NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, April 3, 2014

After 4 years in the works, multiple name changes, and numerous launch delays, the U.S. Agency for International Development is finally unveiling the Global Development Lab, which it hopes will bring greater innovation to meeting the goal of ending extreme poverty and “take game-changing solutions to more than 200 million people.”

The lab will initially focus on 6 thematic areas: food security and nutrition, maternal and child survival, energy access, sustainable water solutions, child literacy, and “connected technologies.” Devex first reported last August on plans to merge the USAID’s Office of Science and Technology with the Office of Innovation and Development Alliances to create a new platform for innovation, still referred to at that time as “The Institute.”