WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO BUSINESS TRAVEL

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO BUSINESS TRAVEL 

 

In today's world, the efficient use of time is our greatest challenge - our lives are finite and our communities and economies demand productivity despite constantly changing environments. Business aviation, in the form of private aircraft, offers tangible and intangible benefits that enhance the quality and efficiency of both our personal lives and businesses, in essence providing a fundamental and important capability to optimise the use of time and provide maximum travel flexibility.

The challenge faced by the industry is to expand the benefits offered by business aviation to the growing global and regional business communities in an affordable manner, while providing greater operational safety and flexibility through the use of rapidly changing technologies.

I see innovation as a process of change embodying added value to an existing solution, product or service in a cost effective and sellable way. In Australia, and other geographically remote markets, we have been successful in breaking traditional boundaries toward change and growing the business aviation industry in quantum leaps.

We have embraced the qualities of local resources and armed them with our global operations economies of scale, tailoring local solutions to ensure sustainable growth which has paid the dividends to allow further re-investment into our business.

Alastair Creighton-Jones, managing director,
ExecuJet Australia

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO ICT INDUSTRY

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO ICT INDUSTRY 

 

The recent Business Council of Australia report entitled "New Concepts in Innovation" made the point that innovation has many contexts beyond those typically attributed to activities in the fields of R&D and science. Innovation can happen every day in any organisation, if people are enabled and encouraged to innovate.

We are living in a fast changing world, where human capital and knowledge are the currency of future growth and economic prospects. Over the past twenty years the value created by people, their knowledge, relationships and the processes they create form a very large part (often more than 50 per cent) of market capitalisation.

This broader context of innovation is becoming imperative for any successful private or public sector organisation. We are looking at an increasingly constrained and ageing workforce, meaning workplaces will require a greater contribution from the people they employ. Organisations must start working smarter together, allowing their people to contribute more fully to the organisation's overall purpose with their own ideas and innovations.

Information and communications technology provides us with the ability to empower our people to do just that, through offering better tools to communicate, collaborate and innovate in the workplace. Of course the gains in productivity resulting from technology are well documented and provide an environment the "tech savvy" millennium generation will expect as they enter the workforce.

Successful business leaders in the new "knowledge economy" workplace will pull together people, tools and technology to create an environment where individuals are enabled and
encouraged to innovate, anywhere anytime.

Steve Vamos, vice president,
Microsoft Australia and New Zealand

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO LOGISTICS

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO LOGISTICS 

 

In any industry, superior quality comes from having world-class infrastructure supporting exceptional people to deliver best in-class products and services. At DHL, we continually invest in technology and people to identify and deliver innovative services and processes.

Innovation is a key platform of our business strategy as a competitive edge can be achieved through innovation that enables faster delivery, more visibility and consolidated supply chains.

To support this business strategy, we are currently developing an innovation centre to be based in Bonn, Germany. A key focus of the centre is research and development. The centre will enable us to test RFID (radio frequency identification) technology, geodata technology for optimising travel routes and networks, as well as logistics-related GPS (global positioning system) applications. The innovation centre will be used as a platform for timely information and exchanges regarding technological innovations throughout the DHL network.

Logistics is one of the drivers of global change through its facilitation of access to markets by increasing the efficiency of goods and information flows. As a trade facilitator, we maintain a keen openness to new ideas and technologies that retain and strengthen our position as the world's leading express and logistics company.

Gary Edstein, senior vice president,
Oceania, DHL Express

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO TECHNOLOGY

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO TECHNOLOGY 

 

Worldwide there is a growing recognition that while reducing costs and improving reliability, functionality and quality can ensure survival, they are no longer differentiators that ensure growth. Customers now want benefits that go well beyond economic criteria to include customised solutions, social, ethical and environmental considerations. As a result, innovation through creativity and attracting and retaining creative people has become one of the key avenues to achieving differentiation and a competitive advantage.

We see ourselves as an agent of change, a company that welcomes and nurtures good ideas. Some of our best innovations have come from continuously asking ourselves the very simple question: "How can we do it better?" It has given our company its own unique culture and outlook.

As one example of this, a viewing of a news video showing IT refuse from Western societies being dumped in Chinese landfill led us on a journey to look for a local sustainable solution. Today, at Ricoh Australia we can now recycle over 95 per cent of our copiers, dramatically minimising our impact on landfill and the environment.

Ricoh devices incorporate software customised for clients that has expanded multifunction printer functions considerably. We now offer "communication portals" whereby information can be distributed on many platforms, converting hard copy to electronic documents. In combination with changed office practices, they are creating business efficiency while encouraging continuous improvement and innovation by helping organisations to share information and ideas.

Nigel Shepherd, managing director,
Ricoh Australia

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO WATER RESOURCES

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO WATER RESOURCES 

 

We live on the driest inhabited continent in the world, rainfall is extremely variable and droughts are a common occurrence. Add to this Australia's environmental responsibilities and improving the management of our water resources becomes one of the greatest conservation challenges that we face. This means that finding innovative solutions to managing water resources is probably one of, if not the most, pressing issue facing every one of us, at an individual and an organisational or governmental level.

Many of our greatest challenges in water management are unique to Australia. For example knowing, and managing for, the ecological needs for Australian rivers requires unique Australian science. Overseas scientists are unlikely to tackle these issues for us. Unique-to-Australia problems will therefore require unique-to-Australia science and innovation. Fortunately, the Australian water sector is rich in research and innovation. In my time as chair of the commission I have been struck by the creativity and preparedness to experiment of the entire Australian water sector.

As with most challenges, water reform requires constructive collaboration at all levels of government and across the community. The National Water Commission is responsible for helping to drive national water reform and advises the Prime Minister and State and Territory governments on water issues.

The Commission is also responsible for implementing two programs of the Australian Government Water Fund - the Water Smart Australia and Raising National Water Standards programs. The fund is a $2 billion program to invest in water infrastructure, improved water management, and better practices in the stewardship of Australia's scarce water resources. It will support innovative water projects that will improve Australia's water efficiency and environmental outcomes.

Ken Matthews, chairman and chief executive officer,
National Water Commission

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