"Successful innovation in an uncertain world": Recognising and exploiting opportunities

Industrial Symposium: 20th and 21st September 2007, Downing College, Cambridge, UK

Download the proceedings [3.8Mb Acrobat.PDF]
NOTE: a printed and bound version is available from the Centre for Technology Management, Institute for Manufacturing for £25 plus postage and packing. Email: ctm-enquirieseng.cam.ac.uk for details.

Background to the Symposium

Organised by the University of Cambridge Centre for Technology Management, this annual two day Symposium, now in its thirteenth year, is a firm fixture for those at the forefront of new ideas and practical application in the field. Aimed principally at an audience of senior technology and innovation managers from companies of all sizes, it draws on leading practice and research to address the current key issues in an international context.

This year's theme: Successful innovation in an uncertain world Sources of uncertainty in the contemporary business world abound - climate change, resource constraints, demographic shifts, political instability, disruptive technologies - to name but a few.

In face of this, businesses strive to identify new opportunities for growth based on innovation in technology and business models. Convergence of technology (info, nano, bio) throws up new possibilities, not previously explored. Migration to service rather than product based business models offers many companies the scope to extend their activities profitably. The very conditions that create uncertainly also give rise to the impulse and opportunity to innovate.

The key questions are where do the opportunities lie and how might companies best take advantage of them in this uncertain environment? Collaboration with previous competitors or transition into whole new areas of emerging technology may be necessary.

The Symposium will explore these issues from the perspective of managers in large and small firms. This will include provocative examples from practice and recent research, along with guidance on how to implement new approaches. It will also consider how governments might positively influence the conditions that create opportunities for innovation.