Lecture on 18 March 2010 at Georgetown University to the Communications, Culture & Technology course on "Creating a Culture of Innovation," taught by Dr. Mike Nelson.

1. Why “Innovation Ecosystems?”
CCTP673: Creating a Culture of Innovation (Nelson)
18 March 2010
Jeffrey Alexander, Ph.D.
Senior Science & Technology Policy Analyst
Center for Science, Technology & Economic Development
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander

2. Key Topics & Concepts
• Terms of Reference—Defining Innovation
• Innovation Ecosystems—Modeling Innovation
• Evaluating Innovation Capacity—Measuring Innovation
• Social Aspects of Innovation—Enabling Innovation
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3. First, a bit about me & where I come from…
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander

4. Who We Are
SRI is a world-leading independent R&D organization
• Founded by Stanford University in 1946
– A nonprofit corporation
– Independent in 1970; changed name from
Stanford Research Institute to SRI International in
1977
• Sarnoff Corporation acquired in 1987
SRI headquarters, Menlo Park, CA (formerly RCA Laboratories)
• 2,000 staff members combined
– 800 with advanced degrees
– More than 20 locations worldwide
• Consolidated 2008 revenues: approximately
$490 million
Sarnoff headquarters, Princeton, NJ
SRI Harrisonburg, Virginia SRI State College, Pennsylvania SRI Tokyo, Japan SRI Washington, D.C. SRI St. Petersburg, Florida
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5. A Couple of Innovations…
• 1967: Doug Engelbart patents the
computer mouse
• “SRI patented the mouse, but they
really had no idea of its value.
Some years later it was learned
that they had licensed it
to Apple for something like
$40,000. • 1969: SRI is the recipient of the
first packet transmission on what
became ARPANET
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6. Terms of Reference
Inventors, Innovators & Innovation
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander

7. Inventors or Innovators?
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8. Meanings of “Innovation”
• As a noun • As a process
– “An innovation is an idea, object or – An act of creation, but with a
practice that is perceived as new by practical outcome or objective
an individual or other unit of – Often the byproduct of taking a
adoption.” (Rogers, 1962, emphasis unique perspective (therefore
added) nonobvious?)
– Contrast with an “invention” • John Seely Brown: “Seeing
• Novelty Differently”
• Non-obviousness – Generally encompasses
– An exogenous force…? commercialization or
• Diffuses through a group or network implementation (Schumpeter)
• Has an impact – Often involves a way of organizing
– Does innovation imply and/or executing
improvement? • Therefore, innovation is inherently
social
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9. Why “Innovation Ecosystems?”
The Power & Perils of Metaphor
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander

10. The Innovation “Pipeline”
Is it really a pipeline?
Research Develop Design Produce
Research
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11. The “Chain-Linked” Model of Innovation
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12. The “Total Process Model” of Innovation
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13. One Depiction of the “Innovation Ecosystem”
Source: Council on Competitiveness, 2004
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14. Characteristics of Ecosystems
• Evolving
–Organic
–Diverse
–Symbiotic
• Complex
–Self-organizing
–Self-regulating
–Adaptive
• Fragile—or
Resilient?
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15. Why Models Matter
Selecting the Portfolio of Innovation Policies
Source: Dr. Gregory Tassey, NIST, 2007 and 2010
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16. Evaluating Innovation Capacity
Measuring Innovation
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander

17. Comparing National Innovation Systems
Who is more innovative?
Source:
R&D Magazine,
December 2009,
Analysis by
Battelle Memorial
Institute
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18. Ranking Nations by “Innovation Capacity”
Results of the INSEAD Global Innovation Index versus
ITIF “Global Innovation-Based Competitiveness”
INSEAD ITIF
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19. Pay Attention to What You Measure
Elements of the Innovation Value Chain
Inputs
The “raw materials” to enable innovation
Human capital, financial capital, intellectual capital
Processes
Factors that transform the inputs
Connective organizations,
facilities, infrastructure
regulation
Outputs
The proximate results of innovation
Patents, start-up firms
Outcomes
Improving the local economy and community?
Industry growth, employment growth, quality of life
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20. Focus on China
What’s the nature of the threat?
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21. How Is China Different?
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22. The Social Aspects of Innovation
Enabling Innovation
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander

23. Myth or Fact
• Myth: • Fact:
The Garage Innovator Modern innovators are teams
– Two guys working in a garage can – Innovation requires many types of
change the world expertise
– Includes financiers, consultants,
designers and more
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24. Why Ecosystems Matter
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25. Is Google Innovative?
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26. New Directions in the Mode of Innovation
• Recent analysis of innovation
processes pinpoint the need for
collaboration
– No one group or organization
has all the knowledge for
innovation
– Innovations which cross
boundaries tend to have
greater impact
– Distinguish between “open innovation”
and “open source innovation”
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27. The Open Innovation Model
Source: Dr. Henry Chesbrough & PRTM
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28. Open Innovation at Royal Philips Electronics
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29. The Significance of “Innovation Communities”
• Innovation productivity and knowledge creation is increased
by linking disparate networks
– “The strength of weak ties”—the best links are those which cross between
communities
– Boundary-spanning is an element of “seeing differently” (John Seely-Brown)
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30. Building a Community of Innovation
• Strong leadership to build trust among participants
• Existence of significant incentives to motivate collaboration
• Governance process for managing conflicts
• Institutions which reinforce and bridge across phases of the
innovation value chain
• Processes for socializing community participants to create their
own subculture
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31. Prerequisites for Successful Innovation
Communities Trust-building
Knowledge Social capital
sharing & & affinity
exchange Leadership
Incentives
Governance
Interaction Socialization
Learning processes
& communities of learning
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32. Example:
Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering & SEMATECH
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33. Operating Model
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34. Re-Envisioning the Innovation Process
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35. The CNSE Community of Innovation
• Leadership
– Entrepreneurial visionary (Prof. Alain Kaloyeros)
– Credibility (backing of SEMATECH, Governor Pataki, NIST)
• Incentives
– Massive capital costs for moving to next generation of semiconductor
manufacturing
– Opportunities to share pre-competitive knowledge
• Governance
– Dynamic networks of research teams
– Partners select where they will put their investments
• Socialization
– Shared research and office space
– Faculty and students are the “glue” linking partners
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36. How Can You Innovate in Innovation?
Facilitate innovation
Lower the inherent barriers to creating
and adopting innovations
Accelerate innovation
Reduce time-to-market by streamlining the
formation of innovation teams
Optimize innovation
Focus resources on innovation
opportunities with highest
potential for success and impact
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37. Thank You! Menlo Park Headquarters
SRI International
333 Ravenswood Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3493
650.859.2000
jeffalex@stanfordalumni.org Washington, D.C.
SRI International
1100 Wilson Blvd., Suite 2800
jeffrey.alexander@sri.com Arlington, VA 22209-3915
703.524.2053
Additional U.S. and
international locations
www.sri.com
© 2010 Jeffrey Alexander