[In]Sight – Innovation in Regional Australia, Spreading the Ideas Boom 8

What Is Innovation? Innovation is the activity of creating or capturing value from doing something newi. It has been an ever-present phenomenon within society throughout history. From the creation of fire to the printing press and now cloud computing, innovation continues to transform the way people work, live and interact. Innovation is the light bulb, fluctuating between frequency and intensity — a ‘Richter’ scale of progress. Innovation occurs within four pillarsii – the introduction of new or improved product, process, marketing strategy or organisational which creates new wealth or value.

Source: Oslo Manual, ii Most people will have an experience of innovation, either as a creator or beneficiary. The digital revolution provides ready examples of innovation – the smart phone is one of the most significant product innovations of recent times. Online shopping is a process innovation that has changed the retail sector forever. Using Facebook profiles to target individuals with ads is a significant marketing innovation. If an office has moved to ‘hot-desking’, this is an organisational innovation. These are examples of innovations that are changing the world. But more often than not innovation is low key – simple changes to how a farm or real estate agent operates that measurably improves profitability. It could be a clever marketing strategy to better reach a specific tourism market and increase sales. Or it could be outsourcing a particularly costly or inefficient component of a business to enable a renewed focus on what the business does best. We have a tendency to make innovation mysterious and exclusive. Scientists in labs, quirky inventors in a workshop, for example. But this is only a small part of the picture.

[In]Sight – Innovation in Regional Australia, Spreading the Ideas Boom 9

More important than these smart guys in white coats are the savvy entrepreneurs and innovative employees who are helping businesses grow, develop new products, capture new markets and become more profitable. With new technology our ability to lead the innovation process in our own businesses is greater than ever before. Innovation is now something that we all can do as well as being something that we all benefit from.

Why Does Innovation Matter? As the Australian economy transitions away from a resource fuelled boom towards an economy shaped around knowledge and service products, our ability to compete internationally will depend largely on our collective capacity to innovate. In order for Australia to maintain its quality of life during this transition we will need a significant increase in national productivity. Innovation will be the major driver of any productivity growth. This presents both significant challenges and opportunities for regional Australia. Regional Australia is becoming a major driver of economic output and productivity growth. Innovation in regions will be crucial to embrace this cultural shift. This [In]Sight - Innovation update looks at the current and emerging thinking around what drives innovation and how innovation can be measured and encouraged – with an emphasis on regional Australia. It looks into how we assess regions’ innovative capacity and ability to take advantage of the national innovation agenda.