Frugal digital innovation: delivering healthcare services in rural India

Digital innovation fosters business and social transformation. The traditional, resource-based view of the firm takes for granted the abundance of resources in the firm’s environment. This has given rise to studies on digital platforms and ecosystems that are agents of economic activity in the age of industry 4.0. In contrast, a large part of the world does not have access to cutting-edge technologies yet remains ridden with socio-economic challenges. Several constraint-driven paradigms of innovation, such as frugal digital innovation, emerge from the context of low- and middle-income countries. Frugal digital innovation operates within constraints and is rooted in affordability and accessibility. Frugal innovators harness the power of readily available digital technologies to develop products and services that use fewer resources to offer greater value. This chapter unpacks the evolution of a frugal digital platform, RuralHealth, which provides last-mile healthcare services in rural India, where populations suffered from lack of physical and digital health infrastructure. RuralHealth developed its platform by focusing on affordability and accessibility within contextual constraints to deliver economic and social value.