GO Lab leads consortium to develop global knowledge platform for impact bonds
We are delighted to announce that the GO Lab is leading a consortium to develop an innovative online knowledge hub to provide information and learning on impact bonds and outcomes-based instruments in low- and middle-income countries.
The consortium includes Ecorys, Social Finance, the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship and MAZE. This is funded by the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Department for International Development (DFID).
You can shape the creation of the knowledge platform by completing the stakeholder consultation survey. Please note the survey will close on 25th March 2019.
About the platform
In recent years, impact bonds have emerged as a tool with potential to respond to financing, accountability and implementation challenges by creating new partnerships between governments, donors, delivery partners and investors. As the field has developed, however, learning, recommendations, and practical experiences have become held loosely in a diffuse network of actors within an emergent ‘impact bond marketplace’. A sector-wide approach to learning and knowledge sharing is called for.
In the UK, the GO Lab has already established a comprehensive knowledge hub for social impact bonds. The consortium will build on this expertise and that of other key partners in the field to develop further knowledge and support resources, focussing in particular on impact bonds and outcomes-based instruments in low- and middle-income countries.
Shape the creation of the impact bond knowledge platform!
As part of the development of the platform, we are undertaking an extensive stakeholder consultation. If you are currently developing impact bond approaches or are interested to do so in the future, we are keen to hear your thoughts on what information would best help you, and how an online knowledge platform could be designed to cater to your needs.
We would like to invite you to complete a survey, to reflect on what information you would like to further engage in and develop impact bonds in low- and/or middle-income countries, and how an online knowledge platform could best support your needs. Your strategic insight is invaluable to achieving this vision, and will assist with setting the future direction of the platform, with the hope of transforming how stakeholders engage with impact bonds.
You can access the survey here.
About the consortium partners
The GO Lab is an academic centre for research of practice around outcomes-based commissioning and impact bonds, based at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. The Blavatnik School of Government educates the future leaders of government worldwide. Within the School, the GO Lab conducts academic research on improving public sector outcomes, informing policy decisions and equipping public sector leaders with tools to tackle complex social problems.
Social Finance is a global non-profit social impact consultancy with a focus on the design, delivery and launch of outcomes-based contracts including development impact bonds. Social Finance pioneered the first social impact bond in the UK in 2009 and works to actively support the development of quality outcomes-based commissioning, outcomes-based investment and adaptive performance management for social impact.
Ecorys is an international consultancy providing research, consulting and management services. Ecorys is one of the world leaders in impact bond research and are currently evaluating 42 impact bonds, including four development impact bonds.
The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a centre of excellence based at the Graduate School of Business (University of Cape Town) focused on research, teaching, dialogue and the support of innovators and enterprises towards social impact.
MAZE is an impact venture based in Lisbon, Portugal, created by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2013. MAZE works alongside public sector entities, investors and impact-driven organisations to scale effective solutions that address social issues.