Education, Talent and Experimental Mindsets to Fuel ‘Innovation Nations’ of Tomorrow
An analysis of Fortune 500 companies over the past decade says it all – the companies that failed to adapt to perpetual change and disruption were the ones left behind.
“I would argue that the most successful companies in the world are those that are investing the most in innovation,” observed Betsy Ziegler, Chief Executive Officer, 1871, USA. “There is lots of evidence to suggest that companies should be investing more and working more quickly, embracing the rate of change and level of ambiguity and complexity that we are all experiencing.”
Addressing business and political leaders at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, Ziegler explained that of the companies on the Fortune 500 list, half of them have turned over since 2000, while the average duration on the list is 15 years – versus 60 years just a decade ago.
The meeting, which carries the theme “Shaping Innovative Societies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, has generated buzz and speculation about the essential elements required for creating the innovative societies of the future. The consensus is that adaptive education, investment in R&D and nurturing talent pools of up-and-coming entrepreneurs are among the essential elements.
“At least 26 universities across China have established AI institutes to train AI talent and this is necessary, but far from enough,” noted Gong Ke, Executive President, Nankai University, People’s Republic of China. China’s vision of creating its own version of Silicon Valley through its Bay Area plan, an initiative that spans from tech hubs on mainland China to Hong Kong and Macao, he argued, will only be achieved with more investment in education.
Preparing for the future we will inherit, one where millions of jobs will be disrupted by new technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and cashier-less retail outlets, will require significant shifts in the education and research space, agreed Ziegler. “Education is farthest behind…Classrooms look exactly like they did 100 years ago.”
Among the transformations taking place, envision leaders in China, will be an evolving geo-innovation landscape. “If you want to create an app you can do it from any city,” remarked Chen Zhang, Chief Technology Officer, JD.COM, People’s Republic of China, “In the US they have small tech hubs. China’s Silicon Valley will be in cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangdong. Other cities are rising because the threshold is getting lower.”
Emphasizing that fostering innovation environments “takes a village” from nurturing talent pools, adapting educational institutes and developing a supporting policy framework, business and academic leaders agreed there has to be room for innovative mind-sets, the space to experiment, and fail, before future gains can be achieved.
“If you are an entrepreneur you measure the success of your day on how many times you have failed before lunch or dinner. You are always trying new things, testing things and you are going to lose more often than you are going to win, until you figure it out,” said Abbosh.
The best companies are always looking to stay ahead of the curve through investing heavily in innovation.
“Look at Amazon for example,” explained Abbosh, “They run 1,000 experiments a year and they have an agreement with their investors that allows them to spend at a certain rate and it is just incredible. It means they are constantly innovating and finding new markets.”
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released its Annual Report for 2018 today. The report presents ADB’s important operational and organizational milestones over the past year, including key numbers and data of ADB operations, activities, and financial results.
It also focuses on the adoption of ADB’s new long-term corporate strategy, Strategy 2030, approved in July 2018, and highlights the strategic transition in progress across all aspects of ADB’s operations and organization.
The demand for ADB assistance continued to grow in 2018. New commitments included $21.6 billion in loans, grants, and investments from ADB’s own resources, exceeding the target of $19.71 billion and up 10% from 2017.
Private sector operations reached $3.14 billion, a 37% increase from 2017, which is 14.5% of ADB’s overall commitment. The result reflected ADB’s long-term strategy to increase support for private enterprise, especially in new markets and sectors, to create more high-quality jobs and to mobilize private financial resource for development.
ADB also successfully mobilized $14 billion in cofinancing from bilateral and multilateral agencies and other financing partners, including $7.17 billion in cofinancing from ADB’s private sector operations. The increase in cofinancing saw total new commitments reach $35.82 billion in 2018, a 13% increase over 2017, reflecting the importance of partnerships in addressing Asia and the Pacific’s continuously growing development needs.
Disbursements, a key indicator for successful project implementation, also improved, rising to $14.19 billion in 2018, an increase of 24% from 2017.
In his message to stakeholders in the report, ADB President Mr. Takehiko Nakao said that Strategy 2030 had energized ADB and positioned the Manila-based lender well to help countries in Asia and the Pacific cope with the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
“As our region continues to develop and transform, so too must ADB,” said Mr. Nakao. “Strategy 2030 provides us with a clear roadmap to meet the needs of our developing member countries (DMCs) and guide our operations for the next decade. We set out clear corporate targets to significantly increase operations, to build climate and disaster resilience, address gender equality, and mobilize long-term private financing.”
ADB continued to deliver on its climate commitments in 2018 with $3.6 billion in financing approved. ADB is on target to double its annual climate financing to $6 billion in approvals by 2020.
ADB also made significant progress in designing projects with a gender focus. In 2018, 47% of ADB’s support, on a three-year-average term, included elements that directly improved the lives of women and girls in the region.
The report also records ADB’s successful efforts to strengthen its role as a leading provider of development knowledge and expertise to DMCs seeking support to implement policies, programs, and projects that utilize international best practices and learnings.
Internally, ADB continued to implement initiatives to improve operational efficiency and business processes. The report describes key areas of reform that support Strategy 2030, including information technology reforms to modernize ADB’s systems and infrastructure.
In 2018, to complement its print and online editions, ADB produced a new format of the Annual Report that is optimized for smart devices and screens. The new format includes rich multimedia content and enables standard touchscreen features such as swipe, tap, and scroll.
The Cotonou Agreement currently governing ACP-EU relations is due to expire in 2020. Negotiations on a new ACP-EU partnership were launched in New York on 28 September 2018 in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.
The two first series of talks mainly focused on the common foundation at ACP-EU level. This contains the values and principles that bring the EU and ACP countries together. It also indicates the strategic priority areas that the two sides intend to prospectively work on together. In the future agreement, on top of the foundation there will be three action-oriented regional pillars to focus on each region’s specific needs. Through the future partnership, EU and ACP countries will seek closer political cooperation on the world stage. Together, they represent more than half of all UN member countries and unite over 1.5 billion people.