Innovation in the era of rapid changes

Innovation enables resources to create or enhance value. It is an integral part of successful entrepreneurship and sustenance of a business. While innovation has been part of our lives since the beginning of human civilisation, it requires reassessment in the context of the rapid technological advancements being made today.

There have been a few notable innovation initiatives in Bangladesh. As part of the access to information (a2i) programme of the government of Bangladesh, an innovation lab has been set up. The goal of this lab is to foster a hands-on, action-oriented approach to solve some of the complex problems of the country and society. According to the website of a2i, a total of $3.1 million has been awarded to fund various innovation initiatives.

Bangladesh, like any other country in the world, is also witnessing five global megatrends that are changing its economy and society. Rapid urbanisation is exerting pressure on cities. Shifts in economic power are helping the country to advance its world ranking.  There is demographic change, with the average age of the national population falling below 27 years.  Climate change looms large and is set to alter the country's agricultural and coastal livelihoods significantly. Finally, technological advancements pose both risks and opportunities for the country.  Innovation in all these five areas can provide Bangladesh ample opportunities to grow faster.

Technological advancements, in particular, are going to change business and life significantly. They are happening at such a rapid pace that the speed of innovation will also require recalibration. Moreover, most of the innovation of the future is going to be led by technology. It is important for businesses and the government in Bangladesh to plan how they are going to manage the speed of innovation successfully.

Quite often, innovators tend to borrow an idea from the West, localise the idea, and try to implement it in Bangladesh. For example, a mobile app-based ride-sharing business was innovated and incubated in Silicon Valley since 2009. We have seen the emergence of similar services in the Dhaka region about six years later. Such an approach provides necessary products and services for the market faster, but does not always solve local problems, such as the problem of traffic congestion in this case.

With technological advancements happening at such a rapid pace, innovators need to innovate for present problems instead of problems of the future. It is easy to comprehend an existing problem and create a solution quickly for the same. The solution can be tested fast in the real environment and deployed into the market. The traditional practice of 'ready-aim-fire' should be reformed to a new paradigm of 'ready-fire-aim' to improve the speed and agility of innovation. In this fast-changing environment, it's acceptable if an innovative attempt fails, but it has to fail fast.

Successful innovators are disruptors. They adopt new technologies and disrupt the existing market or business model. Through the cycle of disruption, innovators also create value for stakeholders across society. If a company wants to thrive with innovation, it should prepare to disrupt its own products and services too. For example, the apparel manufacturing sector is on the cusp of disruption due to the emergence of robotics and other automation devices.  A company with an innovation mindset is expected to embrace these new technologies and disrupt its own business models. Those who wait will get disrupted by the innovators.

An innovation mindset requires openness of information exchange. The innovators in Silicon Valley regularly submit their ideas for critical evaluation by other innovators in the region. Even successful entrepreneurs don't shy away from letting others challenge their solutions and ask tough questions.  Such openness fosters an environment of excellence and accelerates the innovation process overall.

Innovation does not necessarily entail a huge of research and development cost. While research and development work results in many innovative products and solutions, quite often, the high spenders lag behind the top innovators. Innovation can be frugal too. Frugal innovation is going to be more important for emerging countries like Bangladesh where there is a significant demand to deliver products and services at affordable prices.

Innovation can be managed for producing systematic output. This is particularly useful for established companies that are already governed by their own rules and procedures. The popular belief is that a structured environment stifles innovation. On the contrary, a structured environment can offer ample opportunities for innovation. Existing problems and opportunities can be articulated better in a structured environment. The solution to an identified problem may be found within or outside the organisation if it is well articulated. In fact, at times, solutions from outside are faster and cheaper than those produced inside the organisation. The entire process can be managed to deliver the benefits of innovation to large organisations. Bangladesh is witnessing the emergence of large organisations with high revenue and large workforce. As these companies are implementing mature processes, systems and structures, they will also require a platform for managing and incubating innovation.

Innovation is a process that opens up opportunities collaboration between industry and academia.  Businesses can submit their problems to the student groups of engineering and management schools for solving. This creates an opportunity for the students to work on contemporary industry problems. In addition, it allows businesses to access external knowledge for problem solving. Bangladesh has some high-quality educational institutions for engineering and management studies. Thus, there is an opportunity to innovate through such collaboration.

Finally, successful innovators don't innovate alone.  They create a collaborative environment where companies work together to solve a problem. Many large companies form their own cohort of start-up companies to accelerate technology-led innovation. 

Allowing start-ups to try new products or services helps large companies to ring-fence the associated business risk. Once successful, the concerned start-up can be integrated with the mainstream business. In the near future, such innovative cohorts of start-up companies are expected to flourish.

Bangladesh has already made some notable progress in technology-led innovation. With an environment that fosters innovation with speed and agility, innovators in Bangladesh will be able to deliver world-class results. Industry forums, along with government agencies, can provide such environments for innovators to thrive and become successful.

The writer is partner at PwC. The views expressed here are personal.