In the real world of philanthropy, some philanthropists have taken to deploying a systems approach to addressing social issues. The systems approach has also been penned as ‘collective impact’ as well as a ‘transformative impact.’ There is a growing interest in a new term, the system entrepreneur, generally described as an organisation or individual that executes wide-scale social change with a variety of resources focusing on comprehensive problems. In principle, a whole systems change supported by a system entrepreneur.
A system entrepreneurs is clever in using resources available from all relevant stakeholders; from local/regional governments, international organisations, private sector, etc. in such a way as to leverage their knowledge, capabilities and understanding in pursuit of a common goal. This goal can be a single goal, such as climate change to a matrix of goals such as those of UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
“A systems entrepreneur is a person or organisation that facilitates a change, via a new or innovative approach to an entire ecosystem by addressing and incorporating all the components and actors required to move the needle on a particular social issue.”
The system entrepreneur is innovative in approach and delivery; they are independent interlocutors, facilitators, networkers, thought leaders and sensitive diplomats. They are emboldened by ensuring that all the stakeholders feel empowered, supported and integrated into finding and delivering a successful solution.
Some have defined a system entrepreneur as an inciter; taking on the elemental role, which supports innovation and momentum within and among all other participants.
The motivation of a system entrepreneur is to create a demonstrable change and innovative approach to social change. This creation of change is diplomatically achieved by the unique use of the stakeholders capabilities - a balance between working through participants strengths and ideas to achieve something innovative, scalable, leverageable and remarkable.
United Smart Cities: System Entrepreneur
United Smart Cities [unitedsmartcities.org] is such a system entrepreneur. An organisation set up to go beyond resilient cities to include international organisations and private sector in a joint understanding to the social outcome goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
United Smart Cities is an independent interlocutor constructing a platform that allows all stakeholders to communicate their valued strengths to positively addressing the SDGs. As a facilitator United Smart Cities, as a system entrepreneur, works in concert with United for Smart Sustainable Cities [U4SSD] on a common set of metrics and taxonomy to be used to measure how the needle is moving to address individual Goals and the overall SDGs. The sharing of the progress within the network is ideal in identifying areas of need and supports continued motivation and underpinning mutual agreements.
United Smart Cities is positioned to create and support innovate approaches to the Smart Cities concept. As a change in the entire ecosystem is needed. Indeed, a successful system-level change, the SDGs need to be addressed from the ground-up; via community level changes, from the top-down; via policy changes, with the introduction of United Nations Programs and Private Sector projects.
United Smart Cities is unique in that the concept uses all of the resources available to address the SDGs. Resources as small as an idea to as grand as matchmaking city demands to international capabilities.
United Smart Cities coordinates the trifecta of the private sector, city governments and the United Nations to effectively address the SDGs at the local level. The connection of these three components is the strength of the United Smart Cities concept. City governments can identify expertise and programs needed to address the SDGs at their level, supported by the private sector and access to international capacity via UN programs to be truly effective. Indeed, the concept avoids the pitfalls of private sector projects stalling if local governments do not need the solution, lack international capacity or undue competition against potential projects. All of the actors much mutually reinforce each other to find scalable, leverageable and innovative SDG solutions.
Exciting Potential
The road ahead for a systems change approach and a systems entrepreneur is riveting. Moving beyond the traditional approach to employing new players, innovative ideas and new-ways and wider possibilities.
The scalability of new innovative ideas on the regional/local/city level in addressing the SDGs, think of the unlimited potential of the collective imagination of the United Smart City approach.
The UN has put a deadline of the year 2030 to address the Sustainable Development Goals; goals set out the blueprint or road map of the worlds largest challenges. With over half of the world’s population live in the urban environment; cities will need to be the solution generator which effectively address the SDGs in a positive and most impactful manner. United Smart Cities, as a system entrepreneur, is ideally suited to support and promote the unique solutions.
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