A New
Model
IDEMS’ ambitious vision for a new model of scalable community technology is defined by our mission, guided by principles, and protected by our company structure.
A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
IDEMS is legally registered in the UK as a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee and a Social Enterprise UK member. Our structure embeds our defining sense of purpose – a responsibility to serve communities, and their interests, around the world – in our culture and innovation.
Our structure makes IDEMS a not-for-profit: We can’t issue shares or distribute profits to shareholders, as any profit must be retained within the company to expand the impact of existing innovation, develop new public good innovation, or to support social impact projects and donations to our designated charities.
Our ambitions are to be a profitable, sustainable business. IDEMS can only achieve its ambitious vision by embracing the entrepreneurial side of being a social enterprise. Our day-to-day working practices focus on building a dynamic, motivated, and competitive team, enabling groundbreaking and widely usable innovation and growth-focused decision making.
A note on our name, in case you were wondering: IDEMS was born of founders’ intersectional experience and interests in (I)nnovation, Global (D)evelopment, (E)ducation, and the (M)athematical (S)ciences. These continue to shape our organization even as our interests and areas of work continue to expand.
MISSION
& VISION
IDEMS Mission
To work collaboratively with diverse partners to develop, and enable the evolution of, socio-technical innovation that benefits communities and individuals all over the world.
IDEMS Vision
A world where every community has real access to, ownership of, and control over high-quality, continuously evolving technology as needed to create impact in their local contexts, at global scale, sustained by a trusted steward of its ongoing quality and evolution.
Impacting Grand Challenges
Grand challenges are complex development problems which can’t be solved with simple direct interventions or “silver bullet” solutions. These are also sometimes described as “wicked problems” in international development.
Recognizing that grand challenges are complex and systemic, IDEMS’ work is defined by:
- Accepting complexity. There are no silver bullet solutions or quick fixes; innovation requires multifaceted, trans-disciplinary approaches and intervention design.
- Building incrementally. Interventions aren’t one-offs; they are steps along a path. They should, wherever possible, build from previous experience and open up further opportunities.
- Developing coherence. It takes a vast complement of teams and resources, over time, to develop solutions to complex challenges. Work is best supported by coherent design and communication of thought processes and principles to enable consistency and continuity.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The nature of IDEMS work in global social complexity demands informed collective and independent decision making. IDEMS guiding principles are a living reflection of the company’s beliefs, priorities and approaches that enable the company and team members to make coherent, responsible decisions in service of our purpose in their day-to-day work.
Current company principles:
Scalable Impact: This principle is central to the company vision. It pushes thinking to go beyond just finding individual solutions towards understanding how those solutions can be replicated. Scalable Impact includes 3 supporting principles: Viral Scaling, Sustainable Development, and Capacity Building
Options by Context: This principle is at the core of company thinking. It recognizes there are no “silver bullet” solutions, and requires knowledge of local realities when proposing interventions or solutions. Options by Context includes 3 supporting principles: Open by Default, Local Innovation, and Continuously Evolving
Systems Thinking: This principle affects how the company tackles problems and develops innovation, embedding the practice of understanding of how any company activity relates to and fits into the bigger picture and can create indirect positive or negative consequences. Systems Thinking includes 3 supporting principles: Embracing Diversity, Transdisciplinarity, and Holistic Interventions
Inherently inclusive: This principle defines the company ethos. It builds from the founders’ appreciation of diversity and challenges the company to identify and eliminate biases and discrimination in all its forms. Inherently Inclusive includes 3 supporting principles: Collaborative by Nature, Enabling Opportunity, and Consciously Ethical
Informed decision making: This principle indicates the company’s deliberate effort to include diverse forms of information, and assess their uncertainty, as part of decision making processes. It encourages balanced consideration of options, and is designed to reduce susceptibility to trends or misinformation. Informed Decision Making includes 3 supporting principles: Evidence-Based, Developing Research, Critical Assessment
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
IDEMS is a profitable not-for-profit. Though it might sound like an oxymoron, we believe this model balances our ambitious technology vision with our social mission.
- Achieving and maintaining profitability ensures competitive innovation, continuous business growth, and a dynamic team.
- A protected not-for-profit status ensures the pursuit of profits never overrides or compromises our social mission, ensuring that profits are reinvested to develop public good innovation and benefit the communities we serve.
Most importantly, IDEMS aims to achieve business sustainability, based on responsible business models.
IDEMS has been profitable nearly every year since we began trading in 2018, with revenue generated through applied innovation consulting and development with partner organizations and researchers. In 2023 and 2025, we chose to dedicate team to our own innovation R&D rather than applied program innovation and delivery with collaborative partners, for a strategic operating loss that is now enabling us to fundraise for our own pioneering tech innovation.
IDEMS is currently fundraising to support core tech innovation, but we continue to maintain a sustainable business through the paid development of digital impact programs and delivery of services, including hosting, training and support for implementing governments, agencies, and NGOs.
We have already validated the cross-sector demand and multiple markets and customers for our innovative public good technology products, with plans to refine business models with dedicated funding.