This can include information about:
- Rainfall and weather
- Floods and droughts
- Heat
- Water availability
- Longer-term changes in climate
FIF 2028 theme
Frugal Innovation Forum (FIF) is a BRAC platform that brings together people and ideas to explore practical solutions to real world challenges. Since 2013, FIF has created a space for practitioners, entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers, funders and others to share and learn from affordable and practical innovations.
Instead of viewing FIF as a single conference, BRAC is evolving FIF into a year-round innovation ecosystem that identifies, nurtures and showcases promising solutions while sustaining collaboration beyond the forum itself. While many climate conferences focus on presenting research findings, emerging technologies or pilot projects, FIF places particular emphasis on the practical realities of implementation and scaling.
FIF 2028 will centre on Climate Information Services (CIS) for climate adaptation across sectors such as agriculture & livelihoods, insurance, health, and water security, positioning it as a driver of informed decision-making.
What is Climate Information Services (CIS)?
Climate Information Services (CIS) is about enabling people and communities to use climate and weather information to support better decision-making. The information needs to reach the right people at the right time in a form they can understand and use.
For example, knowing that heavy rainfall is expected is useful. But for a farmer, the more important question may be: What should I do now? Should I plant, harvest or protect my crops?
Why is this important?
Climate change is increasingly affecting people's everyday lives and decisions. Farmers, communities, service providers, businesses and public systems are dealing with changing rainfall patterns, floods, heat, water stress and other climate-related risks.
Information can help people prepare for these risks, but there can still be a gap between having information and being able to use it. Information may:
- not reach the people who need it most;
- be difficult to understand;
- not relate to the decisions people actually need to make; or
- fail to provide a clear pathway towards action.
CIS addresses this gap by focusing on how climate information can be translated and delivered in ways that support better preparedness, adaptation and decision-making.
What does CIS mean in the context of FIF 2028?
For FIF 2028, CIS will serve as the central lens for exploring innovation opportunities related to climate adaptation.
The focus is not only on technology or climate data. Innovation could look at:
- How information reaches people
- How information is communicated and understood
- How people can use information to make decisions
- How local knowledge can be combined with climate information
- How existing services can better respond to climate risks
The focus can apply across areas such as agriculture, water, health, insurance and livelihoods.
What does this mean for the Innovation Challenge?
The Frugal Innovation Challenge will invite Bangladeshi young people to identify real problems faced by people and communities because of climate-related changes and think of practical solutions.
The Challenge is not asking young people to simply build a weather app or create a new technology.
Instead, they can ask:
What information does someone need to make a better decision in the face of a climate-related challenge?
And then:
How can we help that information reach them and become useful?
A solution could be digital or non-digital. It could involve technology, communication, community engagement, local knowledge, a new service or a different way of delivering information.
