Welfare Innovation Framework Every country needs some kind of ‘alliance for welfare innovation’ to connect government departments, NGO’s, academics, tech innovators and beneficiaries in the systematic exploration of how welfare could be reformed, ideally with a light touch collaboration across national borders to share evidence and experience. Submitter's Note: This StratML rendition was compiled from the source by Claude.ai and edited in the form at https://stratml.us/forms/Claude/Part1.html Geoff Mulgan GM _d03d0842-e791-11f0-beaf-df7b1683ea00 Sir Geoff Mulgan is Professor at UCL; former CEO of Nesta; former CEO of Young Foundation; head of policy in UK Prime Minister's office; head of UK government strategy unit; director of Demos and author of many books. Welfare systems worldwide adapted to 21st century needs through systematic innovation, combining material and relational support with evidence-based practices, advanced tools, and redesigned institutions to maximize human well-being _d03d0a90-e791-11f0-beaf-df7b1683ea00 To establish and scale alliances for welfare innovation in every country, connecting government departments, NGOs, academics, technology innovators, and beneficiaries in systematic exploration of welfare reform through research, experimentation, and implementation of solutions addressing both material and psychological needs _d03d0b76-e791-11f0-beaf-df7b1683ea00 Innovation Ground welfare innovation in rigorous experimentation, randomized control trials, and systematic evaluation comparable to standards in medicine and technology Human-Centricity Prioritize understanding and addressing what people actually need most, including relational and psychological well-being alongside material security Collaboration Foster alliances connecting government, academia, civil society, technology innovators, and beneficiaries in shared problem-solving Vision Connect incremental improvements today to radical transformation possibilities 10-30 years ahead, balancing immediate action with future reimagination Equity Ensure welfare innovations address the needs of vulnerable populations and reduce rather than perpetuate biases and inequalities Needs Systematically assess and continuously update understanding of welfare needs in two dimensions: material (housing, money, energy) and psychological (relationships, social capital, well-being), recognizing shift from one-off shocks to continuous transitions and from purely financial to relational needs 41e11a67-f7d2-4589-b915-c5d98204ae93 1 Dimensions Develop and apply frameworks mapping population needs across material and psychological well-being dimensions, covering issues from homelessness to depression, child poverty to social isolation 0c96e46a-b0dd-45e7-b553-2a519533a789 1.1 Engagement Conduct in-depth ethnography and conversations with public to understand what needs matter most and warrant collective action, including perspectives from teenagers, refugees, and vulnerable populations 9bfa7211-d08c-4287-a955-9a8179edd4f8 1.2 Transitions Identify and respond to shift from traditional one-off risks (retirement, occasional unemployment) to continuous transitions faced by precarious workforce and aging society with multiple chronic conditions 991cf902-5e40-4347-a778-3e56940b4145 1.3 Isolation Recognize and measure how isolation and loneliness affect physical and mental health as severely as lack of financial resources, informing design of relational welfare supports 73277d36-d5bb-444c-8413-9ed5a6fffae4 1.4 Tools Create, test, and scale new tools and methods for welfare delivery including data systems, AI applications, digital platforms, organizational innovations, and experimental methodologies while avoiding biases and ensuring ethical implementation beaaee74-be56-47e7-9c02-adf89389a580 2 AI Develop and rigorously test AI systems for predicting risks and identifying harms before they arise, learning from examples like Allegheny County child maltreatment screening and Denmark's multi-dataset linkage while avoiding scandals from biased algorithms 97141bf1-fa71-4701-9000-dca1c94708c4 2.1 Digital Delivery Implement digital payment systems, CRM platforms, and real-time needs detection (as in Seoul's social safety net monitoring 250,000 vulnerable people) while ensuring accessibility and preventing exclusion fac6ecf8-d9b8-4a34-9a57-abf7a4421fb7 2.2 Experiments Conduct randomized control trials and large-scale experiments comparable to RAND's health insurance study or Mexico's Seguro Popular, moving beyond demonstration projects to generalizable findings that inform policy ed16a2e4-4e74-4273-be19-a5db649d0c9a 2.3 Assessment Develop fair and accurate approaches for eligibility assessment in disability and mental health, resolving tensions around physician involvement, objective testing, and assessor training 3e914a77-a2a2-4703-92c1-7b8948db528b 2.4 Income Supports Test various forms of basic income including time-limited and targeted approaches (beyond pure UBI), learning from hundreds of experiments including Wales' care leavers program to identify effective models 9da37502-87c3-40f3-b258-1afca99846d5 2.5 Co-Production Implement organizational innovations from co-production to asset-based welfare, including peer support models like Australia's Family by Family program mobilizing families to support other at-risk families 710da8bb-bc90-4cea-9cad-c51f020d86ce 2.6 Institutions Design and establish new institutional arrangements suited to 21st century welfare needs, moving beyond mid-20th century models to integrate functions, align multiple government tiers, and combine professional services with community support 101bc7db-138a-416d-804d-fa12a09f1bd8 3 Distribution Vehicles Establish new institutions for distributing money and support comparable to historical examples like Medicare, NHS, or Singapore's Central Provident Fund, and recent models like Australia's NDIS and Singapore's Integrated Care Agency f4c1364b-fb3a-4a93-bfa8-92c383813392 3.1 Care Models Develop integrated approaches combining functions and linking services, learning from CareBlocks in Colombia, seniors hubs in Seoul and Toronto, and Buurtzorg in Netherlands 25b480df-0416-4af3-a3ce-3f2c8626f240 3.2 Government Tiers Create coordination mechanisms aligning national, regional, and local government welfare functions with NGO and community capabilities for seamless service delivery 413cf5fb-807e-422f-ab4a-146c4587e4e5 3.3 Loneliness Establish institutional responses to isolation including dedicated strategies and ministerial oversight (as in Japan and UK), mobilizing circles of support combining professionals, volunteers, family, and neighbors 8c7f1548-0a48-4d77-8ea9-f423c145fe4c 3.4 Resources Secure and allocate dedicated funding for welfare innovation at scale proportional to welfare budgets and comparable to investment in other fields, overcoming current imbalance where less than 1% of $1.5 trillion AI investment addresses welfare improvement ec705e5c-33b7-4285-8c05-2efb211d93e6 4 Investment Allocate minimum 0.1% of welfare budgets to systematic innovation (e.g., £327 million from UK's £327 billion welfare spending) for research, experimentation, and evidence generation 45fdc10d-f806-4a02-b22a-bf6b280f71b7 4.1 Evidence Create shared data and evidence infrastructure comparable to medical research systems ensuring practitioners worldwide know about innovations and their impacts e13c9d18-badf-4d4b-b5b2-badaad360e02 4.2 Grants Grow social innovation funding through grant programs, investment funds, and impact investment vehicles, while increasing technology innovation agency engagement (like Finland's SITRA and Sweden's Vinnova) a6ee189a-da98-4ef7-b3e3-bfa3d6a75b36 4.3 R&D Create social R&D programs comparable to ARIA (UK) or SPRIN-D (Germany) and focused research organizations funding teams of 10-30 people for deep problem analysis and solution development e11317d3-2ac7-4ea9-bb4d-fdd1f05c13fc 4.4 Universities Transform university role in welfare innovation from critique and diagnosis to prescription and problem-solving, reviving social science tradition of combining analysis with actionable solutions for welfare challenges 10-30 years ahead 874dad2b-38de-4cb2-a13d-66d50783cdb6 5 Universities Implementation Guidance Overcome "10th chapter problem" where brilliant analysis lacks concrete implementation guidance, producing serious work on future of care, pensions, and unemployment support a generation ahead 27de96e2-e921-4b08-bc1c-67bed1a09daa 5.1 Teaching Expand university courses teaching social innovation theory and practice, training next generation to combine diagnosis with implementation-focused problem-solving d7dfd62b-c657-435a-856d-1ddabfaa0b0b 5.2 Applied Research Support research teams conducting exploratory social science as described in methods for accelerating problem-solving capabilities, analyzing urgent problems and developing implementation pathways e128567a-3010-49ec-815a-31057eec1bec 5.3 Diagnosis & Prescription Restore social science tradition exemplified by Florence Nightingale, John Maynard Keynes, Eleanor Ostrom, and Amartya Sen of combining diagnosis with prescription for societal challenges a104e268-c8f7-437d-8bcf-e2925c03f958 5.4 Revive Dual Tradition Alliances Establish Alliances for Welfare Innovation in every country connecting government departments, NGOs, academics, technology innovators, and beneficiaries in systematic collaboration with light-touch cross-border cooperation for evidence sharing f1edcc14-5025-4927-938d-2c86ce949d10 6 Government Departments National, regional, and local government agencies responsible for welfare policy development, funding allocation, and service delivery Universities & Research Institutions Academic institutions conducting social science research, teaching innovation methods, and developing evidence-based solutions Civil Society Organizations NGOs, community organizations, and social enterprises delivering welfare services and driving grassroots innovation Technology Innovators Technology companies, innovation agencies (like SITRA, Vinnova), and digital platform developers creating tools for welfare delivery Philanthropic Foundations Private foundations providing funding, convening stakeholders, and supporting social innovation experimentation Welfare Beneficiaries Individuals and communities receiving welfare support, including vulnerable populations, elderly, disabled, precarious workers, and families Large Employers Major companies engaging with welfare issues through employee programs and workforce support initiatives International Coordination Bodies Cross-national organizations facilitating evidence sharing, policy learning, and collaborative experimentation across borders Partnerships Bring together diverse sectors including government departments, civil society organizations, academic institutions, technology companies, and welfare beneficiaries in structured partnerships 87b26db1-4090-40cb-ba79-9c7d7706d4c3 6.1 Evidence Create cross-border collaboration mechanisms for sharing experimental results, implementation experiences, and evidence synthesis across national contexts a6dafff6-c321-400f-b3e5-0361681ad460 6.2 Employers Engage large employers in welfare innovation through their everyday staff interactions, learning from UK's Inclusive Economy Partnership combining employer action, government policy, and civil society innovation 9d175f16-c494-409a-8875-40ff7fabd298 6.3 Employers Mobilization Connect bottom-up innovation from patients' organizations, maker movements, hackers, and digital democracy campaigners with top-down policy development and funding 5c6762b4-0eb5-468b-a9c9-3aa5afdf41b1 6.4 Reform Connect incremental improvements implementable now with radical transformation possible 10-30 years ahead, undertaking small initiatives with greatest potential to foreshadow by persuasive example the transformation of institutional arrangements and consciousness 2ad93df3-8f8f-4306-85f4-ec873dad79f3 7 Pilots Implement immediate small-scale innovations demonstrating feasibility and building evidence for broader transformation of welfare systems 55cc6cb5-4d45-4d86-8d94-a8b7af210f37 7.1 Scenarios Develop comprehensive visions for welfare arrangements 10-30 years ahead addressing whole of society institutional arrangements and forms of consciousness a2c79989-8e44-4933-9ab6-da41718fc31e 7.2 Pathways Map clear pathways from current incremental changes to future radical reforms, ensuring today's initiatives build toward tomorrow's transformation 356cb9d7-37f6-4dea-a262-c79d0512e475 7.3 Expectations Manage expectations recognizing tendency to overestimate short-term change potential while underestimating long-term transformation possibilities ad90511a-4035-4e11-aee5-ab4e3aa72b31 7.4 2025-12-05 https://geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-need-welfare-innovation Owen Ambur Owen.Ambur@verizon.net