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Innovation policy

Thoughts on innovation: What are the incentives for risk-taking?

peter fritz's picture
Thu, 31/01/2008 - 14:14 — peter fritz

There is often confusion over the terms "creative thinking" and "innovation". Many view them as one and the same, but in reality they are very different. One means ideas, the other means action.

The term "innovation" on its own can offer several possible meanings. Innovation has to be about output - the act of doing something, either to improve an existing product or process, or invent something entirely new. The "laziness test" is an effective way of identifying good innovation - does it make my life simpler, easier? Does the product that has been through the innovation process perform in more efficient ways for me?

I view innovation and innovation policy as more than focusing on new ideas. An idea is not enough to qualify as innovation. It is about outcomes and providing the means to experiment with new concepts. Innovation is not an aim in itself, but a tool to achieve what the market is looking for in terms of constant improvement.

Salvation through Innovation? Some thoughts on the Australian future under Rudd PM

Thu, 22/11/2007 - 10:41 — gapadmin

Steve Blume

By Steve Blume 

 

 

Throughout his leadership and in the election campaign Kevin Rudd has painted Labor as the Party of innovation and has asked that we contemplate a government that would encourage ‘fresh ideas’ under his ‘new leadership.

 

Laudable notions these certainly are and admirable goals too, but at the overview level raised in the campaign they are motherhoods – who would ever disagree. 

 

What sorts of actions might be taken by a Labor Government to ensure that Australia is positioned to move beyond our reliance on the current mining boom? How does a national government produce a substantive attitude change in all tiers of government to work co-operatively with the private sector and academia so that innovation is truly encouraged?

 

Innovation requires a collaborative approach

tamaraplakalo's picture
Mon, 04/02/2008 - 11:00 — tamaraplakalo

Does Australia need a National Innovation Policy? A recent initiative by the Victorian Government to create a co-ordinated national approach to innovation suggests the country's top policy makers believe that it does.

The argument underlying the initiative suggests that Australia's current contribution to the global pool of knowledge (2 per cent), is not enough to sustain future growth or maintain current levels of social and economic prosperity.

In the climate of industrial-age driven economic boom, which positions Australia as a satellite economy fuelling its growth through primary resource exploitation, innovation is a term that mainly refers to the innovative ways of increasing productivity levels to satisfy short-term economic demands. The real challenge, however, lies in developing the national ability to respond to long-term challenges Australia is facing not only as an economy, but as a society as a whole.