The 5th event in the excellent Leaders of Innovation Dinner series presented by Adair Innovation was held on February 14 at the Australian Technology Park, Redfern and offered three very different perspectives on innovation in the emerging digital industry.
The Thoughts of a Successful Start Up
To open the night, Ian Gardiner Managing Director, Viocorp, a company specialising in the distribution and production of audio and video content using the internet provided a classic case study in a successful start-up
Amongst some of Ian's more interesting observations were
- that future value in digital media will be in owning the knowledge about the customer;
- the media in the future will be a marketplace with consumers choosing a multiplicity of platforms to satisfy their needs and
as that evolves,
- the control over the delivery platform will be the most important factor in this evolving world.
Ian's account of the chronology of a start up was succinct and powerful in its insight. His full presentation is available as a podcast and his speaker support material is available here.
Why Innovation Could Get A Bad Name!
Next-up was Ted Pretty, Non-Executive Chair Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand and former Chairman of Sensis and Head of Technology, Retail and International Divisions of Telstra. Pretty opened with the startling results of the new Fujitsu Innovation Index indicating that Australian and New Zealand scored a mediocre 64/100. There was no information regarding the methodology used to arrive at these figures, no framework or background - just that Australia and New Zealand rate 64/100. These figures gave cause for Pretty's profound thoughts on innovation - "innovation comes from an idea...". And on ploughed Mr Pretty giving us the benefits of his wisdom - create an environment in which your organisation will flourish, look inside the organization to define it and make sure it is relevant to the community at large. Mr Pretty had obviously prepared long and hard for this presentation!! His final statement that climate change would be the next big driver in business without outlining any specifics at how and in what way organizations might approach this concern innovatively was nothing more than a personal opinion with little substance.
Don't waste my time, Mr Pretty!!
PS. Take a look at Fujitsu's web site - nowhere does it say that Fujitsu is primarily a supply of digital imaging equipment! Interesting!!
The Radicalization of the ABC
On the other hand, I want to buy shares in the ABC.
Mark Scott, the new Managing Director ABC, gave an outstanding presentation and showed just why the ABC still remains such a formidable organization after 75 years. Scott began by rolling out the usual research statistics one would expect in relation to the ABC. 90% of Australians believe the ABC supplies an important service; ABC is second to Vegemite as the most recognizable brand in Australia and most Australians feel comfortable and familiar with their Aunty ABC.
Following his recent appointment as Managing Director, Scott spent some time trying to understand the full capabilities of the ABC and it surprised him to find a highly innovative area within the organization that against all the noisy publicity surrounding the public broadcaster had gone almost unnoticed. The ABC is the pioneer and leader in the Australian digital media industry.
It was the first digital TV, first digital interactive radio and first on-line digital broadcaster in Australia. It has podcast more than any other organization in Australia with over 2 million podcasts available on the ABC web site, of which 1.4 come from Radio National and our Aunty ABC is now in the process of converting its entire archive into digital format. Echoing Gardiner's statement earlier in the evening that the media will become a market place and thus "platform agnostic", he noted the importance of the role of public funding in developing this vital leading-edge capability without normal commercial objectives. Scott made it clear that digital is now the main core of his future plans for the ABC.
He emphasised that it was that vast store of undervalued and yet highly creative people within the ABC that had pushed the ABC into this position and in announcing a restructure to acknowledge and reflect this vision, he made only one new appointment reporting directly to him and that was Director, People and Learning.
Scott emphasised that the only real asset of a creative and innovative organization was its people. In Scott's ABC, innovation and smart ideas are everyone's responsibility; people will deliver the smart ideas and innovation and a culture that fosters ideas and ingenuity and success will be celebrated. Silo operators who hold back the success of the whole will be discouraged and management will strive for clarity and the communication of clarity in strategy at all times. If there are impediments to its creative evolution, ABC management will concentrate on removing the impediment and doers will be rewarded in significant ways.
Remember when you are next trawling the ABC on-line for information on anything Australian, just remember that you paid for this great repository of knowledge that has shaped our culture!
Long live the ABC - digitally!!!
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The next event in the Leaders of Innovation Series will be on the theme of developing venture capital, private equity, strategic partnerships and financial & investment solutions for Australian innovation, in all industries.
Guests include
- Bill Ferris AO, Executive Chairman, CHAMP Private Equity (Keynote)
- Michael Coomer, Group Executive, Business Technology Solutions & Services, Westpac (Co-Keynote)
- Sarah Hatcher, Executive Director, Society for Knowledge Economics
- Giam Swiegers, CEO, Deloitte
Date: Wednesday 14th March 2007
Time: 12.00pm to 2.00pm
Cost:: $120 per person
Venue: Westpac
275 Kent Street
SYNDNEY, NSW, 2000
For bookings contact Catherine O.Malley on. 0408 360 269 email catherine@ausinnovation.org