Jorge Brunet (in charge of the University of Catalonia in Madrid) and his brief introduction make the spirit of Innosfera’s series of conferences on Innovation clear: to share and cooperate, keys that open the door to innovation.
Once presentations were made, Jose María Zabala seduced with a very interesting title, and a format appropriate for any best seller: Decalogue of the innovative business:
.- To assume the process of innovation from the management down. Innovation must be the company’s strategy. A competitive factor that must be taken on by the company’s management.
.- Innovate always with the market in mind. If you do not make it to the market, there is no innovation…..
.- Face risks
.- Delegate and concentrate on know-how. Innovate, but in a planned and structured way, setting ambitious objectives.
.- Give form to ideas within projects for innovation.
.- Cooperate with companies and research institutions. Today, companies, research centers and universities, as well as administration and governments, are where innovation is generated.
.- Assign reasonable material and human resources.
.- Face the future by integrating a culture of innovation within the company.
To conclude his intervention, he rewards his audience with a sentence that, although true, leaves the room somewhat unsettled, “A country will be worth as much as its innovation”
After listening to the information offered by Jose María, the next speaker, Ana María Llopis, begins to speak serene and firmly, and as always, with a passion that is characteristic of someone who is sure of what she does and says.
A clear example of Innovation, and of crowsourcing, is her own company, Ideas4all.
She speaks of the new paradigm that is upon us, and which she recognized some years ago. She offers data that, along with her presentations, gives us enough material for a future book. Her character has doubtlessly been formed by years of experience and training.
She encourages us to read Wikinomics, a book that has been inspirational for her project, ideas4all, and her presentations.
She has clearly recognized that consumers are not what they used to be. They have evolved, and wish to redesign their products, with their own distribution channels that accept no impositions…. There is therefore a clear process of disintermediation.
R+D departments are no longer enough. “Out of the box” thinking is becoming far more important in the strategic processes of companies.
Open Innovation must be open, dynamic and must “truly” be carried through. “Innovation must be real, or this “lack of authenticity” will be recognized and the company will lose its credibility”, says Llopis.
Crowsourcing and collective cooperation have shown they are a good way of solving problems.
Lastly, she tells us of how the ideas4all platform, using an Saas model, can help give new dynamism to companies’ and institutions’ internal and external innovation processes.
The experience with Sabadell is turning out to be a success. The non-anonymous nature of participants and the lack of censorship have been two premises that have made Sabadell’s employees identify with this project, and have turned this tool into a new voice that is being heard, reaching the high degree of cooperation that is being attained.
“The democratization and transparency present in idea generation and evaluation have given dynamism to innovation and inspired the community”.
After hearing this intervention, there is no doubt in my mind that this trend is unrestrainable, necessary, and appropriate in the time we are living.
Agustín Cuenca delights us with a refreshing and provocative presentation. A speach full of complicity towards his friend and colleague Ana María Llopis.
Agustín knows no other way to work other than innovating. When people within an organization are given the capacity to make a contribution, and this has an impact on the company, their contribution increases considerably. This is a proven fact.
He considers the problem to lie in the people that make up a company, and not in the technology or the capital. Mental barriers are real obstacles in a process of innovation.
Agustín not only theorizes on this concept but also gives us empiric clues for action:
CREATE COMMUNITY Create a community or look for one that already exists.
DIALOGUE Speak to users, don’t ignore them.
TRY Because, as Agustín says, when faced with complex problems, the old “Trial and Error” technique can be revealing.
We must work along the lines of open innovation:
TRANSPARENCY.- MERITOCRACY.- CONNECTION
An unanimous applause, showing innosfera’s audience agrees with these ideas.
Congratulations to the organizers of the event for the eminence of all speakers.
You can see the presentations here
Rocío Bravo of Ideas4all
