Key point: NZ needs to do better at innovation going forward. How can NZ businesses become better at this?

Innovation means lots of different things. See wikipedia for a list of types of innovation. Two drivers of the top 10 focus on the end user (quality, environmental impact), and the rest are company focused (but that balance is good).

Various vectors of innovation – build vs buy, short vs long cycle, large vs small scale, customer-driven vs technology-driven, current vs new leaders, and others.

Big changes take time and effort. Some changes require lots of tenacity. Have to be willing to invest and stick it out.

For Microsoft … How do they drive innovation? Live Labs, and Microsoft Research are key things. Recently, have focused the R and D into 6 key innovation quests. Eg, rewiring the economy, the connected information worker ecosystem.

Key Learnings There are many vectors for innovation. Having one person responsible for innovation doesn’t work. Think about “why”, and then focus. Success requires innovation AND tenacity. There are no shortage of ideas, the rest is hard.