Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Searching for the genius inventor

Is the genius inventor dead?

Innovation is moving swiftly across corporate and national borders, in a burst of enthusiasm for collaborative models of bringing new products and services to market. But a panel of innovators at the MIT Emerging Technologies Conference couldn't agree today on whether the individual still matters.

Padmasree Warrior, chief technology officer at Motorola, said her experience running its giant research organization has convinced her that working successfully in teams is the key to harnessing new technologies. "I believe all innovation is the result of the genius of collaboration," she said.

But several members of her panel challenged Warrior on the primacy of collaboration, contending the role of the individual hasn't diminished.

"At the core of the process is an individual who is the key to innovation," argued Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, an MIT institute professor.

Agreeing that teamwork is overrated was Jay Walker, founder and chairman of Walker Digital. "A camel is a horse designed by committee," he quipped, though he allowed that teams have an important role to play in supporting innovation.

Some panelists suggested innovation can be instilled in a culture, with Sharp asserting it's "in the drinking water at MIT."

Instant messaging inventor Yair Goldfinger, co-founder and chief technology officer of Dotomi in Boston, cited the culture of his native Israel. "They teach you from day one how to improvise," he said.

Other cultures discourage innovation, suggested telecommunications innovator Iqbar Quadir, founder of Grameen Phone. "The reason developing countries don't develop is there is a lot of opposition to new innovation," he lamented. "There has to be creative ways to overcome the problems that exist there."

The panelist also clashed over how strongly governments should seek to enforce patents. While Goldfinger said patents can inhibit innovation in the technology field, Sharp counted that they are vital to the field of biotechnology.

"Unless there's intellectual property that's strong, the (biotechnology) field can't exist," Sharp maintained.
(By Robert Weisman, Globe staff)

Posted by at 12:01 PM

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