02041nas a2200205   4500008004100000022001400041245005100055210005100106260004200157300001000199490000600209520145100215653002401666653002101690653002201711653001301733653002801746100002401774856003701798       2018                        eng d  a1927-032100aScience Is Indispensable to Frugal Innovations0 aScience Is Indispensable to Frugal Innovations  aOttawabTalent First Networkc04/2018  a49-560 v83 aIn recent years, frugal innovations have become widely popular due to their no-frills nature that entails lower costs. However, most of the frugal innovations, at least at the grassroots level, are makeshift contraptions, made from indigenous ingenuity, that achieve their goals under constraints on various resources but may suffer from limited lifespans due to premature failure. Consequently, it is imperative that sound scientific principles not be overlooked or haphazardly applied in realizing these innovations, irrespective of their grassroots or sophisticated nature. This article therefore argues for the need to use science, sometimes at the cutting edge, to realize grassroots and advanced frugal innovations that are not prone to failure under various working conditions. In so doing, this work advocates the use of classical and new design methodologies that are rooted in science to save resources and, hence lower costs, while aiming for robust functionality of frugal products. In particular, a frugal design approach using a modern version of the safety factor called the “factor of frugality” has been propounded to effectively create any type of frugal innovation from scratch. By combining the ingenuity of the resourceful creators of frugal innovations with a scientific approach that aims to make the resulting products “fail proof”, such innovations may better contribute value to business and benefits to society.10afactor of frugality10afactor of safety10afrugal innovation10aresearch10asustainable development1 aRao, Balkrishna, C.  uhttp://timreview.ca/article/1152