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:
Calibration of spectra in presence of non-stationary background using unsupervised physics-informed deep learning
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29371-9
Tomi Engdahl says:
Physics-guided machine-learning models will improve subsurface imaging
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-physics-guided-machine-learning-subsurface-imaging.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
RESEARCHERS FIND “INERT” COMPONENTS IN BATTERIES LEAD TO CELL SELF-DISCHARGE
https://hackaday.com/2023/02/06/researchers-find-inert-components-in-batteries-lead-to-cell-self-discharge/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adam Savage vs The “Perpetual Motion” Machine!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdEdYfxMx-0
Among the artifacts housed at The Royal Society is a curious device purporting to be a perpetual motion machine. The creation of the late British scientist and author David Jones (aka Daedalus), the secret of how this machine gives the illusion of perpetual motion has yet to be revealed. Archivist Virginia Mills shares the backstory of this mystery and Adam takes a crack at uncovering how this implausible invention actually works!
Tomi Engdahl says:
BARCODE-BOARDING in the barcode park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOjmLeQe3w
We attached barcode scanners to skateboards and make sounds with the scanned electrical signals. We skateplayed huge barcodes
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Turntable Paradox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oM7hX3UUEU
A ball on a spinning turntable won’t fly off as you might expect. In fact the ball will have it’s own little orbit that is exactly 2/7th the angular speed of the table. Here’s why.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Noam Chomsky on ChatGPT: It’s “Basically High-Tech Plagiarism” and “a Way of Avoiding Learning”
Noam Chomsky on ChatGPT: It’s “Basically High-Tech Plagiarism” and “a Way of Avoiding Learning”
https://www.openculture.com/2023/02/noam-chomsky-on-chatgpt.html
ChatGPT, the system that understands natural language and responds in kind, has caused a sensation since its launch less than three months ago. If you’ve tried it out, you’ll surely have wondered what it will soon revolutionize — or, as the case may be, what it will destroy. Among ChatGPT’s first victims, holds one now-common view, will be a form of writing that generations have grown up practicing throughout their education. “The essay, in particular the undergraduate essay, has been the center of humanistic pedagogy for generations,” writes Stephen Marche in The Atlantic. “It is the way we teach children how to research, think, and write. That entire tradition is about to be disrupted from the ground up.”
If ChatGPT becomes able instantaneously to whip up a plausible-sounding academic essay on any given topic, what future could there be for the academic essay itself? The host of YouTube channel EduKitchen puts more or less that very question to Noam Chomsky — a thinker who can be relied upon for views on education — in the new interview above. “For years there have been programs that have helped professors detect plagiarized essays,” Chomsky says. “Now it’s going to be more difficult, because it’s easier to plagiarize. But that’s about the only contribution to education that I can think of.” He does admit that ChatGPT-style systems “may have some value for something,” but “it’s not obvious what.”
As the relevant technology now stands, Chomsky sees the use of ChatGPT as “basically high-tech plagiarism” and “a way of avoiding learning.” He likens its rise to that of the smartphone: many students “sit there having a chat with somebody on their iPhone. One way to deal with that is to ban iPhones; another way to do it is to make the class interesting.” That students instinctively employ high technology to avoid learning is “a sign that the educational system is failing.” If it “has no appeal to students, doesn’t interest them, doesn’t challenge them, doesn’t make them want to learn, they’ll find ways out,” just as he himself did when he borrowed a friend’s notes to pass a dull college chemistry class without attending it back in 1945.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists realize faster method for quantum key distribution
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-scientists-faster-method-quantum-key.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
World’s Oldest Working Light Bulb Shines Light On Livermore
The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department watches over the longest-burning light bulb, an international curiosity and source of local pride.
https://patch.com/california/livermore/world-s-oldest-working-light-bulb-shines-light-livermore
Tomi Engdahl says:
Caltech Tests Space-Based Solar Power Using a satellite as testbed for wirelessly beaming power from orbit
https://spectrum.ieee.org/solar-power
Tomi Engdahl says:
Auto-Tune creator Dr Andy Hildebrand has won a Grammy Award for his groundbreaking achievements in the recording field
https://www.musicradar.com/news/auto-tune-grammy-win-dr-andy
Love it or hate it, the software has had a huge impact on popular music
We’re guessing that he doesn’t have jumpsuits like Harry Styles or moves like Beyonce, but Antares founder Dr Andy Hildebrand does have one thing in common with these two pop titans: he won a Grammy Award at the weekend. Not for an album or song, though – Hildebrand’s prize was given in honour of his achievement in creating the pitch correction powerhouse that is Auto-Tune.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to fit clothing into the circular economy
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03651-2
Vast amounts of textiles end up in landfill. Technology to recycle the cellulose in fabric could make clothing more sustainable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Our Reality May Be a Sum of All Possible Realities
By
CHARLIE WOOD
February 6, 2023
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-our-reality-may-be-a-sum-of-all-possible-realities-20230206/
Richard Feynman’s path integral is both a powerful prediction machine and a philosophy about how the world is. But physicists are still struggling to figure out how to use it, and what it means.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Humans May Be Shockingly Close to Decoding the Language of Animals
But we might not like what they have to say.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a42689511/humans-could-decode-animal-language/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IEEE’s Medal of Honor Ebook Explores 100 Years of Innovation It celebrates recipients such as Intel’s Robert Noyce
https://spectrum.ieee.org/ieee-medal-of-honor-ebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Läpimurto vihreässä vedyssä – Vetyä suoraan merivedestä lähes 100 prosentin hyötysuhteella
https://www.uusisuomi.fi/uutiset/lapimurto-vihreassa-vedyssa-vetya-suoraan-merivedesta-lahes-100-prosentin-hyotysuhteella/998a1ec1-469a-4e93-b6b5-cade1259ebb0
Tutkimuksessa merivettä käytettiin raaka-aineena ilman esikäsittelyprosesseja.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://tyopaikat.oikotie.fi/tyontekijalle/artikkelit/taklaa-tyouupumus-ajoissa-uupumuksesta-toipuneiden-oivalluksia
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adam Savage on Setting Up a Small Hobby Makerspace
In this “Ask Adam” segment, Adam Savage is asked what the considerations are in setting up a small hobby workspace.
https://blog.adafruit.com/2023/02/09/adam-savage-on-setting-up-a-small-hobby-makerspace/
As usual, he has some smart takes, like deciding on what machine tools you need and then seeing how small you can get them (e.g. instead of getting a floor-standing drill press, you can get a benchtop press).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leonardo noted link between gravity and acceleration centuries before Einstein
Caltech engineers even re-created his experiment with a modern apparatus.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/leonardo-noted-link-between-gravity-and-acceleration-centuries-before-einstein/
Tomi Engdahl says:
If Python is too slow for you, Crystal could be your savior
According to its creators, it reads like Ruby and runs like C — or faster
https://thenextweb.com/news/if-python-is-too-slow-for-you-crystal-could-be-your-savior
Learning a new programming language can open your mind in ways you never thought possible. Just like learning a new human language like Spanish or Mandarin, you learn to think with different words and structures.
You tap into the cultures and communities of the speakers and learn how they see the world. It’s enriching, to say the least.
Tomi Engdahl says:
An Analog—Yes, Analog—Computer May Crack the Greatest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a42714011/analog-quantom-simulator-solve-physics-mysteries/
Scientists built an analog quantum simulator that could answer important unsolved questions in the field of physics.
The quantum simulators are made up of hybrid metal-semiconductors on a nanoelectronic circuit.
Even the fastest digital computers can’t solve some pressing complex problems, including how to discover room temperature semiconducting materials. But these analog quantum simulators can.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/tutkijat-kayttivat-teleskooppia-luppoajalla-ja-nakivat-pimealle-puolelle-mystinen-synkka-galaksi/8631950#gs.pyg299
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Contact Lenses Tell You Where To Go
https://hackaday.com/2023/02/15/smart-contact-lenses-tell-you-where-to-go/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/02/14/1950s-fighter-jet-air-computer-shows-what-analog-could-do/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tutkijat onnistuivat ensi kertaa kuvailemaan kilonovaksi kutsutun ilmiön: ”Täydellinen räjähdys”
Kilonova loi tulipallon, joka laajeni nopeasti. Neutronitähtien romahduksesta syntyi lopulta musta aukko.
https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000009396836.html
KAKSI neutronitähteä on yhdistynyt kaukana avaruudessa tavalla, joka tuotti ”täydellisen räjähdyksen”. Tuloksena oli näet täysin pallomainen räjähdys.
Tähtitieteilijät kuvailevat tiedelehti Naturessa, miten tällainen ilmiö havaittiin ensi kertaa.
Tutkijat saivat mitattua ja kuvailtua tämän kilonovaksi kutsutun ilmiön piirteitä ja muotoa. Tiedeartikkeli löydöstä julkaistiin keskiviikkoiltana Naturessa, mutta havainto tehtiin jo aiemmin VLT-teleskoopilla Chilessä.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Turned Dead Birds Into Zombie Drones to Spy on Humans
Weird flex, but OK.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a42940200/scientists-turning-dead-birds-into-drones/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://physicsworld.com/a/visible-light-lasers-shrink-to-chip-scale/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum Entanglement Isn’t All That Spooky After All
The way we teach quantum theory conveys a spookiness that isn’t actually there
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/quantum-entanglement-isnt-all-that-spooky-after-all/
Quantum entanglement is a complex phenomenon in physics that is usually poorly described as an invisible link between distant quantum objects that allows one to instantly affect the other. Albert Einstein famously dismissed this idea of entanglement as “spooky action at a distance.” In reality, entanglement is better understood as information, but that’s admittedly bland. So nowadays, every news article, explainer, opinion piece and artistic interpretation of quantum entanglement equates the phenomenon with Einstein’s spookiness.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-new-brain-computer-interface-type-62-words-per-minute
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new material called a mechanical neural network can learn and change its physical properties
The material learns to do tasks by changing how much importance, or weight, they place on each connection in the lattice.
https://theconversation.com/a-new-type-of-material-called-a-mechanical-neural-network-can-learn-and-change-its-physical-properties-to-create-adaptable-strong-structures-192800#Echobox=1676043818
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leonardo da Vinci oli ”vuosisatoja edellä aikaansa” painovoiman ymmärtämisessä, tuore tutkimus paljastaa
https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/leonardo-da-vinci-oli-vuosisatoja-edella-aikaansa-painovoiman-ymmartamisessa-tuore-tutkimus-paljastaa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Please, don’t build another Large Hadron Collider
A next-generation LHC++ could cost $100 billion. Here’s why such a machine could end up being a massive waste of money
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/large-hadron-collider-economics/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1676587397
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists grew living human skin around a robotic finger
The advance brings Terminator-like cyborgs a small step closer to reality
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/robotic-finger-human-skin-self-healing
The Terminator may be one step closer to reality.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have built a robotic finger that, much like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s titular cyborg assassin, is covered in living human skin. The goal is to someday build robots that look like real people — albeit for more altruistic applications.
Super realistic-looking robots could more seamlessly interact with humans in medical care and service industries, say biohybrid engineer Shoji Takeuchi and his colleagues June 9 in Matter. (Whether cyborgs masked in living tissue would be more congenial or creepy is probably in the eye of the beholder.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=w9a-F_XvHLU&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencenews.org%2F&embeds_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencenews.org&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo
Tomi Engdahl says:
Theorists have found a way to solve complex Feynman integrals numerically by reducing them to simple linear algebra.
Method for solving notorious calculus problems speeds particle physics computations
https://www.science.org/content/article/method-solving-notorious-calculus-problems-speeds-particle-physics-computations?utm_campaign=SciMag&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=ownedSocial
Numerical technique reduces vexing Feynman integrals to simpler linear algebra
For decades, theoretical particle physicists have struggled with vexing calculus problems called Feynman integrals. They are central to every calculation they make—from predicting how magnetic a particle called the muon should be, to estimating the rate at which Higgs bosons should emerge at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Now, theorists have found a way to solve the integrals numerically by reducing them to linear algebra. The method promises faster and more precise theoretical calculations, which are essential for searching for hints of new particles and forces.
“Sometimes people come up with some deep mathematical insights into these Feynman integrals, but they actually don’t help you to calculate things,” says Ayres Freitas, a theoretical physicist at the University of Pittsburgh. “This method will help.”
“It’s surprising that [the method] works so well,”
Feynman integrals have plagued particle theorists since the rise of quantum field theory in the mid–20th century. Each integral corresponds to one of the quirky diagrams concocted in 1948 by Richard Feynman to quickly figure out what to calculate for a particular particle interaction. For example, one electron can deflect another when the two exchange a photon, so the simplest Feynman diagram for the process consists of two lines representing the electrons and a wavy line connecting them that represents the photon.
The integrals for loop diagrams are pathological, however. With multiple variables, many are impossible to do by hand and require numerical methods. Even then, the integrals tend to blow up
Using results from the literature, Liu and Ma confirmed their technique reproduces correct results for five-loop integrals. In January, the team made the technique available via a downloadable software package. In recent months, Ma claims, 80% of papers posted to the arXiv preprint server involving the computation of Feynman integrals have used the package.
Of course, theorists don’t get something for nothing. The technique sidesteps brute-force numerical integration, but it requires a lot more algebra. “The main computational time in our method is not to solve the differential equations, but to get the differential equations,” Ma says. Some computations could require a computer to solve a half-billion linear equations, he says.
Still, the speedy new technique is likely to prove widely useful, Weinzierl says, even if it is largely a clever combination of earlier results.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stop the peer-review treadmill. I want to get off
Faced with a deluge of papers, journal editors are struggling to find willing peer reviewers.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00403-8#Echobox=1676557404
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://messukeskus.com/press-release/pelasta-itameri-palkinnon-sai-watec-consulting/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiouutiset.fi/hyvinkaalle-pohjois-euroopan-muovikomposiitin-kierratyslaitos/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-05/wind-turbine-blades-can-t-be-recycled-so-they-re-piling-up-in-landfills#xj4y7vzkg
Tomi Engdahl says:
According to Leonardo Reche, a first-year student, “The jobs of the future will be more people-focused than task-focused. The focus will be on well-being, rather than results.” Are you ready for a career that prioritizes human relationships?
40 percent of future jobs yet to be invented: How to get ahead
https://www.thelocal.com/20230131/decoding-the-future-the-school-providing-the-skillset-for-next-gen-jobs-forward-college-tlccu/?utm_source=Facebook_Mobile_Feed&utm_medium=PaidSocial&utm_campaign=Forward+College+January+2023&utm_content=23852938156650752&fbclid=IwAR3qgU70rLCC8d5mCo8qOfJf6JyfOUlm8DjdqQigH7cai1wCYS-hZCCqMFU
Forty percent of the jobs of the future do not yet exist. It’s a prediction you will often hear repeated at career forums and tech talks. Is there any truth to the figure, however? If so, what exactly are those jobs yet to be invented?
An artificially-intelligent, automated superhighway?
Back in the nineties, ‘the information superhighway’ was used to describe the transformative powers of digital technologies enabled by broadband internet. Thirty years later, this ‘superhighway’ has taken us to places few could imagine.
The rise of artificial intelligence, most recently demonstrated in the viral rise of ‘artistic’ applications such as Dall-E, and ChatGPT has impacted almost every career field. Suddenly, workflows are drastically streamlined and, depending on the industry, productivity can be increased by up to several orders of magnitude.
Automation has also had a massive impact. While we haven’t yet arrived at a future of android workers, drones and robots are already delivering food, cleaning hospitals and taking the place of even the most specialised workers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://news.mit.edu/2023/new-chip-demonstrates-energy-efficiency-decoding-0222
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum Physicists Make Nanoscopic Breakthrough of Colossal Significance
https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-physicists-make-nanoscopic-breakthrough-of-colossal-significance/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Nothing” doesn’t exist. Instead, there is “quantum foam”
When you combine the Uncertainty Principle with Einstein’s famous equation, you get a mind-blowing result: Particles can come from nothing.
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/nothing-exist-quantum-foam/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-perovskites-dirt-cheap-alternative-silicon.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-02-scientists-solid-state-electrochemical-thermal-transistor.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Heat Circuits Can Move Temperature the Way Current Does Quasiparticles could make generating energy from heat significantly more efficient
https://spectrum.ieee.org/quasiparticle-creates-heat-switch
Tomi Engdahl says:
Miksi uimahallissa on saunottava alasti? Asiantuntijat tyrmäävät yleisen ”urbaanilegendan”
Höyrystyvän kloorin pelko on syvillä saunojien mielissä, mutta varsinainen syy uimapukukieltoon se ei ole.
https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/helsinki/art-2000009404846.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless technique enables quantum computer to send and receive data without generating too much error-causing heat
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-02-wireless-technique-enables-quantum-generating.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
3 independent proofs that quantum fields carry energy
Are quantum fields real, or are they simply calculational tools? These 3 experiments show that if energy is real, so are quantum fields.
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/quantum-fields-energy/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can You Trust Your Quantum Simulator? MIT Physicists Report a New Quantum Phenomenon
https://scitechdaily.com/can-you-trust-your-quantum-simulator-mit-physicists-report-a-new-quantum-phenomenon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-liquid-laser-robust-air-tunable.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
3 brain games to practice deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning
Take a closer look at the different types of reasoning you use every day.
https://bigthink.com/thinking/games-to-practice-reasoning/