Accelerating Public Sector Scaling
Why are so few innovations scaling up through the public sector?
It remains the case today that most of the innovations that emerge within the development community are being developed for (or choosing to pursue) pathways to scale through the market (the private sector). Despite having enormous population reach, influence and ready-made scaling infrastructure in place, government engagement in the innovation and scaling process has been surprisingly limited, even though public services desperately need new solutions to be efficient and effective.
In 2020, with leadership from Grand Challenges Canada and Global Affairs Canada, IDIA began to explore how to turn this trend around and identify approaches through which governments might begin to institutionalise the policies, processes and capacities required to systematically source and scale up innovations within their systems. Using health innovations as an example sector, the IDIA Secretariat entered into a partnership with Kenyan-based agency Insight Health Advisors to conduct research into the factors influencing government demand for, and scaling of, health innovation. This led to to collaborative design with public and private actors of a six-stage approach that uses a mountain-climbing metaphor to map and mobilise a demand-driven, government-led and ecosystem-supported approach to accelerating public sector scaling of innovation known as the “Mountain Model’.
Following a successful period of demonstration, testing and refinement with a cohort of IDIA’s Global Innovation Advisors, the Mountain Model has since been taken up and used by 16 county governments across Kenya; by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Tanzania (where it was used to inform the demand-led selection of innovations for development partner investment; and in Ethiopia, where it provided the foundation for the Ministry of Health’s first ever National Health Innovation Guidelines and demand-led innovation articulation process.
At a global level, the Mountain Model has also been used by the World Health Organization as the backbone for the WHO’s first ‘Call to Action for Public Sector Scaling of Health Innovation’ and for the inaugural World Health Innovation Forum (co-hosted by WHO, IDIA and the Kalam Institute of Health Technology) focusing on public sector scaling that was convened in India in 2023.
This kind of uptake and adaptation is exactly what IDIA aims for through our demonstration models and we encourage the continued dissemination of this approach through the open sharing of key resources and learning below. If you are interested in exploring a partnership with IDIA to adapt the Mountain Model for your own sector and context, contact us below.
Our journey from demonstration to impact
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1. Research to inform the model
2021
This foundation report unpacks findings from consultation with governments and wider ecosystem actors to identify six key factors influencing government demand for and scaling of health innovation. It also includes a preliminary outline of the “Mountain Model” co-created in response.
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2. The Mountain Model takes shape
2021
An overview of the design principles, stakeholders, stages and implementation approach for the Mountain Model to accelerate public sector sourcing and scaling of innovation. -
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3. Pilot testing begins in Kenya
2021
Testing of the Mountain Model process begins with two cohorts of government actors from Makueni and Kajiado counties in Kenya, facilitated by local partner Insight Health Advisors.
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4. Raising awareness
2022
This summarises the official launch of the report at a special event hosted as part of the UN STI Forum. -
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5. Formation of the Public Sector Scaling Action Lab
2022
IDIA launches the “Public Sector Scaling Action Lab”, mobilising a new community of global and regional experts to support the continued refinement and promotion of the Mountain Model.
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6. Exploring Adaptation for Ethiopia
2022
The PSS Lab Champions discuss how the Mountain Model might operate in the context of Ethiopia.
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7. Attracting Scaling Resources
2023
This blog summarises the rationale for a new government-led tool to support them in attracting scale-up financing both internally and from ecosystem partners.
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8. Insights from a year of the PSS Lab
2023
Summarising lessons learned from the initial 12 months of the Public Sector Scaling Action Lab, including how it should operate to be impactful and the shared values that would guide the journey ahead.
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9. Co-creating Innovation Investment Cases
2023
This blog summarises the discussion and output of a workshop with the Kenyan government that led to the co-design of Innovation Investment Cases to help the Mountain Model cohorts attract financing for their selected innovations.
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10. Expanding into Ethiopia
2023
This blog summarises discussion at the initial workshop to discuss potential uptake of the Mountain model by the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia.
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11. The Mountain Model goes global
2023
This blogs summarises the first World Health Innovation Forum, held from November 14th to 16th at the Kalam Institute of Health Technology in India. The Mountain Model played a key role in the forum, as the six stages of the Model formed the backbone of the entire agenda, guiding discussions and presentations throughout.
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12. Public Sector Scaling Summit at KIW
2023
At the end of the year, the PSS Lab joined forces with the Million Lives Collective community of innovators within IDIA to co-host a special Public Sector Innovation Summit, sharing insights from Mountain Model implementation as part of Kenya Innovation Week.
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13. Mountain Model informs WHO Global Call to Action
2024
The World Health Organization launch a global call to action urging governments and their partners to prioritize the scale-up of health innovations using an approach inspired by the Mountain Model
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14. Ethiopia adopts Mountain Model in National Guidelines
2024
With support from the Gates Foundation, IDIA collaborates with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to integrate the Mountain Model into their inaugural National Health Innovation Guidelines.
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15. Mountain Model scales up in Kenya
2024
This blog marks the expansion of the Mountain Model to 14 additional counties in Kenya that comprise the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB).
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16. LREB Counties convene Innovation Fair
2025
This innovation fair was the culmination of stage two of the Mountain Model, the main objective of which is to scan and identify existing innovations that meet the identified health needs of LREB region.
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17. Integration into the IDIA Training
2025
The Mountain Model is adopted as an official case study within the curriculum of the IDIA Training on Managing Innovation for Impact, further extending its influence across the IDIA Global Training Alumni.
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18. More innovations procured through the Mountain Model
2026
Governments in three more Kenyan counties - Kakamega (the largest), Migori, and Kericho - sign procurement orders for Neopenda’sneoGuard device while the region prioritises 5 more innovations surfaced through the Mountain Model.
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19. LREB counties adopt Ambulensi and MAPEMA AI innovations through the Mountain Model
2026
The region has prioritized the adoption and scaling of Ambulensi, a web-based emergency care system as well as MAPEMA AI, an AI-enabled POCUS (point of care ultrasound) selected by eight counties as a key tool for reducing maternal mortality.
