Perspectives on Innovation

I have been working as an SAP Utilities consultant at Accenture for nearly 4 years in Mumbai. In my workplace, my primary role is to provide functional solutions to energy providers across the globe.

I came across The Economist: Pictures of Tomorrow Challenge on The Economist’s Android application. I first thought of one problem that has deeply affected my community: the poor transport management system. When I took part in the Challenge, I recalled how one of my acquaintances had slipped and lost his life while traveling on a train’s foot board. This incident wouldn’t have occurred if proper transport system was in place. People are forced to travel in extremely crowded trains and buses because there are no alternative modes of transport. My main idea was about improving the transport management system in Mumbai. Currently, the strain on trains and buses is enormous due to the ever increasing population. People are forced to travel using conventional modes of transport thus leading to overcrowding. However, if the vast coastline of Mumbai can be used for water transport and dedicated bicycle lanes can be kept for commuters, the problem of transport management can be solved. I feel that my idea won because this problem is being faced in many other cities across the world and hence everyone can relate to it.

After winning the Challenge, my family and friends felt extremely proud and it is great to see them happy. Also, office friends can’t stop raving about me and my manager dropped an email to our entire team of 40 people appreciating me. I feel an additional sense of responsibility now to achieve my goal of improving my community in 2012. With the cash prize, I indulged myself in some long overdue shopping and after coming to California, I intend to spend some part of my cash prize money over there.

I think that The Economist-InnoCentive Challenge series is a great boon for people who have a burning desire for the betterment of society and have great ideas to achieve that goal. This Challenge series gives them a platform to express themselves and achieve something constructive over a period of time.

Overall, last 3 months have been great and further strengthened my self belief that I can achieve greater goals in the future.

Outside my workplace, I have co-directed a short film of 30 minutes and I have also penned education-related articles for local newspapers. I taught computer skills to child abuse victims at St. Catherine’s School, affiliated to the Archdiocesan board of education. I am also a huge soccer fan and follow almost all of the European leagues. I am glad I am a part of this great community of InnoCentive Solvers for whom ideas are a form of currency!

By Alph Bingham

This blog is the final installation of a four part series:  ”The Profound Importance of Challenges,” by Dwayne Spradlin and Alph Bingham, authors of The Open Innovation Marketplace, published in 2011 by FT Press.  To read the previous posts, click on the links below:

The Profound Importance of Challenges (Part 1 of 4) by Alph Bingham and Dwayne Spradlin

The Profound Importance of Challenges: The Fundamental Unit of Problem Solving (Part 2 of 4) by Alph Bingham

The Profound Importance of Challenges: A Better Way to Organize and Distribute Work (Part 3 of 4) by Dwayne Spradlin

In this last segment of the series, we will address the role of a Challenge as an instrument of strategy.

Too often organizations measure their innovation success by % of sales spent on R&D, how many patents they own, or whether the leading academics in their fields are on retainer. However, in today’s economy, these should all matter much less to the management of the organization or to the shareholders than whether they can get a new product to market before the competition and dominate the category or whether resources are being managed to ensure the firm can aggressively pursue new business opportunities when they emerge.

Too many organizations struggle to even clearly define their problems and goals, much less to innovate with the precision and efficiency needed to compete in the world today. Whether building better business processes or designing new technologies to dominate a market, traditional business practices are no longer sufficient. Nowhere is this truer than in large corporations where years of accumulated standard operating procedures, poorly aligned incentives, ever-increasing bureaucracy, and entrenched culture work together to ensure that increasingly expensive and mediocre innovation is the best they can do. The existing systems are failing and firms are in desperate need of new methods to improve responsiveness and competitiveness.

Dictionary.com defines a “challenge” as “a summons to engage in any contest” or as “a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.” However, it is much more. Well-constructed “challenges” are an astonishingly powerful and uniquely effective tool for focusing the energies of multitudes of creative, inventive, talented audiences on the important problems facing organizations, nations, and the planet on which we live. These audiences can be employees, customers, partners, and a planet of resources. Read the rest of this entry »

Every so often, we are able to offer our Solvers a special opportunity we call a “Priceless Prize.”  A Priceless Prize is an award that goes beyond financial compensation and provides the winning Solver access to an event or experience that they would never have access to on their own.  In the past, Priceless Prizes have included invitations to attend SciFoo camp, opportunities for media exposure and speaking roles at high level events.

Through our partnership with The Economist, we’ve awarded several Priceless Prizes.  Challenge winners are invited to present their solutions at the exclusive Ideas Economy events, which draw world leaders and business people, often the exact people who can help turn a good idea into a world-changing solution.  Previous Economist InnoCentive Challenge winners have seen their solutions piloted by non-profit organizations, written up in prominent industry journals and funded by Fortune 1000 corporations.

The Economist-InnoCentive Smart Systems Challenge provides a fantastic opportunity for Solvers from any background to gain exposure to high-profile leaders in the business of big data and information technology at the upcoming Economist Ideas Economy: Information event in San Francisco, California, USA on June 5-6, 2012.  The winning Solver will receive:

• An honorarium of $1000
• Compensation for travel expenses
• Admission to the conference for themselves and a guest
• An interview with an Economist editor live on-stage at the event
• Video promotion of the event recording on Economist.com and through social media channels
• Publicity for the winning solution in the post-event wrap report to all delegates/speakers, and
• An official meeting with members of the Ideas Economy programming team to discuss ideas for venture capital or public policy.

If you believe that you can develop a solution that will improve the health, happiness, safety or aesthetics of a community in a compelling and elegant way, and if you speak the language of “big data”, this Challenge can provide you with a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Log in to review the Challenge details and maybe we’ll see you in San Francisco in June!

We recently announced a Challenge for the Sandler-Kenner Foundation, seeking early diagnostic tools for pancreatic cancer. We asked Dr. Gregory Echt, Chairman of the Sandler-Kenner Foundation, to talk to us a bit about his Challenge and tell us why it’s so important that a solution is found.

Hi Dr. Echt, thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your Challenge. Can you tell us a bit about the history of the Sandler-Kenner Foundation?

My wife, Susan Echt, and I had two dear friends pass away quite rapidly from pancreatic cancer – Michael Sandler and Peter Kenner. They were in the prime of their lives, but were diagnosed at later stages of their disease and both died shortly thereafter.

Since I am a radiation oncologist and run a busy oncology practice I see this story play out time and time again each day. The key to good outcomes when dealing with pancreatic cancer is finding and diagnosing as early in the process as possible. I was frustrated by the current limitations in detecting and diagnosing pancreatic cancer at a treatable stage. With that in mind, my wife and I took it

upon ourselves to start a foundation focused on finding solutions that will lead to the early detection of pancreatic cancer universally. The Sandler-Kenner Foundation was formed to provide support for research in early detection that will translate to improved survivability.

Agung Nuswantoro is the winner of Humanitarian Air Drop

I was born in Malang, the second largest city in East Java, Indonesia.

Being an inventor has always been my passion, although the profession is not well recognized in my country. Most people become flustered if you say you are an inventor (some people confuse ‘inventor’ for the CAD software ‘Autodesk Inventor’).

Since my childhood, I’ve been very interested in science and technology. I don’t know why, but I find serenity in scientific things. And as I grew up, my interests spread to many fields including design, military, sports, psychology, sociology, politics, etc.

I like being creative and seeing the world with a different perspective. Questioning how things, people, or situations might appear or function from a different perspective. I also love reading and sketching; some of my other hobbies include disassembling things and then reassembling them or creating something new out of the parts.

I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, with a major in energy conversion. I worked for several years in R&D for an electronic manufacturing company. However, I found my job was only dealing with people, paper, and bureaucracy — no research and design as it should be. Therefore, I resigned. I currently work as a freelancer, but I consider my self an inventor.

I discovered InnoCentive while searching for design and innovation contests, a habit since I was in high school. I’ve always enjoyed participating in design and innovation contests. Although I don’t always receive an award, the experiences have enhanced my knowledge and skills. InnoCentive Challenges are different in many ways: it’s not about winning or losing — it’s about people pushing their limits and solving others’ problems, even without knowing each other.

My solution for the Challenge Humanitarian Air Drop came from the coal industry and used some aspects of a fire extinguisher system. Having an interest in military technology helped me a lot when developing the solution. I got my winning idea just about 10 days before the deadline, after trying several different designs over many sleepless nights.

Most Challenges on InnoCentive are definitely not simple problems; some are very exhaustive to think about, pushing the Solver’s creativity limit. But Solving is fun — it makes me learn new things and fuels my mind with creativity.

Right now, I’m working on several Challenges and waiting on others. What’s unique is that the “AHA” moment comes while thinking about several Challenges simultaneously. Though it’s not guaranteed that I will find a solution, thinking about solutions is itself very fun.

Thank you InnoCentive!