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:
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-02-quantum.html
Quantum navigation could transform how we travel. So what is it, and how does it work?
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.boredpanda.com/interesting-charts-traveling/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=bp_223765&utm_campaign=vivalanga&utm_content=image&fbclid=IwY2xjawInrtRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHcFpFwXR4UfHa99Qzi5zjRZLxc7c32RKcRIlWFjuJqIOJU-h_4PanXucig_aem_Y9BCL_-godQq5OBKkFx4Hw
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mitä järkeä on enää opiskella? Korkeakoulutus ei takaa työpaikkaa, ja maailma muuttuu nopeammin kuin tutkinto valmistuu
Tutkinto ei takaa työpaikkaa. Korkeakoulutettuja on työttömänä ennätysmäärä, ja tekoäly muuttaa työelämää. Asiantuntija neuvoo nuoria alanvalinnassa.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20142939
Vuosikymmenten ajan korkeakoulutus on nähty varmana sijoituksena tulevaisuuteen. Vanhempien, opettajien ja yhteiskunnan viesti on ollut selvä: opiskele, hanki tutkinto ja elämä kantaa. Mutta entä, jos tämä ajatusmalli ei enää pädekään?
Korkeakoulutettuja on Suomessa työttömänä enemmän kuin koskaan ennen. Massatyöttömyys ei ole enää vain vähän koulutettujen ongelma, vaan myös niiden, joilla on tutkinto takataskussa. Työmarkkinoilla on käynnissä murros, jossa muun muassa tekoäly ja teknologinen kehitys kyseenalaistavat perinteiset urapolut.
Onko opiskelijan järkevää käyttää kuusi vuotta esimerkiksi lääkärin opintoihin, kun tulevaisuuden maailma voi näyttää aivan toisenlaiselta kuin opiskelun alkaessa?
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/17276-nokian-tutkimus-on-edelleen-maailman-huippua
Nokian tuore vuosiraportti Yhdysvaltain SEC:lle eli arvopaperimarkkinaviranomaiselle vahvistaa, että yhtiön tutkimus- ja kehitystoiminta on edelleen alan ehdotonta kärkeä. Nokia on panostanut järjestelmällisesti teknologia- ja innovaatiokehitykseen, minkä ansiosta se on säilyttänyt asemansa yhtenä maailman johtavista viestintäteknologian toimijoista.
Raportin mukaan yhtiö on investoinut yli 150 miljardia euroa tutkimukseen ja kehitykseen vuodesta 2000 lähtien. Vuonna 2024 Nokia jätti ennätykselliset 3000 uutta patenttihakemusta, ja sen patenttisalkkuun kuuluu nyt yli 7000 patenttiperhettä, jotka on ilmoitettu olennaisiksi eli ns. 5G-essentiaalipatenteiksi.
Nokia Bell Labs, yhtiön pitkän aikavälin tutkimusta vetävä yksikkö, juhlii tänä vuonna 100-vuotista taivaltaan. Bell Labs on tunnettu uraauurtavasta tieteellisestä työstään, ja sen tutkijat ovat voittaneet yhteensä kymmenen Nobel-palkintoa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2025/03/17/relativity-space-changes-course-on-path-to-orbit/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/17286-nailon-parantaa-litium-metalliparistojen-suorituskykyae
Tomi Engdahl says:
With more diners skipping mains, drinking less and sharing starters because of weight loss drugs, the traditional three-course meal could soon be a thing of the past. Hannah Twiggs looks at how could this be affecting a restaurant near you: https://trib.al/r1ZVZCH
Tomi Engdahl says:
Someone isn’t going to like these results. https://trib.al/NC0coRP
Now That Trump Has Driven The Evil Woke From Science, Researchers Reveal the True Effects of Windmills on the Human Brain
Maybe the real “woke mind virus” were the social contagions we made along the way.
https://futurism.com/neoscope/windmills-wokeness-study-donald-trump?fbclid=IwY2xjawJIqftleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHS159LrLjCCaK3PWvnr9-cP6gO4pr0ethZ15prt70mcRlJOvtyR3gWyYOg_aem_0aYXmMxmbTS9atq96Dgniw
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ihmiset eivät ole enää yhtä älykkäitä kuin ennen
Financial Timesin mukaan syitä muutokselle voi etsiä muun muassa sosiaalisesta mediasta.
Ihmiset eivät ole enää yhtä älykkäitä kuin ennen
https://www.is.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000011113482.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/17300-uusi-modulaattori-vie-kuituyhteydet-terahertsitasolle
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ultrapelottavaa?
Ultraprosessoitu ruoka on yhdistetty tutkimuksissa moniin sairauksiin. Mitä ultraprosessoidut elintarvikkeet oikein ovat ja pitäisikö niitä välttää?
https://www.is.fi/menaiset/hyva-fiilis/art-2000011023028.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2025/03/19/modern-computings-roots-or-the-manchester-baby/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New streetlight coating reflects 95% light and lets 80% infrared heat escape
LED heat damages electronics, shortens lifespan, and wastes 75% of input energy.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/streetlight-coating-reflects-95-percent-light
Lighting accounts for 20% of the world’s electricity consumption and nearly 6% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Now, researchers have developed a new nanomaterial called nanoPE for street lights. This nanomaterial fulfills two key roles: efficient heat removal and enhanced light output.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The system can fire multiple types of decoy rounds from multiple launchers to counter simultaneous threats. https://link.ie.social/DTA4XP
Tomi Engdahl says:
College Students Are Harnessing the Power of Plants to Grow Ozempic at Home
https://www.vice.com/en/article/college-students-are-harnessing-the-power-of-plants-to-grow-ozempic-at-home/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJMqhhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHd1S3IOrPNvulKL0IARP7KwXXwF1ue1sR127y3FPE9h9NX3sRhYWbwVUTg_aem_1JvlrdzBEHXVhgEpgtFYxA
Students from the University of Ottawa have come up with a brilliant way to essentially make copies of pharmaceutical drugs using plants. Their creation is called “Phytogene,” and they’ve used it to turn a plant related to tobacco into an Ozempic copy machine that you can plant in the ground.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A new LED breakthrough packs 127,000 pixels into a single inch, setting a new record for pixel density. https://link.ie.social/JJ3M0e
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Strange metals’ redefine electrical conductivity with a featureless flow, not discrete charges. https://link.ie.social/PT7hiT