Perspectives on Innovation

Bruce Hannon is known to many for his weekly email digest highlighting interesting articles, published in various well regarded complexity sources, that span the gamut from all areas of research and inquiry, from the life sciences to the social sciences.  What all the articles have in common is that they celebrate interesting findings, provocative theories, and the complexity of the world.  Bruce has graciously agreed to allow InnoCentive to repost his “Complexity” Digest from time to time.  Thank you Bruce!

Below, you will find Bruce’s “Complexity” Digest #1, we hope you enjoy.  Please let us know your feedback and feel free to respond to the blog posts and share your thoughts and reactions with others.

Regards,
Dwayne Spradlin
InnoCentive CEO

“Complexity” Digest #1

From biological and clinical experiments to mathematical models, Philosophical Transactions A

Excerpt: This theme issue discusses the complex cross-disciplinary interactions among the various disciplines involved in the study of a living system (biology, mathematics, and computer sciences). The usual way to formalize, in a rational form, the structure of a biological system is to propose a mathematical formulation of the key processes and of interactions among them which have been identified as fundamental for the studied system. This approach allows one to study, from a mathematical point-of-view, the properties arising from the mathematical model. It is then possible to return to reality with proposals for new experiments in order to validate (or to invalidate) the emergent properties predicted by the mathematical model. However, the complexity of living system precludes a complete model of their behaviour, and models of the subsystems of interest are sometimes mathematically intractable.

• Source: From biological and clinical experiments to mathematical models, Editors: Jacques Demongeot, Jean-Pierre Françoise, and David Nerini, Philosophical Transactions A, 2009/12

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Congratulations to Thomas Stowe from Texas, for winning the InnoCentive “Send A Solver – Part 2 Contest.” Thomas  is one of the winning Solvers for the Challenge “High Refractive Index Polycarbonate”, and he is also the winner of InnoCentive’s first “Send A Solver” contest.

On behalf of InnoCentive, thank you everyone for participating in the Send A Solver – Part 2 Contest.

Manal Khan

Buster Paris, from our Marketing department, saw an episode of “The Colbert Report” that he wanted to share!

I was watching “The Colbert Report” the other night, and Colbert interviewed Emily Pilloton, who is an industrial designer, founder of  and the author of “Design Revolution – 100 Products That Empower People”

I found her thoughts on product design being a vehicle for social change incredibly interesting – check out the interview below, and wait ’til you see the “Adaptive Eye Care” product – it’s simply amazing!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/262000/january-18-2010/emily-pilloton

Seeing her on Colbert inspired me to check out her website (http://projecthdesign.org/index.html) and watch some of her YouTube clips – all of which gave me that same ‘vibe‘ I feel around the InnoCentive office. Specifically her perception on design activism and humanitarian design. She speaks of problem solving being at the core of design, and how out of certain designs springs fantastic social changes – the most profound example is “The Hippo Roller” – I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you – worth going to YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iq7XnSONpk

Economist’s The World in 2010 Conference

I recently participated in a panel discussion as part of the Economist’s The World in 2010 event in Washington D.C. Facilitated by Mathew Bishop, Business Editor of The Economist, the panel included: Dean Kamen (Founder, Segway), Kai Huang (Co-Founder, The Guitar Hero), and Rob Carlson (Principal, Biodesic). The panel focused on the state of innovation and predictions for the year. The conversation was both timely and lively. C-SPAN has repeatedly rebroadcast the panel. Worth a watch.

My Innovation Prediction for 2010? That policy makers would finally promote innovation to the forefront of their agendas, in the US and around the world. I noted that overhauls of the entire system are necessary in areas including patent law, immigration and work visa policy, education (particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine), grant making and funding.

We have incredibly important work to do and profound problems to tackle, from curing diseases to climate change, and now is the time for governments to “get it right,” particularly in terms of the structural elements that enable and empower true invention and meaningful progress. Have we created a “land of opportunity” for scientists, inventors, universities, companies, and entrepreneurs? Do we have a culture of collaboration and information sharing? Or have we created an expensive and divisive system of trade secrets, laws, patents, and inefficient investment? The problems exist in academia and other areas as they do in the commercial space. Fresh and bold thinking is crucial and policy makers have an opportunity to offer real leadership.

Epilogue

Now, more than a month since the World in 2010 predictions were made, everyone’s attention is squarely focused on jobs and budget deficits. Clearly governments are faced with difficult choices. I sense that boldness and a willingness to champion a desperately needed innovation agenda will not be rewarded in Washington. Privately I hear that now may be the worst time to push change. Status quo.

In my opinion, courage and focus around innovation is absolutely vital. We need to invest heavily in planting the seeds of recovery and a vibrant future.  Innovation has always driven short and long term growth, INCLUDING jobs growth and GDP expansion. Now is precisely the time to implement a bold and strategic innovation agenda (investment and meaningful policy reform) in the US and around the world. Budget deficits notwithstanding, the “Inconvenient Truth” is that this is the only prudent and sustainable path forward and lawmakers need to step up now more than ever.

What do YOU think?