Page 7 - Technology and Innovation Journal - 19-1

Technology and Innovation, Vol. 19, pp. 345-348, 2017 ISSN 1949-8241 • E-ISSN 1949-825X
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.21300/19.1.2017.345
Copyright © 2017 National Academy of Inventors. www.technologyandinnovation.org

FOSTERING INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Rathindra DasGupta

Manitowoc, WI, USA

To many, innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) products and/or processes to the market, since such
are two closely related words; however, they do not “time gaps” can be long and expensive.
mean the same thing. Too often, they are used inter- The responsibility to drive economic growth
changeably with little to no knowledge of the key through creation and implementation of new ideas
difference between the two. that generate “value” for public use falls not just on
Innovation involves “the design, invention, devel- corporations but also on universities. Consequently,
opment and/or implementation of new or altered in recent years, many universities have played an
products, services, processes, systems, organizational important role in helping drive the impact of inno-
structures, or business models for the purpose of cre- vation by offering faculty and students an innovation
ating new value for customers and financial returns ecosystem that nurtures I&E. Examples include the
for the firm” (1). On the other hand, entrepreneurship University of Michigan (http://cfe.umich.edu/),
is the process of designing, launching, and running a Stanford University (https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/
new business (2). That is, “[t]he entrepreneur chooses/ faculty-research/centers-initiatives/ces), the Uni-
develops a business model, acquires the human and versity of Maryland (http://innovation.umd.edu/),
other required resources, and is fully responsible for and many others.
its success or failure” (2). Simply stated, entrepreneurs An approach frequently employed to allow for
use their creativity to bring ideas and/or concepts to innovation to thrive is design thinking, a multi-step
life by building businesses and taking risks. (iterative) process that allows for bringing ideas to
Innovation is critical to the success of any busi- life (4). In recent years, Lean Startup methodology
ness. For a business to accelerate innovation, thereby (LSM) has grown in popularity as a tool employed
stimulating the economy, it must have an “innovation for sustaining and disruptive innovation (5). LSM,
strategy” as well as a culture for innovation. Fostering first proposed in 2008 by Eric Ries, was initially
such a culture requires an organization to emphasize focused on high-tech start-up companies; however,
team building, brainstorming and sharing ideas, and the methodology is now being applied to any indi-
empowering its people to be creative and to have vidual, team, or company looking to introduce new
fun. Creating an environment for innovation, how- products or services into the market (6). LSM has
ever, also requires an understanding of the “Valley of played an important role in creating and introducing
Death” (3): the time gap between the initial scientific new initiatives and programs. One such program is
discovery and the development and introduction of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation
_____________________
Accepted April 15, 2017.
Address correspondence to Rathindra DasGupta, 1030 S. 39 St., Apt. D, Manitowoc, WI 54220, USA. Tel: +1 (703) 307-3652;
th
E-mail: babu.dasgupta@gmail.com

345