Giving Compass' Take:

• FHI 360 discusses the need for more progress when it comes to the Sustainable Development Goals, and how partnering with rising "informal" innovators can help us achieve them.

• From focusing on the problems (not products) to building failure into planning stages, there's a lot of sound advice here. How can funders make the most of these opportunities?

• Be sure to check out this video series on how innovation plays a role in social problem-solving.

We know we have to do things differently to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We need new ways of seeing old problems, new skills and methods to direct the technological whirlwind disrupting societies and new ways to muster political will to make hard decisions that challenge old orthodoxies.

There is a paradox here: At a time when innovation is creating destabilizing change, the key to future stability lies in our ability to effectively harness innovation. But what does that look like?

Most innovations are spread through traditional commercial channels where one company either develops or purchases the intellectual property or product of another. Commercializing and scaling new products, particularly in the tech sector, has been the driving force in 21st century economic growth. It has improved living standards in many parts of the world, but simultaneously produced growing — and potentially destabilizing — inequality.

At the same time, digital tools and free market policies have opened the doors for millions of enterprising individuals to turn their ideas into prototypes that have the potential to offer novel, life-changing solutions and in the process, create new business models and disrupt established industries. How do development organizations and foundations find and partner with this rising class of innovators so that together we can deliver greater impact?

Read the full article about partnering with a new generation of innovators for social good by Patrick Fine at degrees.fhi360.org.