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Innovation

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] How do you best position your company to adopt an innovation mindset? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hiring a Chief Innovation Officer or relying on Corporate Product Intrapreneurs to champion the innovation culture is certainly an intentional first approach for many companies. Maintaining innovative energy and focus from year to year and project to project will continuously be a challenge though unless your innovation leaders have an opportunity to recharge their creativity, share ideas and best practices, and consider leading innovation management platforms.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text] Innovation Networking, Best Practices, and Knowledge Sharing [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text]Upcoming innovation conferences are a compelling occasion to reignite your company’s innovation mission. Product development, research professionals, and UX or digital transformation creators can all find value and inspiration meeting with like-minded innovation thought leaders from around the world and across a variety of industries. Grow cross-enterprise collaboration and strengthen an organization’s innovation expertise at one of this season's conferences.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][qodef_separator position="center" color="#d1d1d1" width="100%" thickness="1"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/4"][vc_single_image...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Roaring Twenties, a period of economic prosperity following the end of World War I, was marked by changes to American life through advancements in manufacturing, consumer products, travel, medicine, entertainment, and upended social norms. What we’ve experienced so far in the 2020s has some referring to this current period as The Soaring Twenties – a time that will be remembered for massive economic growth and incomparable technological innovations…but only for the organizations that take bold action, have connected teams of creatives and analytical minds that work collaboratively, and trust in their leadership to uphold the vision of new possibilities for their companies, software, and services. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=".vc_custom_1647363232861{background-color: #f9f9f9 !important;}"][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="44px"][qodef_blockquote text="``Not to innovate is the single largest reason for the decline of existing organizations. Not to know how to manage is the single largest reason for the failure of new ventures.`` — Peter F. Drucker" title_tag="h4" width="100"][vc_empty_space height="44px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] If You...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Look your best while feeling good about your impact on the environment with fashion-forward brands reinventing the supply chain in the textile industry. It’s becoming trendy to source your next ensemble from a sustainable and globally conscientious clothing company. The fashion industry is trying on new methods of sourcing materials and is producing garments within a vibrant and growing circular economy.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Plant the Demand for Green Fashion [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_column_text]The path is clear for athleisure and fitness brands: move quickly with innovative R&D or risk being left behind in the competitive race of global change.   One example is the Abaca sneaker, a trailblazing product and a testament to the power of R&D and innovative partnerships in the apparel industry. It’s crafted entirely from eco-friendly materials - QWSTION’s BANANATEX, a fabric derived from banana waste, and Natural Fiber Welding’s PLIANT, a 100% bio-based rubber. Remarkably, this sneaker is not just plastic-free but...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_column_text]The intersection of design and technical innovation come close to home in our workplaces and dwellings. Architects of today are tasked to design new buildings with emerging, energy efficient technology for the practical structures of tomorrow while maintaining beautiful and intriguing design elements. Home builders are provided a variety of new opportunities to make construction or renovations of their existing house more energy efficient, livable, green, and cost conscious. Ezassi supports innovation in architecture and building to make the environments we live and work functional and appealing.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_column_text] Look to Switzerland for the Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technology [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_column_text]A great example of this new building initiative is a collaboration of Switzerland’s ETH, a premier technology research university, and NEST (Next Evolution in Sustainable Building Technologies), a modular research and innovation organization accelerating the innovation process in the construction sector. Their most recent projects include the HiLo building, the...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The collaboration and innovation of human health researchers and life science industries are a vital partnership to support a healthier global population. From solutions that provide basic human needs to the the latest epidemic fighting technology to inventions that improve the health of marginalized people with disabilities, organizations are innovating to provide a better standard of life for millions.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Collaboration for Clean Water is the Current Mother of Invention [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Water makes up 70% of the Earth’s surface, but only 2.5% is drinkable. In 2018 the World Bank and the U.N. released a joint report that claimed 40% of the world population suffers from water scarcity and that by 2030, 700 million people may be displaced because of it. If you live in an area where you have filtered water, you might not be thinking of the 159 million people who depend on untreated water (rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams). Such...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height="22px"][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text] Innovative Ideas to Reclaim Our Natural Environment [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_column_text]You alone can not save the world.  Neither will our governments. How about industry?  Will they have the Earth’s best interests in mind when they create their next product for market? We ask, who are the real trail blazers along this confusing and winding path of necessary environmental change? It is not until the powerful, the inventive, and the noisiest change makers collaborate across industries, governments, universities and environmental NGOs with new green technology research, design, and significant strategies that will we see the greatest environmental challenges solved.  [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_column_text] New Green Technology for Recycling [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="22px"][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Where does all the trash go and how can we dramatically reduce what’s headed to the landfills? Recycling is a not a new effort, but it is losing efficacy and studies show even the most mindful consumers recycle incorrectly. Luckily efforts are underway to bring new technology to an inconsistent,...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text] New Industries' Solutions for Moving to a Zero Carbon Footprint [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text]Is zero carbon possible? The bright ideas coming from creative innovators prove we are developing and harnessing new technologies to eliminate the burning of fossil fuels to off set carbon emissions. The world emits about 43 billion tons of CO2 a year and 87% comes from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil. As the Earth's need for power grows, so does the necessity for innovative clean power solutions. University researchers, startup incubators, and power industry collaboration show promising disruptive technology to reach carbon zero goals. The commercialization and the opportunity for partnerships across these innovating platforms will bring positive and lasting change to the carbon emission reduction goals of countries worldwide.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Carbon Neutral Start-up Technology [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text]Industries worldwide are focusing on how to achieve carbon neutrality. Innovative ideas and clean power solutions are appearing across university research labs...

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] When velocity is constant - acceleration equals zero [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="10"][vc_column_text]Acceleration is one of those terms that is often taken for granted in today’s business environment. As a gentle reminder, the definition of acceleration is a change in velocity over time. A major disconnect in corporate external innovation groups (that is, groups responsible for identifying innovations to solve their unmet needs that lie outside their corporate walls) is that they typically - and mistakenly - expect to accelerate innovation while maintaining constant internal organizational velocity in the form of resources, infrastructure, organizational support, budget, etc. Groups seeking to rapidly change their external innovation velocities can do so through honest self-assessment of their internal capabilities, and subsequent selection of the proper resources, information management tools and collaboration models to build the sustainable external innovation organization that works best for them.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] External innovation groups seldom receive adequate internal resourcing to effectively drive enough innovation initiatives...

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[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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