Creating ecosystem to solve innovation equation
Print Edition
INNOVATION is a constant in society, but what is remarkable today is the speed at which it occurs. This speed of innovation is ushering in a period of great change. is particularly true in China, which has moved rapidly from an agricultural to an industrial economy and, in cities such as Shanghai, to a post-industrial one.
Global cities from Tokyo to London and from New York to Singapore are working to position themselves as centers for innovation, because they know that they risk being left behind if they don’t. Cities emerge as innovation hubs because of their connections to global companies, links to global supply chains and their ability to reach billions of customers. A successful innovation economy rests on the unique strengths of each city and catalyzes the areas necessary to enable creative enterprise to flourish.
As I meet this weekend with the other members of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council to Mayor Yang Xiong, I’m feeling confident about Shanghai’s future and its ability to take its place among the world’s most innovative cities. Its emergence as a global business and financial center, with a diverse industrial base, complemented by a rapid development of modern infrastructure, will serve it well as it works to become a global innovation hub.
It’s now up to citizens, entrepreneurs, and leading global companies — in partnership with government — to drive this change and build an innovation economy and society that fits into the new era.
Albert Eeinstein once said, “If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got.” Getting what you always got isn’t good enough these days — the world moves too fast.
Innovation sometimes can appear to be spontaneous but, in reality, a systematic, holistic approach best fosters innovation — it is an equation that can be solved. It takes many factors to succeed, which work best when brought together to create an entire ecosystem. Creating this ecosystem and the right environment for innovation depends on fostering entrepreneurship, encouraging R&D, attracting human capital and systemizing the approach to activating and commercializing ideas.
Entrepreneurs are of course an important source of new ideas and innovations. An entrepreneurial environment succeeds when governments, large businesses and entrepreneurs work closely together to create the right culture, funding environment, educational system and tax regime to provide coordinated support. A robust R&D investment strategy that leverages access to financial capital, leading research universities and a diverse manufacturing base is also vital. It’s a very positive sign that China as a whole now spends more on R&D than the EU, and Shanghai is a hotbed of R&D activity within China.
Continued investment in transport, energy and technology/telecommunications infrastructure is essential in order to attract the best talent. Today’s global and mobile workforce wants liveable cities with open, green spaces, fast, reliable public transport, good schools for their children and a wide range of cultural and social amenities.
Finally, within this ecosystem, you also need a systematic approach to innovation itself. As counterintuitive as it may sound, the process of innovation works best when it is regimented. Many people mistakenly believe it is a lack of ideas that holds back innovation. But ideas are usually plentiful; not having a robust system in place, which can take ideas from concept to reality, is what really holds back innovation. a system in which ideas can be quickly created, incubated and then activated is an important key to success.
In the coming decades, innovation will continue to be an essential source of sustainable growth both for individual businesses and broader economies. At the same time, competition among cities will continue to grow as rapid urbanization re-shapes our societies. Shanghai has many strengths that it can build on to emerge a winner in this competition, not least through developing as an innovation hub.
It takes time to create a center of innovation, as it really is about developing a whole ecosystem that must work together to gain momentum.
As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day — and neither was Silicon Valley. But by employing a systematic approach and a long-term focus, Shanghai will certainly solve the innovation equation.
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