Tom Alberg, co-founder and managing director of Madrona Venture Group in Seattle, writes that innovation is at the heart of wealth creation. Innovation is at the heart of job creation. Innovation is at the heart of building better lives for everyone. And innovation can be increased by conscious support.
Category: Perspectives
Innovators from the University of Washington and beyond share their perspectives on innovation and how we can harness it to create inclusive solutions that benefit individuals, communities and humanity.
Is good design a result of science, or an evolution of ideas?
Axel Roesler, associate professor and chair of the Interactive Design Program at the UW, writes that any innovation has to fit into people’s daily routines and lives. The human element is the measure of all things innovative.
Emotional intelligence or math and science: Which is essential to innovation?
Dan Kranzler, founder of the Kirlin Charitable Foundation, explores whether innovation can be nurtured or taught.
Exploring the Seattle tech universe
The Seattle region’s technology landscape was in the spotlight in Davos, Switzerland, where top corporate executives and global leaders were gathered for the World Economic Forum. Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, cited the UW in an example of the connection between leading universities and innovation ecosystems.
Is technology crucial for innovation?
Technology is crucial for innovation — and innovation in technology is critical to innovation in just about every other arena. Why? Ed Lazowska, the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering, believes the forward march of technology allows us to do more with less, improving our lives in the process.
Why every innovation can’t be the next iPhone
Is “innovation” an unquestionable good? Some innovation is clearly better than other innovation — and not all innovations are created equal. We should measure innovation by its ability to improve people’s lives, says UW Information School professor Jacob Wobbrock. And even though an innovation may only improve one person’s life or the lives of millions, a life-improving innovation is better than an idle innovation that gathers dust.
Can we predict the innovative needs of the future?
There are some questions that are really interesting, challenging and stimulating — but also unanswerable. And when we ask whether we can predict the innovative needs of the future, the response is both “yes” and “no.” Here’s the “yes” answer, writes Ronald Howell, chief executive officer at the Washington Research Foundation/WRF Capital.
Universities and the alchemy of innovation
In the modern era, universities have taken on the role of innovative “sandbox,” fostering an explosion of research and discovery at a scale never seen before in human history, according to an article by Margaret O’Mara, associate professor of history at the UW.
A new innovation model for the 21st century
American universities are more able now than ever before to compete with technology start-ups. Specifically, on innovation leadership. That’s the premise of a commentary in Real Clear Education written by the UW’s David Baker, Tom Daniel, Ed Lazowska and Dan Schwartz.
Making disruption a force for good
President Ana Mari Cauce, writing in the March 2016 edition of Columns, said the UW’s commitment to the public good aligns with its ranking as the most innovative public university in the world.