2013 cambridge thoughts from the trenches innovation & competitiveness rohit shukla, ceo larta institute & larta inc.california

Thoughts from the Trenches: Innovation & Competitiveness

Rohit Shukla, CEOLarta Institute & Larta Inc.

California

connecting people to drive innovation

How to of innovation, technology & entrepreneurship

A World Bank ForumCambridge, UK, June 22 2013

© 2013 Larta Institute. All Rights Reserved

About Larta


Innovation Programs Management

Building Local

Capacity

We work with national/regional entities, and multilateral orgs to promote innovation through commercialization

Documentation & Evaluation

• Real-time tracking of companies’ performance − During and After program participation − Tracking intervals over 18 months after the

program− Online portal: efficiency, transparency

• Local mentor groups• Local Industry Advisory Boards• Participating companies in programs• Enduring connection to (use of) Larta network in

US

Tools

MetricsAt the Company Level

• Quantitative: Investment funds raised, grant/loans received, new jobs created, partnerships, patents, new products, product sales, financial indicators, etc.

• Qualitative: Success Stories

MetricsAt the Agency Level

Larta Program Success Metrics*results since 2005 alone…

Results DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED

by Larta alumni companies to their participation in a

Larta Commercialization Assistance Program

129

$550

23

650

R&D grants – non dilutive ($65.5m in aggregate)

Million Raised

Strategic introductions (per year)

Acquisitions* Data verified and utilized by the federal agencies to validate their Larta-contracted programs and to

attract new participants

Success

Metrics


Global Partnerships

Malaysia• Ministry of S&T

and Innovation• Biotechcorp• Prime Minister

Brazil• EMBRAPA• FINEP, FAPEMIG,

FAPESP

Japan• METI, NEDO • Bi-lateral council on

innovation and entrepreneurship

• University TT: Osaka, Tohoku, Kyoto

• AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial S&T)

Canada• Ontario Agri-Food

Technologies (OAFT)• Ontario Centers of

Excellence• Canadian foreign office

network• Conference Board of

Canada

Netherlands• Ministry of

Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation

South Africa• The Innovation

Agency of South Africa

Romania• GEA Strategy &

Consulting, CRIDL• Romania America

Foundation

Global Partnersh

ips

New Zealand• NZT&E

Current Partnerships

Newly Established Partnerships


A New Perspective on STI

• Conventionally: STI usually stands for “science, technology, and innovation.”

• It should stand for “Solve, Transform, and Impact.”

(Prof. R.A. Mashelkar)


STI Capacity Building

• “STI capacity building is about building the technical, vocational, engineering, entrepreneurial, managerial, and scientific capacity to solve each country’s pressing social and economic problems, transform their societies, and have a positive impact on the standards of living and quality of life.” (Watkins & Ehst, World Bank, Science, Technology & Innovation, 2008)

• An indispensable tool for promoting sustainable, inclusive globalization.

Some principles

• Rallying cry – STI is driving force of economies- Employment, revenue, wealth-creation- Food chain: finding your optimum place (not “top down”)- Asset-mapping: “What do we have?” “What can we

build?”

• Innovation – Original or applied?- Too often: emphasis on original (the “wow” factor)- First, see how it serves the home market (regional, local)

- Does it solve (a) problem(s): local, regional, global?- Does it integrate with current solutions?

Things to understand

• Entrepreneurship is a global imperative

- Creating opportunities, liberating opportunism, upgrading capacity

- Exploiting your local/regional asset base- Entrepreneurs are, of necessity, not parochial

• Knowledge flows, between economies, between regions, between researchers, between entrepreneurs

- A vital factor in the upgrading of capacity, accelerating economic value, diminishing the impact of isolation

- Allows for all countries to engage globally• Examples: IT sector in Egypt, outsourcing industry in West

Africa (Ghana), West Indies (Jamaica), localization services (Uruguay)

Issues to confront.. And avoid

• Rush to innovation- Countries focused on the “brass ring”- “Me too” phenomenon of international economic

development- The “cluster craze” makes for overreach and envy

• Inability to achieve scale and critical mass- Narrow niches are limited in scope and limit

capacity-building- In a highly-interconnected world, where inputs are highly co-

dependent, can there be unique “national competitive advantage?”

• Lack of exposure and commercialization “immersion”- Entrepreneurs, even “natural” home-grown ones,

suffer from being disconnected from larger marketplace, ecosystem

- Developing the ecosystem itself takes time, champions

So what do regions/countries do?

• Understand your place in the “food chain”- Original innovation is hard to come by, not

effective to base policy entirely on its promise- Focus on adapted innovation that first solves

local problems, issues, markets- Develop competitive intelligence,

understanding of the state of the world in relation to specific areas of competence


Innovation and competitiveness

Develop your ability to understand (national) capabilities in science, technology, creativity, to project:• production capacity• sustainability of opportunities (enterprises and

employment)• high attainment of research ability• adaptive use of innovations developed elsewhere

Focus on productivity, knowledge, adaptability

• It is more useful to focus on “productivity” The production and dissemination of knowledge

may lead to greater outputs “Creative” societies may become more

competitive• Adaptability, right-brain/left-brain learning• Creative output enables stronger “narratives”• Non-linear pursuits project ability to process

complexity, dynamic signals


In an interconnected world…

• Within economic blocs, especially: Need to gauge technological and knowledge capabilities to create

innovative enterprises, workers, and public services Primary, secondary market considerations: higher value-added goods

and services relevant to global demand “Lifelong learning”: mobile platforms, online practices, “open

learning” tools, commercialization of innovation Mobility of people (across the “food and value chain”) is a measure of

readiness to compete in a dynamic (i.e. ever-changing) environment

• Policy concerns around commercialization: across the chain Developing capabilities, capacity, market adaptability for emerging and

established companies (SMEs, others) Is “high growth” the central concern for innovation management?


From Larta-20 years and counting: Lessons Learned

• The success of innovation programs is highly dependent on establishing deep and broad “networks of trust”, globally. This includes both informal and formal networks that take years to develop.

• Sharing information and knowledge enhances efforts toward cultivating innovation and competitiveness: Collaborative structures need to be convened

• Inter-ministry, stakeholders – citizens, associations of entrepreneurs, researchers, large company managers and successful people from Diaspora and locally.

• Feedback loops (continuing feedback from market and policy sources) is critical to innovation programs – and competitiveness Engagement with global market intelligence (what is value-added activity?

What are our competitive strengths? What should we NOT do?).


In conclusion

• A competitiveness strategy stars with a competitive analysis Do so only after you understand what you are up against

• Who are you “competing” with (profile, position, principle)? Do so only after you know that the indices you are looking to enhance

matter to your positioning as a country• Is there a compelling (national) interest and/or critical mass and/or

consistent capability?

• Institute knowledge production as a key contributor to national output

• Know that innovation capacity is key to retention, sustainability and competitiveness: Skilled people, growing enterprises, good opportunities Mobility enables adaptability but can also enable migration!

• And finally….

This is a slippery, body contact sport!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

-- Mark Twain

Notable Quotable


Thank You

Rohit K. ShuklaFounder & CEOLarta Institutewww.larta.org

[email protected]

http://www.larta.org/

mailto:[email protected]