01.02.2010
NGC Blog
We are month into a new year, full of new terminologies, new strategies and new thinking. What will be disruptive this year? What will be the next innovative idea or visionary product that will change our lives in 2010? If you haven’t noticed, there are three, perhaps four, overused buzzwords in this first paragraph alone.
Have you seen the IBM commercial with Innovation Man? If you haven’t, look out for it, because it is fantastic. The main protagonist in the spot is dressed up like a superhero and all he talks about is innovation (a big buzzword for 2009). At the end of the commercial, he asks an employee in drill sergeant fashion what innovation means, and the worker exclaims, “I don’t know.”
Stop talking and start doing – the commercial concludes. It really sums up where we are at right now in business.
The secret to success in 2010 is collaboration. Building relationships and working together is critical to increased profit margins and market share. If you are one of the millions right now exclaiming, “I don’t know” when it comes to innovation, take a look around you and see where you can plug in with someone else and solve the problem together.
Don’t be a waffle! Waffles are square and have little boxes throughout the favorite breakfast treat. Don’t live in your little squares trying to fix each individual problem. Thinking like a spaghetti noodle will be more beneficial. One individual spaghetti noodle touches so much on the plate. It works with all the other noodles to make a complete and balanced meal. Some noodles are shorter and some are longer, but as a whole – as a team – they make a delicious treat at dinner time. Don’t forget the sauce.
The point today is to use buzzwords to your advantage and to work as a team. Although waffles are delicious, spaghetti is much healthier to your success in 2010.
23.12.2009
NGC Blog
What does it mean to be innovative?
Innovation is everywhere – at least that’s what people say all the time. It just might be the most overused term in executive circles today. Shoot, we even chose to use it in naming this blog. Is that innovative? Dunno?
What the Innovation Exchange has noticed over the years is that not everyone shares in the same definition of innovation. So, we talked with several leaders in various industries throughout the Triangle and country to help define innovation.
As you’ll see below, the responses are, well, innovative. And, we would love to see what you think.
“To be innovative, an entrepreneur needs not only to have a good idea, but also to come up with a solution to someone else’s problem. Innovation ultimately needs to have some kind of application in the marketplace, presumably to make a product or service faster, cheaper, or more readily accessible, so it will attract customers and – ideally! – revenue. Innovation starts by asking ‘how could this be better?’ followed by ‘what will it take to get there?’”
Joan Seifert Rose
President and CEO
Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)
http://www.cednc.org/
“To me, innovation is a marriage of the art and science of creation. As such, it can be equally gorgeous, murky, experimental, and challenging. And, like any marriage, the trick is to find the way to sustain and grow it successfully! Whether through discovery, convergence, translation, or application in a new context, innovation is the engine we’ll build the 21st century around – which means a lot of change for all of us.”
Karl Rectanus
Leader, North Carolina STEM Community Collaborative
http://www.ncstem.org (Web site launching soon)
“Innovation can be seen as new applications for existing products or services or bringing new people into the fold to use existing products or services. In my view it is important to see all three aspects of innovation: people, product (service), and use.”
Ron Jebaily
Partner, Jebaily Law Firm
http://www.jebailylaw.com/
“True innovation is still invention. It’s still great minds creating things that can lead to commercial success or improve the human condition. What is different about invention today is that due to the advances in information and communications technology, great minds can connect and collaborate in real time. Invention, as a result, proceeds at a faster pace. More importantly, the time to mass distribution or mass adoption of invention has greatly compressed.”
Joe Freddoso
President and CEO MCNC
http://www.mcnc.org
“Innovation is the convergence of visionary thinking, planning, and hard work. Tossing conventional rules aside, being bold and unafraid of venturing into unchartered waters, and yet being humble enough to respect technology and all its ever-evolving beauty, that is a true innovator.”
Rita Cosby
Emmy-Award Winning Journalist/Best-Selling Author
http://www.ritacosby.com/
“Innovation is the creative approach to a problem or task, unencumbered by conventional thinking or traditional barriers.”
Brooks Raiford
President and CEO
North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA)
http://www.nctechnology.org
“In my mind, a valuable form of innovation is conceptualizing something familiar in a new way. As an illustration, for decades I have taken showers in bathtubs constrained by shower curtains whose straight rods created a narrow space. Now this space is more expansive because an innovator thought ‘outside the box’ to develop a curved shower rod.”
Dr. Chris Dede
Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard University
“Innovation means doing something differently, incremental, radical or revolutionary. With that, innovation is envisioning something new in one’s mind that doesn’t exist. Taking this vision to reality while some kick you in the teeth is one of the hardest things to do in a lifetime. Those that are hugely successful at pulling it off are labeled innovators. But, innovators are everyone that has an idea, and despite all odds, create something new – either products, goods, or services.”
Billy Glynn
Founder of Collective IQ
Author of Left Turn on Red and ranked one of the world’s top innovators by Information Week magazine
http://www.billyg.net/
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Innovation is everywhere. Keep checking back for more….
23.12.2009
NGC Blog
It took a year to do it – less time than expected – but MCNC announced this week the completion of the N.C. School Connectivity Initiative through which all 115 K-12 school districts have become connected to the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). They will be hosting a noon celebration in honor of this achievement on May 7 at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh.
The changing needs of students today demand that we offer technologically-advanced options for today’s classrooms. Next month’s celebrated completion of the N.C. School Connectivity Initiative is a major step in ensuring that every teacher and student has broadband access, no matter where they live, no matter how large or small the school district.
MCNC, an RTP-based non-profit, is planning a big celebration honoring the completion of the N.C. School Connectivity Initiative on Thursday, May 7, at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh. The celebration will focus on recognizing the leadership of Governor Bev Perdue, the North Carolina General Assembly and the University of North Carolina system, who were the driving forces behind funding for the School Connectivity Initiative.
“The N.C. School Connectivity Initiative provides local school districts with the connectivity and access to technologies that help prepare today’s students for the careers of tomorrow,” said Joe Freddoso, President and CEO of MCNC. “The fast implementation of the School Connectivity Initiative was achieved through a collaboration among the Department of Public Instruction, eNC, North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, the Friday Institute , private sector service providers including ATT, TimeWarner Cable, Embarq, Verizon, DukeNet and MCNC.”
NCREN is a statewide IP data and video network that provides high-speed connectivity, distance learning capability and is one of the nation’s first statewide education and research networks. It provides broadband communications technology services and support to K-12 school districts, higher education campuses and academic research institutions across North Carolina.
MCNC offers the NCREN network, technology tools and services to guarantee equal access to 21st century learning by providing a future-proof technology network that is the foundation for change and innovation in our educational systems. It creates possibility and an equitable educational experience throughout the state.
MCNC continues to increase the scope and reach of NCREN.
The NCREN user-community now includes:
- 17 Institutions of the UNC System and General Administration
- 24 of the 36 North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities
- All 115 Public K-12 School Districts in the state
- 7 of the largest North Carolina Community Colleges
- Research Institutions and Foundations
The N.C. School Connectivity Initiative is the result of North Carolina leaders’ desire for 21st century classrooms and development of a North Carolina workforce prepared to succeed in a global economy. It seeks to expand the number of schools with broadband Internet access; further develop communication networks for rural and underperforming schools; and develop a scalable model to maintain and enhance network services to all schools in North Carolina.
This initiative entered the implementation phase in spring 2008 and initially was established through N.C. Senate Bill 1741 by the General Assembly. Now, with all K-12 schools in the state connected to NCREN, results include increased collaboration between all K-20 education entities in the state.
Dr. Bill Harrison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Board of Education, will be the keynote speaker at the event. He was appointed to the by Gov. Perdue to fill an At-Large position. A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Harrison has served N.C. public schools in a variety of ways throughout his career. ”The School Connectivity initiative is critical to creating the kind of classrooms and learning environments that provide educators and students the content and the tools needed to truly make our students competitive in today’s global economy and interconnected world,” said Harrison.
The public is welcome to attend.
