It seems fair to say that the predominant subject of conversation over the last two years has been the recession. The mood has understandably been fairly negative, not just in Canada but around the globe. Media are full of stories of businesses downsizing or shutting down, jobs being lost, financial markets fluctuating in unprecedented ways and now, most concerning of all, entire countries on the brink of bankruptcy. Without downplaying these negative effects, how about injecting some positivity into the mix? As history has proven so many times, recession doesn’t always have to be all doom and gloom.
Do you know what the following companies have in common: General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, CNN, MTV? They were all born during recessions. Even Apple’s i-Pod emerged from the dot.com recession. So what are these companies doing right? They know 3 things:
- Innovation is key to remaining competitive. During recessions, most companies cut back on R&D and marketing spending. To retain a competitive edge, don’t do what everybody else is doing. Stand out!
- Being proactive is the winning formula. They have put the “I” back into Innovation by asking themselves how they can make a difference and contribute to economic prosperity. Lead the market, don’t react to it. Throw the adage “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” out of the window.
- Collaboration is key. Business leaders and those they need to collaborate with, more often than not, have the same agenda and ambitions. Yet somehow they speak different languages. This “Tower of Babel” needs to disappear if we are to move forward.
Following the above logic, the OES has turned its attention to business-university partnerships. Perhaps you are thinking:
- What is the value of such partnerships? How can applied research be transferred successfully to the private sector?
- Our company has experience partnering with universities and I’d like to share some of my ideas to improve the situation.
- How can I establish a research partnership? I heard it can be a tremendously complicated process. Where do I go for information?
- How can we all make the current environment even better for both businesses and universities?
If you want answers and wish to share some of your experiences, join us in Sudbury, London or Vaughan for our “Connect to Innovate” workshops.
Send us your thoughts before the first workshop on May 26th! Take our Innovation Poll.
Picture by: theonlyone
