Spark Conference
As Sabre is to the airline industry, Spark is to humanitarian industry.
Imagine a day when each airline had their own reservation system. We all relied on travel agents to navigate different computer systems just to book a flight. In the early 70′s, American Airlines teamed up with IBM and created the Sabre system. It was one of the first computerized reservation and ticket transaction systems. Originally used only by AA, the system was expanded to travel agents in 1976. It is currently used by a large number of companies, including Eurostar and SNCF. Today the system connects more than 30,000 travel agents and 3 million consumers with more than 400 airlines, 50 car-rental companies, 35,000 hotels and dozens of railways, tour companies, ferries and cruise lines. This evolved into ACP (Airlines Control Program), and later to TPF (Transaction Processing Facility). American spun off Sabre on March 15, 2000. Sabre was publicly traded corporation, Sabre Holdings, stock symbol TSG on the NYSE until taken private in March 2007.
Today, all non-government organizations (NGO) use different systems for Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DM&E). Each year, billions of dollars are donated by individuals, businesses, and governments through NGO’s to reach the end beneficiaries. Unfortunately, there is no standards for reporting impact, so it is impossible for donors to get a consolidated report of their donation impact across multiple agencies. In effect, the non-profit industry is where the airline industry was in 1972.
On March 11, 2008, World Vision one of the leading NGO’s ($2B/year) gathered together 15 organizations to discuss the possibility of developing an inter-agency DM&E system that would benefit the entire non-profit industry. If successful, the system (code named “Spark”) would enable all non-profits the ability to capture impact data into a common platform and report back to donors. It is believed that providing higher quality and more transparent impact reports to donors will increase accountability and ultimately result in higher donations to the organizations that provide this information to it’s donors.
Creative Capitalism
Bill Gates at WEF 2008
Bill Gates talks about Halftime, the pause between his Life 1.0 (Microsoft) and Life 2.0 (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). He starts full time at Gates Foundation in July 2008.
His talk is the role of the Corporation in the World.
Some points:
The world is getting better, but it’s not getting better fast enough and it’s not getting better for everyone. There are a billion people that live on less than $1 day. Why do people benefit in inverse proportion to their need. Capitalism needs to be refined so that it benefits everyone. Capitalism harnesses self-interest in a for those that can pay, philanthropy benefits the poor who cannot pay.
Recognition is an added incentive to for-profit companies in lieu of payment–the market will reward companies that are recognized for doing good. This is creative capitalism. Profit for self-interest + recognition for corporate philanthropy = creative capitalism.
Examples:
- President Bush signed the Priority Review. For those drug companies that come up with a solution for a “forgotten” disease, will get a priority review. Getting their state-of-the-art drug first priority in the FDA approval process. This could be a $100M
- Get African coffee farmers the right market for their product.
- Bono’s Red campaign was born in Davos, which has generated $50M for Aids in Africa.
Bill Gates encouraged all corporation to use Creative Capitalism–give their top thinkers a percentage of their time & talent. He says this is better than cash, because it taps into the brain power. Glaxo-Smith Klien & Sumocomo are example. If companies in a sector simply matched what the leader in that
NGO’s can create measurable s to measure & recognize non-profit organizations. By recognizing non-profits, we can encourage the creative capitalism movement.
The largest companies can have the biggest impact. It’s engineering your product so that the product can reach the lowest 1/3 of the population. It has to be promoted by the CEO and become part of the DNA. When it becomes part of the DNA, it will drive itself within a company. “A computer for everyone.” Microsoft’s slogan drives innovation.
A company should stick to what it knows well. The company’s mission and philanthropy should be tied together.
The idea of NGO’s getting cash directly from corporations is not the best solution. NGO’s need to ask for innovation, something that goes with their core products & services. Also, NGO’s have traditionally suspected that for-profit companies need to do everything for free, when in fact, it’s OK for them to make money somehow in the process.
Bill Gates would like to see his legacy be: Within 15 years, I would like to see 15 diseases wiped out. Huge changes in the mortality rates, which changes the birth rate and makes education possible. We’re spending $3B/year.
Bono on the UN Millennium Goals
The UN has developed the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Monitor website. Whatever measurement systems we develop should incorporate their measures. MDG has measurements by country.
As I understand it, funding can be cut off for any country that is not meeting the MDG goals, so the monitor report is key.
The burning questions: If the UN would be unwilling to give development money to a country that is not meeting its MDG goals, would PEACE or World Vision give that country money anyway?
Bono took the WEF to task for NOT meeting the goals.