(Extract of Chairman Dr CC Tan’s speech at the 10^th Anniversary of the Lien Centre for Social Innovation, Singapore Management University, November 2016)

Firstly, let me welcome everyone and thank you all for joining us for the 10^th Anniversary Celebration of the Lien Centre for Social Innovation in Singapore Management University.

I am privileged to have been a member of the Board since the start of Lien Centre in 2006 and it is my honour to be the third Chairman of Lien Centre, since 2011, following in the very large footprints of founding Chairman Gerard Ee and second Chairman Willie Cheng. I would like to pay tribute to both my predecessors for their keen vision and steady hands in guiding the development of the Centre.

Lien Foundation and SMU were visionary and ahead of their time when they identified social innovation as the key to the solution to society’s most pressing social problems. In 2005, the term social innovation was barely known. Even today, it is poorly understood. Therefore, it seems to me that I should spend a few moments contemplating what social innovation is. 

There appear to be several different concepts that could define social innovation. But the one that makes the most sense to me is where social innovation is the creation of concepts, strategies, ideas and organisations that meet social needs. I will quote two definitions to help refine this idea.

“A novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable or just better than existing solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals” 

– Phills, Deiglmeier and Miller (2008), Stanford Social Innovation Review

“Social innovations are innovations that are social both in their ends and in their means … In other words they are innovations that are both good for society and enhance society’s capacity to act.” 

– SIX and the Young Foundation (2010), report to the Bureau of European Policy Advisors

I identify 5 key elements of social innovation:

• Cuts across all sectors – public, private, non-profit and households
• Cuts across all fields – health, climate change, community empowerment, education, enterprise development, social justice
• Is distinct from improvement, change, creativity, invention though can include all these elements
• Requires Implementation and diffusion as critical to success
• Can be radical or incremental

What is needed to embed social innovation in our community?

• A shift from random innovation to a conscious and systematic approach.
• A shift from managing human resources to building innovation capacity.
• A shift from running tasks and projects to orchestrating processes of collaborations & co-creation, creating new solutions with people not just for them.
• A need for dynamic leadership that leads innovation across all sectors.
• Adapted from Christian Bason, Director, MindLab

Social innovation can be about improving the end-user delivery of goods and services. But the more important work of social innovation is upstream from that. The process of social innovation is entrepreneurial in that often it is unclear whether there will be implementable solutions. It is therefore also risky to invest in the process of social innovation.

As a doctor I like to think of the social innovation process as akin to how we develop treatments for diseases. There is a long process:

• Hypothesis on the cause and potential for cure of a disease
• Primary (biochemical, physiological, genetic) research into the mechanisms of disease
• Applied research into prospective treatment interventions
• Identification of candidate molecules (for drugs) or range of interventions (involving scientist, doctor, pharmaceutical company and patients themselves)
• Clinical trials Phase 1, 2 and 3 – involving increasing number of volunteers, the last involving large real-life patient populations
• Confirmation of efficacy and safety 
• Roll out.
• Risk – of 100 candidate molecules, maybe only one makes prime time. Entrepreneurial venture

So it is with social innovation. We could put a number of lines of thinking about how to address various social needs into the mill, but not every line will end up with a usable solution for society.

There is often an overlap in the usage of the terms social innovation, social entrepreneurship and social enterprise. I think that the distinctions among the three terms are subtle, yet important. So let me try to clarify their meanings at the outset and explain how they relate to one another.

Social entrepreneurship is a mind-set, an attitude, a quality of being that includes passion, vision, tenacity, courage, resilience, determination, a “never say die” attitude that drives social entrepreneurs to never be satisfied until they have spread their ideas as far as possible and have changed fundamentally the way in which social problems are addressed. Social entrepreneurship therefore is the life-force, if you like, that can move social entrepreneurs to come up with social innovations, which then become their vehicles to change society. What about social enterprise? This is one possible developmental route of social entrepreneurship and social innovation whereby commercial methods and strategies are employed to turn new services, products, networks, or other platforms into viable business models, which aim more for maximising benefits in the social arena, than profits for shareholders.

The Lien Centre contributes to a more equitable, inclusive and vibrant society by addressing social needs through innovative approaches. We drive socially innovative solutions by strengthening social sector organisations so that they become influential and effective partners with business and government.  As a centre based in SMU, Lien Centre is well positioned at a natural crossroads of the three sectors, and well positioned to conceptualise, experiment, document and disseminate new approaches and models in Singapore and beyond.

Amongst our busy slate of programmes and projects, one key initiative that aims to bring together everything, is the “Social Change Lab” which is a process designed to develop the ability of the social sector to achieve collective impact using methodologies at the cutting edge of social innovation. Some of these issue areas reflect the findings of LCSI’s 2011 landmark publication “Unmet Social Needs in Singapore”. 

The Unmet Needs identified are:

• The Disabled Community: Estimated 130,000 in the population. We have an opportunity to become a global example on inclusion for the disabled community. Compulsory education should be extended to include all children, including those with disabilities. There should be a mandate to include the disabled in all facets of the Singapore community, while also paying attention to issues of access within the transport system.
• The Mentally Ill: Estimated 16% of the population. This health condition needs more understanding and outreach. Investments in diagnosis are important and more needs to be done to support families caring for the mentally ill. Employers need to be further incentivised to employ those with mental illnesses.
• The Single Person Headed Poor Households: Range between 21,000 and 88,000. This group needs greater dedicated support as they need holistic help in their struggles. Moreover, it may also be time to review the family-oriented housing policies that can unfairly preclude a deserving beneficiary of the help that he/she deserves and unfairly penalises the next generation
• Silent Workers: 400,100 workers earn not more than $1,200. Current measures to ensure economic security can be scaled up and extended. More work also needs to be done to understand better the specific needs of workers who earn just enough for sustenance but are not well-equipped to handle shocks in the job market.  
• Foreign Workers: 850,000 lower-skilled workers. To protect foreign workers effectively, the legal process should not be too onerous for the workers to follow through. All foreigners need to be treated as workers with the right to days off, a standardised wage for the job done and, when things go wrong for them, we need to give them support.
• New Communities: One in four are permanent residents. These groups can be treated as more than just human resources. They are human bridges and potential social capital. The first step is to start with common social values and be bold to challenge local society’s status quo.  

The SCL is designed as a powerful facilitative pathway that will harness the insight, imagination and initiative of social sector collaborators with the active participation of students and alumni of SMU, government and business by together asking the right questions in addressing social needs, conducting research that can inform potential solutions, crafting prototypes that can be tested and determining the best solutions to be rolled out across society.

In the context of Singapore, the history of Lien Centre from 2006 to the present was signposted almost right in the middle by a sudden but welcome change in the socio-political environment of Singapore, brought about by the results of the 2011 general elections.

Traditionally, despite keeping state welfare provisions low, targeted and stringently applied, the government has not really encouraged the non-government sector to assume as large a role as it could. Where the government has worked through non-governmental organisations, these have been largely relegated to the role of “sub-contractor” in the harnessing of civic resources and delivering services. 

But at the National Day Rally on 18 August 2013, the Prime Minister of Singapore radically redesigned the compact between the people and the government. In a speech that was widely lauded as breath taking and game changing, PM Lee Hsien Loong articulated sweeping changes to social policies on many aspects of life in Singapore. In a country famous for hard-headed economic and social policies over its half-century of nationhood, with its emphasis on meritocracy, self-help and community rather than dependence on the state, the left-leaning and redistributive flavour of the government’s new policies surprised many, but clearly delighted those whose passion is for social equity.

PM Lee said: “We must now make a strategic shift in our approach to nation-building… Today the situation has changed. If we rely too heavily on the individual their efforts alone will not be enough, especially among the vulnerable, like the lower-income families, like the elderly. There are some things which individuals cannot do on their own, and there are other things which we can do much better together. So we must shift the balance, the community and the government will have to do more to support individuals. The community can and must take more initiative, organising and mobilising ourselves, solving problems, getting things done.”

With the government’s new approach, the substrate on which we can foster collaborations and create solutions for social needs would be immensely fertilised. Lien Centre saw great opportunities in a new, more equitable, inclusive and vibrant society, in which addressing the needs of vulnerable communities is regarded as the responsibility of all. The Centre believes that engaged citizens, a strong civil society, a sensitised government and socially responsible corporations can together drive positive social change. 

I summarise the challenges as the need to develop the social innovators’ 5 Cs for success:

1. Courage (leadership)
2. Consciousness (Awareness and information)
3. Capacity (Structures and organisations)
4. Co-creation (Sources of inspiration)
5. Collaboration (Processes)

Your presence here today tells us that we are on the right track. It is your individual and collective leadership that is raising the awareness of social issues and the possibilities of finding solutions through social innovation. It is your organisations that will develop the capacity to work with one another to drive social innovation through collaborative processes. 

I would like to end by thanking all our partners in the public, private and social sectors for your 10 years of support for the work of the Lien Centre and participating in our mutual collaborations.