National university lab
University research unit: UNDP innovation pilot
Context
Academic team competing against NGOs for an innovation pilot envelope.
Problem
Peer review scores penalized academic tone and slow field deployment timeline.
What we did
Reframed as agile pilot with quarterly go/no-go gates; simplified bibliography into policy brief format.
Result
$67k pilot approved with extension option tied to KPI milestones.
Lessons learned
- Academic credibility helps — but deployment velocity must read credible on paper.
- Gate-based timelines reduce perceived implementation risk.
Client voice
“We kept the science and lost the jargon.”
— Principal investigator