Blog: What is innovation and how does it come about?
We live in exciting times. War is raging on our continent and there is a climate of geopolitical instability. In addition, we are facing a number of major challenges, such as global warming, migration, social inequality and the impact of technology and disinformation.
Recently, European Commissioner Mario Draghi presented a list of recommendations aimed at making Europe more innovative and competitive again. Later, former ASML CEO Peter Wennink did the same in the Netherlands. Politicians are falling over themselves to get started on this. But what exactly is ‘innovation’ and how does it come about?
When you look this up, you often get the following answer:
‘Innovation is the successful application of new ideas that create value. That value can be economic (profit, efficiency), social (better care, sustainability) or cultural (new forms of learning or creativity). So it's not just about coming up with something new, but above all about doing something new that works.’
If you were to summarise this as a mathematical formula, it would look like this:
Innovation = renewal + application + impact
We can look at examples from history. How did Apple founder Steve Jobs do this, for example? Steve Jobs was innovative, not because he invented everything himself, but because he brought together technology, design/creativity and human behaviour in a unique way. His strength lay in how innovations were conceived, developed and experienced by users.
Research has taught me that technology, creativity and humanity are often the ingredients of innovative products and organisations, such as Spotify, SpaceX, ASML, Netflix, Microsoft and Bell Labs.
These happen to be the basic elements of Digital Creativity's approach. We let children discover new technology and use creativity to connect this technology to imagination, expression and meaning.
This can be achieved using various technologies, such as virtual reality, holograms, augmented reality, photography, film, animated film, drone technology, deepfakes, 3D printing and artificial intelligence.
Inspired by our approach? Then get in touch with us!
Author: Christian Godschalk, Digital Creativity