Outsourcing has always been a viable option ever since entrepreneurs found alternative ways that are cost-effective as compared to doing everything internally. In addition, offshoring has been a feature in an entrepreneur’s vocabulary over the last two decades.
What about Impact Sourcing? Simply put, this is the new wave. So far, the best definition for impact sourcing has been; Impact Sourcing is exporting/offshoring digital work to areas and workers that would traditionally never access it.
With this definition in mind, it’s fair to say that impact sourcing simply moves labor from 2nd to 3rd tier locations. For most companies, this is typically the case. However, a thorough definition of Impact Sourcing covers how workers and employers confront the relationships between themselves and the offshored work.
A good example of this is Digital Jobs Africa Initiative, under the Rockefeller Foundation. The foundation has in recent times put emphasis, both in thought and effort, on crafting meaningful strategies for Impact Sourcing. As a result of this undertaking, a robust definition of Impact Sourcing has cropped up:
Impact Sourcing is a socially conscious branch of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Outsourcing industry that purposefully employs people with limited opportunity for sustainable employment, mostly in low-income areas/countries.