Innovation is about finding a better way of doing something. Like many of the new development buzzwords (which many of them are over-used on many business documents), the concept of innovation originates from the world of business. It refers to the generation of new products through the process of creative entrepreneurship, putting it into production, and diffusing it more widely through increased sales. Innovation can be viewed as t he application of better solutions that meet new requirements, in-articulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as a consequence, new, that “breaks into” the market or society.
Innoveracy: Misunderstanding Innovation article points out that there is a form of ignorance which seems to be universal: the inability to understand the concept and role of innovation. The way this is exhibited is in the misuse of the term and the inability to discern the difference between novelty, creation, invention and innovation. The result is a failure to understand the causes of success and failure in business and hence the conditions that lead to economic growth. The definition of innovation is easy to find but it seems to be hard to understand. Here is a simple taxonomy of related activities that put innovation in context:
- Novelty: Something new
- Creation: Something new and valuable
- Invention: Something new, having potential value through utility
- Innovation: Something new and uniquely useful
The taxonomy is illustrated with the following diagram.
The differences are also evident in the mechanisms that exist to protect the works: Novelties are usually not protectable, Creations are protected by copyright or trademark, Inventions can be protected for a limited time through patents (or kept secret) and Innovations can be protected through market competition but are not defensible through legal means.
Innovation is a lot of talked about nowdays as essential to businesses to do. Is innovation essential for development work? article tells that innovation has become central to the way development organisations go about their work. In November 2011, Bill Gates told the G20 that innovation was the key to development. Donors increasingly stress innovation as a key condition for funding, and many civil society organisations emphasise that innovation is central to the work they do.
Some innovation ideas are pretty simple, and some are much more complicated and even sound crazy when heard first. The is place for crazy sounding ideas: venture capitalists are gravely concerned that the tech startups they’re investing in just aren’t crazy enough:
Not all development problems require new solutions, sometimes you just need to use old things in a slightly new way. Development innovations may involve devising technology (such as a nanotech water treatment kit), creating a new approach (such as microfinance), finding a better way of delivering public services (such as one-stop egovernment service centres), identifying ways of working with communities (such as participation), or generating a management technique (such as organisation learning).
Theorists of innovation identify innovation itself as a brief moment of creativity, to be followed by the main routine work of producing and selling the innovation. When it comes to development, things are more complicated. Innovation needs to be viewed as tool, not master. Innovation is a process, not a one time event. Genuine innovation is valuable but rare.
There are many views on the innovation and innvation process. I try to collect together there some views I have found on-line. Hopefully they help you more than confuze. Managing complexity and reducing risk article has this drawing which I think pretty well describes innovation as done in product development:
8 essential practices of successful innovation from The Innovator’s Way shows essential practices in innovation process. Those practices are all integrated into a non-sequential, coherent whole and style in the person of the innovator.
In the IT work there is lots of work where a little thinking can be a source of innovation. Automating IT processes can be a huge time saver or it can fail depending on situation. XKCD comic strip Automation as illustrates this:
System integration is a critical element in project design article has an interesting project cost influence graphic. The recommendation is to involve a system integrator early in project design to help ensure high-quality projects that satisfy project requirements. Of course this article tries to market system integration services, but has also valid points to consider.
Core Contributor Loop (CTTDC) from Art Journal blog posting Blog Is The New Black tries to link inventing an idea to theory of entrepreneurship. It is essential to tune the engine by making improvements in product, marketing, code, design and operations.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Mathematical Model Reveals the Patterns of How Innovations Arise
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603366/mathematical-model-reveals-the-patterns-of-how-innovations-arise/?fbclid=IwAR0ay-5eVgHRfSR8vVOeN3PwANgEoMY0O7TcnTxtGcr-oVBpeGu8cgqxoQ4
The work could lead to a new approach to the study of what is possible, and how it follows from what already exists.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Physical Computing’ Connects Computer Science With Hands-On Learning
https://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25919781&bcid=25919781&rssid=25919771&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Few%2Findex.html%3Fuuid%3D1AA48E16-1B55-11E9-AA8D-A498B3743667
A teacher in Virginia uses a micro-controller to connect a computer to a keyboard, allowing kindergarten students to play musical notes that are triggered when they high-five their classmates.
In Colorado, a teacher asks 7th graders to code a random number generator that teaches them programming skills by playing rock, paper, scissors.
These are just two examples of teachers using so-called “physical computing,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arduino and Google launch new Arduino Education Science Kit!
https://blog.arduino.cc/2019/01/24/arduino-and-google-launch-new-arduino-education-science-kit/?arduino
The Arduino Science Kit Physics Lab, developed in collaboration with Google, is the first official Arduino kit designed for middle school curriculum.
The Arduino Science Kit Physics Lab provides middle schoolers (ages 11 to 14) with a hands-on experience, enabling them to explore forces, motion, and conductivity with their classmates.
https://store.arduino.cc/physics-lab
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg: Suomi on maailman 3. innovatiivisin maa – taakse jäivät Yhdysvallat ja Kiina
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10609379
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get started with Freeplane, an open source mind mapping application
https://opensource.com/article/19/1/productivity-tool-freeplane?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
Map your brainstorming sessions with Freeplane, the 13th in our series on open source tools that will make you more productive in 2019.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Miksi ideaportfolio puuttuu lähes kaikilta yrityksiltä?
https://tuotejohtaminen.fi/miksi-ideaportfolio-puuttuu-lahes-kaikilta-yrityksilta/
Yllättävää kyllä, mutta kehitysideat ja uudet liiketoimintamahdollisuudet ovat yrityksissä huonossa jamassa.
Ei ole yhteistä paikkaa, sovittua dokumentaatiota tahi läpinäkyvyyttä siitä, mitä yritys aikoo mahdollisesti seuraavaksi kehittää.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Predictions of Tech Disruptions in the Next Decade
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/5-predictions-tech-disruptions-next-decade/41229686960138?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7296&elq_cid=876648
This year brings us one step closer to a decade that will be full of disruptions. Here are five big predictions for 2020 and beyond.
So, with that in mind, here are five major disruptions to watch (and watch out) for in the next decade:
1.) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Will Reflect the Worst of Us
2.) Connected Cars Will Create Safer Highways and Less Construction
3.) Healthcare Will Embrace Gene Editing
4.) The IoT Will Finally Work
5.) We’ll Get Cybersecurity Figured Out
Tomi Engdahl says:
Emily Badger / New York Times:
A lot of tech startups have promising ideas to fix the housing crisis, but the fundamental problem of affordability seems beyond their reach
Why Technology Hasn’t Fixed the Housing Crisis
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/upshot/can-technology-help-fix-the-housing-market.html
A lot of start-ups have promising ideas, but the fundamental problem of affordability seems beyond their reach.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This VR game puts children’s minds at ease when getting a shot
https://gigadgets.com/2018/11/21/this-vr-game-puts-childrens-minds-at-ease-when-getting-a-shot/
VR Vaccine fully immerses the young patients into a fantasy world in which they are a hero. In the VR world, the vaccine shot becomes a shield that allows them to defend their fantasy realm against an enemy invasion.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan’s “Society 5.0” initiative is a roadmap for today’s entrepreneurs
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/02/japans-society-5-0-initiative-is-a-roadmap-for-todays-entrepreneurs/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage
AdChoices
Japan’s “Society 5.0” initiative is a roadmap for today’s entrepreneurs
Mark Minevich
@MMinevich / 21 hours ago
Robot hand holding an orange monarch butterfly
Mark Minevich
Contributor
Mark Minevich is a digital fellow at IPSoft.
Japan, still suffering the consequences of its ‘Lost Decade’ of economic stagnation, is eyeing a transformation more radical than any the industrialized world has ever seen.
Boldly identified as “Society 5.0” Japan describes its initiative as a purposeful effort to create a new social contract and economic model by fully incorporating the technological innovations of the fourth industrial revolution. It envisions embedding these innovations into every corner of its ageing society. Underpinning this effort is a mandate for sustainability, bound tightly to the new United Nations global goals, the SDG’s. Japan wants to create, in its own words, a ‘super-smart’ society, and one that will serve as a roadmap for the rest of the world.
Thinking Ahead To Society 5.0
https://semiengineering.com/thinking-ahead-to-society-5-0/
Artificial intelligence is here, and it’s already helping make lives better.
dustry 4.0 is a familiar term throughout the global semiconductor community. It conjures images of fully automated factories and computerized decision making at all levels of business. Less widely known is Japan’s thinking about the next step in technological evolution, which it calls Society 5.0. Instead of viewing upcoming technology advances as the fourth industrial revolution, Japan takes the broader perspective that future developments will impact all aspects of daily life, not just business.
The term Society 5.0 refers to the fifth step in the evolution of human civilization following the early hunter-gatherer society, then the agricultural society, the industrial society marked by mass-produced goods and our current information society.
Tomi Engdahl says:
INEXPENSIVE
EFFECTIVE
INNOVATIVE
Usually you can only select two of them!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reflections on Teaching for Mathematical Creativity
Everyone Can Learn Mathematics to High Levels: The Evidence from Neuroscience that Should Change our Teaching
https://blogs.ams.org/matheducation/2019/02/01/everyone-can-learn-mathematics-to-high-levels-the-evidence-from-neuroscience-that-should-change-our-teaching/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Productivity, Unfinished Projects, and Letting Go
https://hackaday.com/2018/09/25/productivity-unfinished-projects-and-letting-go/
Most of us have been there, some projects just don’t get finished. Everyone shelves an in-progress build from time to time, and some hackers drop almost every project for fully finishing it. Why does it happen? What can we do about it? Or does it even matter? My own most memorable one is the wine glass rack I was making for my sister’s birthday, still sitting incomplete on a shelf eleven years later.
The answer may lie in what you consider to be a “done” project. Is it a fully completed build with every possible feature implemented and polished? With that rubric you could be counting all of your completed projects on one hand. What are you really getting out of your personal projects? It’s an interesting topic to consider as pivoting your mindset can end up boosting your productivity. So let’s dig in!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kipp Bradford on the Importance of Boring Projects, Medical Tech, and Sci Fi Novels
https://hackaday.com/2018/09/27/kipp-bradford-on-the-importance-of-boring-projects-medical-tech-and-sci-fi-novels/
If someone suggests you spend time working on boring projects, would you take that advice? In this case, I think Kipp Bradford is spot on. We sat down together at the Hackaday Superconference last fall and talked about medical device engineering, the infrastructure in your home, applying Sci-Fi to engineering, and yes, we spoke about boring projects.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Books You Should Read: Designing Reality
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/26/books-you-should-read-designing-reality/
These days, budget CNC builds are mainstream. Homebrew 3D printers and even laser cutters are old hats. Now I find myself constantly asking: “where’s it all going?” In the book, Designing Reality, Prof Neil Gershenfeld and his two brothers, Alan and Joel, team up to answer that question. In 250 pages, they forecast a future where digital fabrication tools become accessible to everyone on the planet, a planet where people now thrive in networked communities focused on learning and making.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inventor Services – Maybe Right For You – Maybe
https://hackaday.com/2018/11/07/inventor-services-maybe-right-for-you-maybe/
You’ve no doubt been exposed to the ads for various inventor services; you have an idea, and they want to help you commercialize it and get the money you deserve. Whether it’s helping you file legal paperwork, defending your idea, developing it into a product, or selling it, there’s a company out there that wants to help. So which ones are legit, which ones are scams, and what do you really need to make your millions?
In 1999, the US passed the American Inventors Protection Act, acknowledging that the vast majority of inventor services companies were ineffective or fraudulent, and putting in place reporting requirements that ensure people are well informed when engaging with these companies. They are required to disclose how many inventions they’ve evaluated and accepted, their total number of clients, the number that have received a net profit after their expenses to the company, and their licensing success rate. Go to any inventor services web site and look for their numbers. After an extensive search, though, we only found a couple that actually listed the data, and it wasn’t good.
Tomi Engdahl says:
2019 Engineers’ Choice Awards
Spotlight on innovation: Best automation, control, and instrumentation products in 26 categories.
https://www.controleng.com/articles/2019-engineers-choice-awards/
Tomi Engdahl says:
National Engineers Week (U.S.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Engineers_Week_(U.S.)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Is an ‘Innovator in Privacy,’ Says Guy Who Runs Facebook
https://gizmodo.com/facebook-is-an-innovator-in-privacy-says-guy-who-runs-1832773836
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is fond of suggesting that all the criticism of his globe-spanning social media empire comes from either the misinformed or the malicious. In fact, Facebook is really all about protecting the privacy of its users!
Tomi Engdahl says:
78 Questions to Ask about Any Technology
https://viralspiraldance.home.blog/2019/01/04/78-questions-to-ask-about-any-technology/
“78 Reasonable Questions to Ask about Any Technology” is from the book “Turning Away from Technology” by Stephanie Mills and originally derived from 76 questions that were written by Jacques Ellul
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s 2019 and Scientists Have Created Mind-Controlled Rat Cyborgs
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en_au/article/gyad49/its-2019-and-scientists-have-created-mind-controlled-rat-cyborgs
A team in China figured out a way to take control of a rat and “steer” it through a maze with their thoughts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
These Two Industries Kill More People Than They Employ
https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/these-two-industries-kill-more-people-than-they-employ/
American coal and tobacco industries are killing more people each year than they employ, according to findings published in the journal Social Sciences.
The coal industry employs 51,795 Americans but is attributed to 52,015 premature deaths caused by coal-fired, electricity-based air pollution each year. Meanwhile, the tobacco industry employs just over 124,000 US workers but causes more than 0.5 million deaths via exposure to direct and second-hand smoke.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Älä pelkää omia vahvuuksiasi
https://tyopaikat.oikotie.fi/tyontekijalle/artikkelit/tyokyopeli-blogi/ala-pelkaa-omia-vahvuuksiasi?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb_postaus&utm_campaign=fb_tyopaikat
”Kun paljon tekee, niin paljon sattuu, kun mitään ei tee, mitään ei satu”.
Kyky luovaan ajatteluun vaatii rohkeutta
Tomi Engdahl says:
Voisiko konflikti olla tiimisi paras työkalu?
https://wau.fi/artikkelit/voisiko-konflikti-olla-tiimisi-paras-tyokalu
Rakentavasti käsitelty konflikti voi johtaa tiimityössä parempiin päätöksiin kuin tiimin yhtenäisyyttä ajava ryhmäajattelu. Kun erilaiset ihmiset antavat äänensä kuulua, luodaan yhdessä parempaa ymmärrystä käsiteltävästä ongelmasta.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside China’s Silicon Valley: From copycats to innovation
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/22/tech/china-tech-innovation-shenzhen/index.html?utm_source=fbbusiness&utm_medium=social&utm_term=video&utm_content=2018-12-30T07%3A00%3A06
At the Huaqiangbei Market in Shenzhen, you can build a smartphone from scratch in a couple of hours.
Spread over several floors and covering hundreds of thousands of square feet, the market is home to vendors selling the parts that make up your standard phone — cameras, motherboards, frames, screens and so on.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Applen järkyttävä romahdus: ykköspaikalta sijalle 17
https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/applen-jarkyttava-romahdus-ykkospaikalta-sijalle-17-6759034?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=TV_NA_02&utm_content=Ad+-+Post%3A+%2FTivi%2Fposts%2F10156081052887267
https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2019
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laziness Does Not Exist
But unseen barriers do.
https://medium.com/@devonprice/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01
I’ve witnessed students of all ages procrastinate on papers, skip presentation days, miss assignments, and let due dates fly by. I’ve seen promising prospective grad students fail to get applications in on time
I don’t think laziness was ever at fault.
Ever.
In fact, I don’t believe that laziness exists.
looking at the social norms, and the person’s context, is usually a pretty safe bet. Situational constraints typically predict behavior far better than personality, intelligence, or other individual-level traits.
So when I see a student failing to complete assignments, missing deadlines, or not delivering results in other aspects of their life, I’m moved to ask: what are the situational factors holding this student back? What needs are currently not being met? And, when it comes to behavioral “laziness”, I’m especially moved to ask: what are the barriers to action that I can’t see?
There are always barriers. Recognizing those barriers— and viewing them as legitimate — is often the first step to breaking “lazy” behavior patterns.
It’s really helpful to respond to a person’s ineffective behavior with curiosity rather than judgment.
And when you don’t fully understand a person’s context — what it feels like to be them every day, all the small annoyances and major traumas that define their life — it’s easy to impose abstract, rigid expectations on a person’s behavior.
It’s a lot of fucking work to be homeless. And when a homeless or poor person runs out of steam and makes a “bad decision”, there’s a damn good reason for it.
If a person’s behavior doesn’t make sense to you, it is because you are missing a part of their context. It’s that simple.
Let’s look at a sign of academic “laziness” that I believe is anything but: procrastination.
People love to blame procrastinators for their behavior.
For decades, psychological research has been able to explain procrastination as a functioning problem, not a consequence of laziness. When a person fails to begin a project that they care about, it’s typically due to either a) anxiety about their attempts not being “good enough” or b) confusion about what the first steps of the task are. Not laziness. In fact, procrastination is more likely when the task is meaningful and the individual cares about doing it well.
When you’re paralyzed with fear of failure, or you don’t even know how to begin a massive, complicated undertaking, it’s damn hard to get shit done. It has nothing to do with desire, motivation, or moral upstandingness.
In fact, their desire to get the damn thing done may worsen their stress and make starting the task harder.
The solution, instead, is to look for what is holding the procrastinator back. If anxiety is the major barrier, the procrastinator actually needs to walk away from the computer/book/word document and engage in a relaxing activity. Being branded “lazy” by other people is likely to lead to the exact opposite behavior.
Often, though, the barrier is that procrastinators have executive functioning challenges — they struggle to divide a large responsibility into a series of discrete, specific, and ordered tasks.
Nobody had to teach me to slice up tasks like that. And nobody had to force me to adhere to my schedule. Accomplishing tasks like this is consistent with how my analytical, hyper-focused, Autistic little brain works. Most people don’t have that ease. They need an external structure to keep them writing — regular writing group meetings with friends, for example — and deadlines set by someone else. When faced with a major, massive project, most people want advice for how to divide it into smaller tasks, and a timeline for completion. In order to track progress, most people require organizational tools, such as a to-do list, calendar, datebook, or syllabus.
in an environment where her barriers were recognized and legitimized, she thrived.
Over the years, at that same school, I encountered countless other students who were under-estimated because the barriers in their lives were not seen as legitimate.
I know, of course, that educators are not taught to reflect on what their students’ unseen barriers are
If a person can’t get out of bed, something is making them exhausted. If a student isn’t writing papers, there’s some aspect of the assignment that they can’t do without help. If an employee misses deadlines constantly, something is making organization and deadline-meeting difficult. Even if a person is actively choosing to self-sabotage, there’s a reason for it — some fear they’re working through, some need not being met, a lack of self-esteem being expressed.
People do not choose to fail or disappoint. No one wants to feel incapable, apathetic, or ineffective. If you look at a person’s action (or inaction) and see only laziness, you are missing key details. There is always an explanation. There are always barriers. Just because you can’t see them, or don’t view them as legitimate, doesn’t mean they’re not there. Look harder.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teaching scientists how to share code
https://opensource.com/article/19/2/open-science-git?sc_cid=7016000000127ECAAY
This course teaches them how to set up a GitHub project, index their project in Zenodo, and integrate Git into an RStudio workflow.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://tulevaisuudenammatit.fi
Tomi Engdahl says:
INNOVATION MODEL FOUND BY AN ITALIAN SCIENTIST
This model is quite interesting because it defines the innovation by four factors driven phenomenon. All of those were well-known before:
1. integration of existing
2. adoption by popularity
3. expanding by adjacent possible
4. injection of a novelty
The 4. (novelty) expands the 3. (adjacent) frontier which enlarges the pool of 3. (possibilities) which starts the 2. (adoption) of the novelty and thus its 1. (integration) with the existing.
PROGRESSIVE INNOVATION
This is named “Progressive Innovation” because it starts from the existing and brings in the novelty by a progressive adoption of the adjacent possibilities. In such a model, the core of possible grows like a crystal.
INNOVATION ADVERSITY
The injection of a novelty always brings in some kind of chaos because its unpredictable consequences. So, innovation could be stopped by a conservative way-of-thinking adverse to or scared by any novelty. Thus innovation is triggered by diversity and blocked by homologation.
INNOVATION VS QUALITY
By the opposite, quality is the standardisation of everything into as much strict as possible parameters. Thus, innovation and quality are driven by two opposite approaches adverse each other.
Mathematical Model Reveals the Patterns of How Innovations Arise
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603366/mathematical-model-reveals-the-patterns-of-how-innovations-arise/
The work could lead to a new approach to the study of what is possible, and how it follows from what already exists.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Listening to music may be damaging your creativity
https://newatlas.com/listening-music-damaging-creativity/58668/
The results of a new study suggest that listening to music can significantly impair your ability to perform creative tasks. Whilst music was found to disrupt creative processes, ambient “library noise” was found to have no significant effect.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hall of Fame -säveltäjäksi valittu Kaija Saariaho: “Bisneksessä kuulutetaan out of the box -ajattelua, ja silti taiteiden opetuksen on annettu ränsistyä”
Taide on reitti luovuuden lähteille
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10668746
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why night owls are more intelligent
https://personal.lse.ac.uk/kanazawa/pdfs/paid2009.pdf
Morningness–eveningness and intelligence: early to bed, early to rise will likely make you anything but wise!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886999000549
Tomi Engdahl says:
Science Says Night Owls Who Wake Up Late Are More Intelligent Than Early Birds
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/night-owl-intelligence-study-267170
Benjamin Franklin wrote the famous phrase, “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” His viewpoint sounds nice, and his own personal success gives his advice some strong support. However, now night owls and researchers alike would beg to differ.
During the last few decades, there’s a growing body of fascinating research on the relationship between sleep patterns and intelligence.
Satoshi Kanazawa and Kaja Perinawas supplied more proof with their definitive study, “Why night owls are more intelligent,” in 2009. He and his team concluded, “more intelligent children are more likely to grow up to be nocturnal adults who go to bed late and wake up late on both weekdays and weekends
Since then, other researchers have delved deeper and looked into different populations to learn more. One team of scientists from The University of Chicago and Northwestern University analyzed GMAT scores from MBA students in 2014. They discovered that GMAT scores were significantly higher among night owls than among early-morning types for both men and women. Yet more support for smarty-pants night owls.
Morningness–eveningness and intelligence among high-achieving US students: Night owls have higher GMAT scores than early morning types in a top-ranked MBA program
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289614001378
Tomi Engdahl says:
Budget constraints are biggest barrier to innovation at many organizations
New EY study looks at plans to adopt cloud, IoT, and AI technologies.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/budget-constraints-are-biggest-barrier-to-innovation-at-many-organizations/
Half of C-level executives say their organizations are spending more than 5 percent of their annual budget on innovative initiatives, yet 42 percent cite a limited budget as their biggest barrier to activation, according to a newly released report from consulting firm Ernst & Young LLP (EY).
In many cases, organizational fragmentation creates the risk of “trapped assets,” where investments aren’t being used effectively across silos to realize their full potential, Park said.
Business leaders might feel they need to increase budgets to drive more innovation in their organizations, Park said. But unless they are also prepared to transform their businesses to fully reap the benefits of those new ideas, “it will be like pouring more water into a leaky bucket.”
A majority of the organizations (81 percent) have adopted cloud computing and 45 percent have adopted Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Nearly one-quarter thin artificial intelligence (AI) will have the greatest positive impact on the future growth of their company in the next five years, followed by machine learning (23 percent).
The survey found that effectively leveraging data for business insights and developing new products and services are top innovation priorities at organizations. Although the strategies to realize these objectives might vary, 46 percent of respondents said their companies are refining hiring practices to attract talent with diverse, “future-focused” skill sets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frustrated at Work? That Might Just Lead to Your Next Breakthrough
Don’t discount the misfits on your team.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/smarter-living/frustrated-at-work-that-might-just-lead-to-your-next-breakthrough.html
But Mr. Bird persisted. He recruited a band of disgruntled people inside Pixar — misfits whose ideas had been ignored — to work with him. The resulting movie, “The Incredibles,” won two Oscars and grossed $631 million worldwide, outdoing all of Pixar’s previous successes.
We normally avoid frustrated people — we don’t want to get dragged down into a cesspool of complaints and cynicism. We see dissatisfied people as curmudgeons who halt progress, or, worse yet, Dementors who suck the joy out of the room. And we have good reason to feel that way: A natural response to frustration is the fight-or-flight response. Disgruntled people often go into “Office Space” mode, choosing to fight by sabotaging the workplace, or flight by doing the bare minimum not to get fired.
But there’s a third reaction to frustration that we’ve overlooked: When we’re dissatisfied, instead of fight or flight, sometimes we invent.
Frustration is the feeling of being blocked from a goal. Although it sounds like a destructive emotion, it can actually be a source of creative fuel. When we’re frustrated, we reject the status quo, question the way things have always been done, and search for new and improved methods. But there’s evidence that dissatisfaction only promotes creativity when people feel committed to their team and have the support they need to pursue their ideas.
“I want people who are disgruntled because they have a better way of doing things and they are having trouble finding an avenue,” Mr. Bird told me.
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE WOMEN IN TECH
https://talented.fi/blog/women-in-tech/
Who Shaped Modern Technology As We Know It Today
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Design a Successful Crowdsourcing Contest
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/how-design-successful-crowdsourcing-contest?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=page-content-promo&utm_content=03012019
Providing regular updates to competitors during innovation contests yields better solutions faster.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hit the Mark: Make Complex Ideas Understandable
6 ways to communicate challenging concepts to an audience.
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/hit-mark-make-complex-ideas-understandable?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=page-content-promo&utm_content=02122019
Tomi Engdahl says:
The responsibility for a sustainable digital future
Ensuring the next 30 years of a networked world
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/12/the-responsibility-for-a-sustainable-digital-future/
March 12, 2019, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the “World Wide Web,” Tim Berners-Lee’s ground-breaking invention.
In just 30 years, this flagship application of the internet has forever changed our lives, our habits, our way of thinking and seeing the world. Yet, this anniversary leaves a bittersweet taste in our mouth: the initial decentralized and open version of the Web, which was meant to allow users to connect with each other, has gradually evolved to a very different version, centralized in the hands of giants who capture our data and impose their standards.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Simonite / Wired:
Allen Institute study of 2M+ AI research papers shows Chinese scholars have out-published US scholars every year since 2005, but questions remain about quality — AT THE WORLD’S top computer-vision conference last June, Google and Apple sponsored an academic contest that challenged algorithms …
https://www.wired.com/story/china-catching-up-us-in-ai-research/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Theranos – Silicon Valley’s Greatest Disaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CccfnRpPtM
Theranos, what seemed like one of the most ground breaking companies of the 21st century ended up being one of Silicon Valley’s greatest failures. How did Elizabeth Holmes manage to fool the world? In this video we find out the twisting rollercoaster of a story.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Best-in-class electronics organizations perform much better compared to others across cycle time, cost, and quality metrics:
Cycle time: 2.5x better performance on meeting product launch date targets (6x better on holding the line on length of development cycles over the past two years)
Cost: 2.2x better performance on meeting product cost targets
Quality: 2.3x better performance on meeting product quality targets at release date
Best Practices For Electronics Design Executives
https://www.mentor.com/pcb/resources/overview/best-practices-for-electronics-design-executives-585b4c77-c2d8-419c-bc12-47650f1de564?uuid=585b4c77-c2d8-419c-bc12-47650f1de564&clp=1&contactid=1&PC=L&c=2019_03_13_ebs_xp_zuken_program_wp_v5
Tomi Engdahl says:
5 Techniques for Accelerating Engineering Development
These techniques could help you get to market faster while reducing costs.
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/5-techniques-accelerating-engineering-development/37355547060410?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=7806&elq_cid=876648
Whether its a parts company, software supplier, or all the way to system integrators and even consultants, no one seems immunte to the ideas of decreasing costs and faster time to market, while improving product quality.
Probably ninety percent of all engineering vendors rely on these sorts of coveted, and often overused, marketing phrases. But any hyperbole aside, it touches on a reality of human nature. We want to do more at the same or better quality level, while also decreasing the resources we use to achieve our end goals.
That is not to say this is an impossible goal. In fact it’s quite obtainable. In many cases it all comes down to engineering development time and costs.
1.) Master Your Defects
2.) Have the Right Tools for the Job
3.) Focus on Your Value; Outsource the Rest
4.) Leverage Existing Software Platforms
5.) Leverage Existing Hardware Platforms
Tomi Engdahl says:
Connected innovation | Pilgrim Beart | TEDxSquareMile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeAkLVXlhns
Tech entrepreneur Pilgrim Beart discusses the challenges and successes he has experienced over the course of almost two decades and five companies.
Since 1998 he has co-founded “connected product” start-ups activeRF, antenova, Splashpower. In 2006 he co-founded AlertMe, the connected home platform which manages millions of devices and powers British Gas’ Hive & Lowes’ Iris which sold in 2015 for $100m.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Internet Was Built on the Free Labor of Open Source Developers. Is That Sustainable?
A look at the complicated business of funding open source software development.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43zak3/the-internet-was-built-on-the-free-labor-of-open-source-developers-is-that-sustainable
Tomi Engdahl says:
Production, growth hurt by Skills Gap
Report from Deloitte, The Manufacturing Institute points to digital skills needed for the future.
https://www.controleng.com/articles/production-growth-hurt-by-skills-gap/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teaching children coding is a waste of time, OECD chief says
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2019/02/21/teaching-children-coding-waste-time-oecd-chief-says/
Teaching children coding is a waste of time, the OECD’s education chief has said, as he predicts the skill will soon be obsolete.
“For example, I would be much more inclined to teach data science or computational thinking than to teach a very specific technique of today.”
Speaking at the World Innovation Summit for Education in Paris, Mr Schleicher suggested that the importance currently placed on coding is part of a wider problem in education.
“Every day there is a new idea that we think is terribly important today, and we don’t think the future will be different,” he said.
The global expert went on to say that education is a “very conservative social environment”, and that society is very good at adding things to teach children, but not so good at taking away.
“The trick is to teach fewer things at greater depth – that is really the heart of education success,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bell Labs, Skunk Works, and the Crowd Sourcing of Innovation
https://hackaday.com/2019/02/19/bell-labs-skunk-works-and-the-crowd-sourcing-of-innovation/
I’ve noticed that we hear a lot less from corporate research labs than we used to. They still exist, though. Sure, Bell Labs is owned by Nokia and there is still some hot research at IBM even though they quit publication of the fabled IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin in 1998. But today innovation is more likely to come from a small company attracting venture capital than from an established company investing in research. Why is that? And should it be that way?
The Way We Were
There was a time when every big company had a significant research and development arm. Perhaps the most famous of these was Bell Labs. Although some inventions are inevitably disputed, Bell Labs can claim radio astronomy, the transistor, the laser, Unix, C, and C++ among other innovations. They also scored a total of nine Nobel prizes.
Bell Labs had one big advantage: for many years it was part of a highly profitable monopoly, so perhaps the drive to make money right away was less than at other labs. Also, I think, times were different and businesses often had the ability to look past the next quarter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
As the European Innovation Council launches the second phase of its pilot, we look at why Europe needs an innovation boost https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/qa-nicklas-bergman-how-can-europe-keep-its-entrepreneurs.html