WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO THE IT INDUSTRY

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO THE IT INDUSTRY 

 

by Les Williamson Leaders Speak

Australian businesses, governments and our society in general face a range of unprecedented challenges to maintain and grow our standard of living and ensure our economic prosperity. The good news is that we also live at a time of unprecedented knowledge sharing and productivity. But we need to do more if we are going to create new business practices, government policies, health and educational innovations to drive our standard of living higher over the coming two decades.

In our company in the IT business, we strongly believe the key to growing our standard of living in a time of significant economic and social transition is to promote an environment of innovation and collaboration. By doing this, we are able to become more productive, adjust more quickly to changes in economic situations and opportunities, and also create a culture of empowerment and workforce fulfilment. But it is not only Cisco and companies in the IT industry that can benefit from taking this approach. All major Australian industry sectors, healthcare, education and even into the not-for profit environments such as charities and indigenous affairs are in a position to change the way they operate by collaborating more effectively.

Collaboration enables organisations to think faster and to work more effectively, but only if they understand how to use the information tools now available to them across a range of information networks. This will allow them to drive innovation and collaboration between people which, before the rise of the internet, was simply not possible. If people can use the tools made available to them via networked communications, decisions can be made more effectively, resources can allocated more efficiently, innovative new ways of doing business can be created, services can be improved without the need for driving up costs, and standards of living can be raised.

To achieve these goals, we need a clear understanding of the challenges our economy and society face and an even clearer understanding of how we can use the network to solve them. That, perhaps, is our biggest challenge if we are to think fast.

- Les Williamson, Vice President, Cisco Australia and NewZealand

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