USAID's beta site is meant to look nongovernmental

The U.S. Agency for International Development believes that surrendering visible ownership can be good for the mission.

The agency is joining some 100 partners, both within and outside the federal government, to launch the Global Innovation Exchange this summer, but the website, currently available in beta form, is purposely nongovernmental.

"We made some very specific decisions," said Alexis Bonnell, division chief of applied innovation and acceleration in USAID's U.S. Global Development Lab, at a May 4 breakfast held by AFCEA's Bethesda chapter. "Number one, it is not red, white and blue. It is not a .gov site."

The site aims to link innovators worldwide -- people who have created water-cleaning solutions, energy-efficient light bulbs and much more -- to the resources they need.

"We actually gave up control, gave up certain elements of influence because we recognized that if the Koreans were going to play with us, or...the U.K. or Canadians or [the Bill and Melinda] Gates Foundation, we needed to be able to have a way where we could convene together and be able to put some of our normal cultural and ground expectations aside," Bonnell said.

She added that the main type of question the site's developers asked themselves was "How do you get out of the way and let an amazing accountant connect with a startup in Nigeria and help get their books in order for us to fund them?"

The site features a clearinghouse for the many global prize and challenge initiatives in which innovators can compete, many of which USAID sponsors. As of press time, the beta site lists $327.6 million in available funding.

Bonnell told FCW that the site will officially launch in June.