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:
MIT’s Knitted Keyboard Is Quite A Flexible MIDI Controller
https://hackaday.com/2021/06/30/mits-knitted-keyboard-is-quite-a-flexible-midi-controller/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2021/06/29/kathleen-lonsdale-saw-through-the-structure-of-benzene/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mouse-embryo-with-beating-heart-created-from-stem-cells-by-scientists/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Handheld Device Fights Fatigue by Stimulating Vagus Nerve
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/biomedical/devices/vagus-nerve
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2021/06/28/we-all-need-a-win-sometimes-so-make-them-yourself/
Everyone is different, but here are some generally useful ways to choose projects and activities that have the best chance of delivering the payoff of a positive and meaningful experience.
Choose something relevant to your passions and interests (but not necessarily related to your work.)
A project should be something that helps your brain glow happily, and everyone has different levers for doing that. A person who enjoys building, creating, or learning should choose projects related to those things, but there is no need to tie it in to whatever else one has going on in their work or life. For example, I enjoy cooking and baking, but those things have nothing to do with work that I might be stalled on. I use cooking as a way to tickle the “I’m building something” part of my brain.
Explicitly give yourself permission to focus on the activity.
Projects or activities designed to provide a “win” should not be left vague or open-ended in scope. Make the activity a definite thing with a clear timeslot. Give yourself permission to focus on it during that time. Do not underestimate the power of telling yourself “I’m going to set aside one hour this afternoon for my chosen activity, and it’s okay for me to focus on it completely during that time.”
My use of cooking is a great example because not only will it have a clear beginning and end, but it also gets me out of the workshop and I can focus on it completely. Sometimes I simply want to try an idea in the kitchen as a project, and I accept beforehand that it’s possible it just won’t work out and that’s okay, which brings me to the next point.
Have a simple goal, or better yet, just play and explore.
Happiness is always over the horizon because it is human nature to have vague goals, and to keep moving the goalposts as we approach them. You must explicitly reject this. An activity designed for an easy win should be simple, clear, and short-term.
Just giving yourself the goal of playing is perfectly valid and healthy. “I’m going to plug in the new part, see if it works, and browse the built-in examples” has no aim other than playing with a new part or tool. “I’ll unpack this new tool, and see how it feels to cut some scrap with it” is another good one. Probably you will learn something or have a new thought in the process, but it’s not required.
If a more specific goal is helpful, keep it simple. “I’ve always wanted to learn FreeCAD, maybe I can do it this afternoon” is daunting and open-ended. But “I’m going to at least install the software and bookmark a good tutorial, anything beyond that is a bonus” is a great short-term project with a definite scope.
Choose to accept and be satisfied with your results.
Having a simple goal (even just the goal of indulging in aimless play) is what makes it possible to finish a task and feel a sense of closure on the effort, yielding the payoff of feeling a small but meaningful “win”. It won’t happen by itself, so make the conscious decision beforehand to be satisfied with the time spent, and whatever it is that results from it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gaming And Esports Flourish In The University Sandbox Of Creativity
https://trib.al/gsLHjvX
Universities are no longer wondering how they fit into the esport eco-system. While some schools are focused on launching an esports team, many are simultaneously working on developing the next generation of workers who will build and grow the gaming and esports industry to new heights.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://insinoori-lehti.fi/tasta-on-kysymys/harrasta-elamalle-sisaltoa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Breakthrough in Electric Field Mapping Could Lead the Way to Faster, More Efficient Electronics
The ability to accurately measure and visualize the electric fields in running devices is going to give semiconductor designers a big boost.
https://www.hackster.io/news/breakthrough-in-electric-field-mapping-could-lead-the-way-to-faster-more-efficient-electronics-224a8b5a0dd8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is Reality a Game of Quantum Mirrors? A New Theory Suggests It Might Be
https://singularityhub.com/2021/06/30/is-reality-a-game-of-quantum-mirrors-a-new-theory-suggests-it-might-be/
Tomi Engdahl says:
New crystal produced with gunpowder is stronger than diamond
Scientists created the mineral lonsdaleite in a lab and tested its strength using sound waves — before it was obliterated.
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/crystal-lonsdaleite-stronger-diamond
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://phys.org/news/2021-06-silicon-enable-next-gen-electronic-energy.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tosielämän Pelle Pelottomilta vaaditaan unelmia, uutteruutta ja tieteellistä tietoa
https://www.tuni.fi/unit-magazine/artikkelit/tosielaman-pelle-pelottomilta-vaaditaan-unelmia-uutteruutta-ja-tieteellista-tietoa?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=social+paid&utm_campaign=unit&utm_content=tekniikka&fbclid=IwAR0miyCHst8f2zYdmOjs0VGrkYOiOJHql_2GybHQV-M_4JrvlG9O_Td1u7U
Keksijän tärkein työkalu on uteliaisuus ja halu nähdä ratkaisua vaativia ongelmia niin työssä kuin vapaa-ajallakin. Kolme Tampereen yliopistossa työskentelevää keksijää kertovat, miten ja miksi keksinnöt syntyvät.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” — Benjamin Franklin
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/brain/scientists-kick-start-brain-plasticity-adult-mice-using-ketamine-flashing-lights/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://futurice.com/case-studies/HSL-future-of-public-transportation
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/brain/flickering-lights-can-trigger-altered-states-of-consciousness-similar-to-psychedelics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
For the First Time, Scientists Detect a Moving Photon Multiple Times Without Destroying It
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/optoelectronics/photons-trace-twice
The act of detecting a photon typically destroys it. Now scientists have for the first time nondestructively detected a single traveling photon not just once, but multiple times. Such research could make future quantum communications networks and quantum computers faster and more robust, they say.
Detecting photons typically requires absorbing them. However, in some applications, a single photon may carry valuable information, such as data needed for a quantum computation. In such cases, scientists would like to read out the photon’s data but also keep track of the photon as it travels in order to make sure it reaches its final destination successfully.
Now researchers in Germany have detected a single photon twice without destroying it as it flew down an optical fiber. They detailed their findings online June 25 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
In the new study, the scientists designed a nondestructive detector made of a single rubidium atom trapped within a reflective cavity. A photon entering the cavity reflects off its walls, altering the atom’s quantum state, which the researchers can monitor with laser pulses.
The researchers placed two of their cavity devices 60 meters apart, which could both detect the same photon without absorbing it. In principle, “an infinite number of these detectors could detect a photon an infinite number of times in a row,” Welte says. However, in practice, there is currently a roughly 33% chance a photon is lost whenever one of these detectors is used, he notes.
Although this new technique can help researchers detect moving photons multiple times without destroying them, the researchers do not think it can help one eavesdrop on quantum communication links. “It’s a bit like when you trace a parcel—you can detect where the parcel is, but learn nothing about its content,” Welte says. In much the same way, “the photon is a particle with some quantum information in it, and you can nondestructively detect it but not learn anything about its quantum information.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Claude Shannon Invented the Future
By
DAVID TSE
December 22, 2020
Today’s information age is only possible thanks to the groundbreaking work of a lone genius.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-information-theory-invented-the-future-20201222/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://parentinfluence.com/people-who-just-dont-understand-technology-is/35/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Definition of Cypherpunk”: Technologist, Privacy Activist Kevin Gallagher Passes Away
https://unicornriot.ninja/2021/definition-of-cypherpunk-technologist-privacy-activist-kevin-gallagher-passes-away/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Extended Director’s Cut: Ted Nelson on What Modern Programmers Can Learn From the Past
The inventor of hypertext talks about the birth of personal computing, the web, and how to think beyond the currently possible
https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/geek-life/profiles/extended-directors-cut-ted-nelson-on-what-modern-programmers-can-learn-from-the-past
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://singularityhub.com/2021/05/09/ibms-next-generation-chip-tech-shows-off-next-step-in-moores-law/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Physicists Have Broken The Speed of Light With Pulses Inside Hot Plasma
MIKE MCRAE
21 MAY 2021
Sailing through the smooth waters of vacuum, a photon of light moves at around 300 thousand kilometers (186 thousand miles) a second. This sets a firm limit on how quickly a whisper of information can travel anywhere in the Universe.
https://www.sciencealert.com/pulses-of-light-can-break-the-universal-speed-limit-and-it-s-been-seen-inside-plasma?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1621926098
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/materials/a-beginners-guide-to-topological-materials
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pandora Is Ditching Mined Diamonds, Moving To Sustainable Lab-Made Alternatives Only
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/pandora-is-ditching-mined-diamonds-moving-to-sustainable-labmade-alternatives-only/
Pandora, one of the world’s largest jewelry suppliers, has announced that it will be ditching selling mined diamonds as it launches the company’s first-ever lab-created diamonds.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.fraktio.fi/blogi/selkeyta-tyotasi-prototyypeilla-se-on-helppoa?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paidsocial&utm_campaign=blog_selkeyta_tyotasi_prototyypeilla&hsa_acc=40659616&hsa_cam=6262216636366&hsa_grp=6262226237566&hsa_ad=6262226237766&hsa_src=fb&hsa_net=facebook&hsa_ver=3&fbclid=IwAR1A956GJ-GWxCjwABRVcNqIO5dt-yp-S1Ex7-bLE1XcZa6sFKgbxBwWhe8
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/health/speech-brain-implant-computer.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2021/07/13/responsive-paintings-do-it-with-heat-and-light/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.hackster.io/news/new-finger-wrap-passively-powers-wearable-devices-ca3f7ca70dcb
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/07/15/researchers-developed-fabric-friendly-nfc-antennas-that-can-be-woven-into-furniture/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90395110/how-googly-eyes-solved-one-of-todays-trickiest-ux-problems
Tomi Engdahl says:
The reason India does not have enough awesome developers
https://www.hackerearth.com/blog/developers/indian-software-developers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/25/second-mouse/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://theconversation.com/why-do-cauliflowers-look-so-odd-weve-cracked-the-maths-behind-their-fractal-shape-164121
Tomi Engdahl says:
Venn Diagram: A Not So Common Visualization Tool
Examples of using Venn diagram to aid the EDA process
https://towardsdatascience.com/venn-diagram-a-not-so-common-visualization-tool-b2bcd5e8c91
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Modern Computers Struggle to Match the Input Latency of an Apple IIe
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/261148-modern-computers-struggle-match-input-latency-apple-iie?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://uk.pcmag.com/news/123407/thanks-to-microsoft-we-can-watch-superman-for-thousands-of-years
Microsoft’s new write-once storage medium is constructed from quartz glass, stores data using lasers, and uses machine learning algorithms for decoding
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Normal people … believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.”
– Scott Adams
Tomi Engdahl says:
“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.”
– Paul R. Ehrlich
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Contamination-Detection Touchscreen
Researchers have shown how a touchscreen could be used as a sensor to detect soil or water contamination by dropping samples on the display.
https://www.hackster.io/news/a-contamination-detection-touchscreen-d76780d1b886
Tomi Engdahl says:
A YouTuber bet a physicist $10,000 that a wind-powered vehicle could travel twice as fast as the wind itself – and won
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/youtuber-won-10000-bet-with-physicist-over-wind-powered-vehicle-2021-7
A popular YouTuber filmed himself driving a wind-powered vehicle downwind faster than the wind itself.
A UCLA professor bet $US10,000 ($AU13,580) that the video was wrong, saying it broke the laws of physics.
Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson oversaw the bet. In the end, the professor conceded and paid up.
Tomi Engdahl says:
We Don’t Need a Jetsons Future, Just a Sustainable One “Cozy futurism” reimagines tech for the greater good
https://spectrum.ieee.org/we-dont-need-a-jetsons-future-just-a-sustainable-one
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE CONSCIOUSNESS CONUNDRUM
The wetware that gives rise to consciousness is far too complex to be replicated in a computer anytime soon
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consciousness-conundrum
Tomi Engdahl says:
How the IBM PC Won, Then Lost, the Personal Computer Market Not even Big Blue could keep up with its creation’s success
https://spectrum.ieee.org/how-the-ibm-pc-won-then-lost-the-personal-computer-market
Tomi Engdahl says:
$10 Microcontroller Emulates Retro IBM PC
By Ian Evenden 2 days ago
It’s 1981 all over again
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/pc-on-a-microcontroller
Tomi Engdahl says:
TRAPPED ON TECHNOLOGY’S TRAILING EDGE
We’re paying too much to deal with obsolete electronic parts
https://spectrum.ieee.org/trapped-on-technologys-trailing-edge
Tomi Engdahl says:
The argument for switching off lights at night
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210719-why-light-pollution-is-harming-our-wildlife
The light pollution produced by street lamps, advertising boards, flood lights and our homes is so bad that 80% of the world’s population lives in the haze of a perpetual glow in the hours of darkness.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Seawater could provide nearly unlimited amounts of critical battery material
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/seawater-could-provide-nearly-unlimited-amounts-critical-battery-material
Tomi Engdahl says:
BeachBot Removes Cigarette Butts From the Beach
This mobile, beach-cleaning machine can spot cigarette butts, pluck them out of the sand, and dispose of them in a safe bin.
https://www.hackster.io/news/beachbot-removes-cigarette-butts-from-the-beach-12f5194aaf72
Tomi Engdahl says:
This eco-toilet pays for human waste in digital currency
The BeeVi eco-toilet turns human waste into energy – and pays for the privilege.
https://www.freethink.com/technology/eco-toilet