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Innovation

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The concept of an innovation portfolio is still new to some organizations; however, it's been a topic of conversation among innovation professionals for years.  In 2014 Harvard Business Review (HBR) published the article, Managing Your Innovation Portfolio. They found on average high-performing organizations focus 70% of their innovation resources on core or incremental offerings, 20% on adjacent offerings, and 10% on transformational initiatives.  Even though the average was a 70:20:10 spread, they still reference other successful models depending on your industry and your level of ambition and allocations.  The biggest take-away from the HBR report and subsequent reports is that for an innovation program to be successful, the focus should be a mix of incremental (core), adjacent and transformational initiatives.  This mix will enable a program to deliver results both in the near term and long term.  In addition to finding the right balance, organizations need to have the right resources to deliver. ...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It's times of stress that really test the strength or weakness of an organization. During stressful times, leaders learn what the people in their organizations are made of – but also whether the systems, functions, and processes they have put in place are resilient to withstand the crises that inevitably come up. Industry shifts, market downturns, unexpected competitors: when stress comes, it shouldn't make an organization or process fall to pieces. Instead, stressful times should be when positive discourse, growth, and resiliency thrive.[1] "What do you do when you face a surprise?" David Woods, Faculty Emeritus of Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University, asked at the 2014 Velocity NY conference; referring to unexpected situations like when chunks of foam fell off the Space Shuttle Columbia's fuel tank in an unexpected way. "Do you gracefully extend performance, stretch your capabilities, and add adaptive capacity in order to continue to perform...

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[vc_row content_width="grid"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dr. Robert Blizek, a former senior technologist with NAVAIR, shares the lessons learned that drove his decision to use Ezassi’s Knowledge Scouting application.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_width="grid" content_aligment="center"][vc_column][qodef_elements_holder][qodef_elements_holder_item horizontal_aligment="left" vertical_alignment="middle" hover_animation="default"][vc_column_text] The Challenge [/vc_column_text][qodef_separator position="center" color="#6b6b6b" border_style="solid" width="70%" thickness="20px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Growth of World Population and the History of Technology [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="11326" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text] Figure 1.  Globalization and the Internet have dramatically accelerated technology development. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/qodef_elements_holder_item][/qodef_elements_holder][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There are three challenges to address if one is to keep abreast of technology development for investments, optimal partnership selection, or roadmap planning.  First, critical technological advances can come from anywhere. A recent study by the government accounting office (GAO) noted that, only two decades ago, 70% of science and technology development for the DoD was developed exclusively within DoD- industry partnerships.   Today, that 70/30 split is reversed with the private sector eclipsing the DoD’s pace of breakthrough technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum engineering, and cyber security. The second...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A new study from the labs of Durham University's Dr. Andrew Smallbone lays out a pathway to making plastic bottles from organic waste material and CO2 captured from power plants. A thorough analysis of the economics shows this process could even be cost competitive for making things like plastic bottles. The process could start with something like the leftover plant material from sugarcane pressing. After a few reaction steps, which include the addition of some captured CO2 and some ethylene glycol produced from corn plants, you'd end up with a plastic polymer called polyethylene furandicarboxylate—otherwise known as PEF. Functionally, it's similar to the PET plastic used for water and soda bottles, denoted by the number 1 recycling symbol. Every step in the process has been at least demonstrated before, and some are quite common, so the paper doesn't spend much space on the chemistry. Instead, the researchers engage in life cycle analysis...

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Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2020

If you are lucky enough to be on an innovation team you understand the need to deliver successful innovative solutions. In this contemporary world assessing your progress and allocating resources is always a priority. Recently, Innovation Leader published the report, Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2020 offering an in-depth look at innovation strategies, investments, and approaches that drive successful innovation. ...

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If your organization is focused on adjacent, incremental or breakthrough technologies you will need a strong scouting team to get the work done. It all begins with budget planning and understanding your market. From there you can make the right decisions on the people, process and technology needed to succeed and ensure that the go to market is a success....

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Innovation Budget Planning Considerations

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] As you start Innovation budget planning, here are eight things to consider:   When it comes to Innovation budget planning (and R&D), it is typically a laborious process that spans several months with business model canvases, business cases, proposals and pipeline discussions. I remember my inbox being flooded with documents, meeting requests and scientists pushing their research forward for my sponsorship. As Forbes magazine mentioned in an article last year “The presumption is that R&D spending is somehow connected to increased innovation, revenue growth and profits. However, leaders may be asking the wrong questions here. A focus on R&D spending might be a good way to gauge best practice within an industry, but it is not a measure of how innovative any company is. Having a great R&D process and achieving market success with the technologies we invent are two different things.” Nonetheless, budgets are the fact of corporate world and must be...

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Innovation Budget Planning Components Top 10

As a follow-up to our recent blog on “What to Include in Your Innovation Budget” we have created an innovation budget planning components list with 10 key items you should include in your innovation budget for the coming year.   As you will notice as you go through the budget checklist, some of the key components include taking advantage of external resources. As Benjamin Franklin said, “time is money,” so keep in mind that innovation planning may go beyond optimizing internal resources and require you to invest in outside resources in order to speed up production time.     With that in mind, here are 10 key components that should be a part of your innovation budget plan:   Innovation Budget Planning Components #1 Outside Consulting Ask yourself: Do we have the skills and resources necessary for our project research and development? Can we bridge the gap with outside consulting resources?   Whether you need help developing innovation and best practices...

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