users live in to appreciate and comprehend their daily lives and routines. Matthews, who is CEO of Uncharted Play, states that 3,000 of these balls will be distributed this year to Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Haiti, and South Africa.
They have also begun collaborating with partners across the globe. One in particular is linked to Huecco, who is a Spanish singer that established an organization called Fundación Dame Vida. This foundation functions to distribute Soccket to energy-impoverished areas. The plan is to donate royalties from the record sales of Huecco’s album entitled "Dame Vida" for manufacturing and distributing these balls that are referred to in Spanish as “el balón con luz” (the ball with light) or “el balón verde” (the green ball). The foundation is working to distribute Dame Vida Soccket balls so that one family will get one ball. The singer’s celebrity status has successfully managed to attract football stars and other sports stars to participate in promoting the cause of his foundation and through the sales of his album, 500 balls have been manufactured thus far.
However, there could be some challenges faced with distributing Soccket in such poor, impoverished communities. One would be with regard to what would happen after the product wears out or exceeds its battery life. Some questions that came up in my mind as I was researching on this enterprise and their breakthrough product are: After the ball "expires", what happens then to the beneficiaries who have been relying on it as their portable generator? Would more balls be sent over to these poor communities? Is there some way for the old batteries to be replaced with new ones? If yes, how would the poor communities go about doing it? If not, how would they dispose of these portable generators in the safest way, with the least impact on their health and environment? I ask these questions because Matthews mentioned at the Clinton Global Initiative that the latest version of Soccket has been built to last up to 3 years. Thus, although I like their innovative product and the ideas behind it, I hope Unchartered Play has kept those issues in mind and are finding ways to address them. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the development of the enterprise's project involving this product and would like to see if there has been any notable improvements or benefits gained in the communities where Soccket has been introduced.
Click below to watch the
promotional video of SOCCKET:
And the official music video
of “Dame Vida” by Huecco:
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