By Alexander Frakking | Innovation Advisor
November, 26, 2022
Today, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that innovation is a mysterious process that happens only in the basement labs of leading tech companies. Or, for believing that any innovation on a scale below that is just trivial tinkering.
But today’s independent innovations are the nuclei of tomorrow’s successful companies. What began in 2006 as dissatisfaction with existing e-commerce solutions became today’s Shopify, and hundreds of health and sanitation products that were invented in kitchens and garages during the COVID pandemic are making impact today.
The calculus of innovation is really quite simple: Knowledge drives innovation, innovation drives productivity, productivity drives economic growth.
– Dr. William Brody, scientist and product entrepreneur
Many governments appreciate the important role of innovation, and some also acknowledge that the culture of innovation is being lost. For example, Canada recently announced a new “Innovation and Investment Agency” including CAD$1 billion of initial federal funding. The goal is to improve productivity and innovation: the Achilles heel of the Canadian economy according to finance minister Chrystia Freeland.