Category: Innovation

Gold, e-waste, and a dependence on physical innovation…

Posted on by The Information Badger in e-waste, Information Technology, Innovation, Smart & New Technology, Technology

There’s a large Acer tree in the Badger’s garden with masses of delicate leaves which rustle sweetly when there’s a hint of breeze. In the Summer it’s a great place to sit in the shade under its branches with a cold beer. In the UK’s heatwave that’s exactly what the Badger did to escape the sun’s rays, read, track online interests, and cogitate about life. He’s probably drunk more cold beer than prudent but chilling out in this way allows the mind to be stimulated by something you read, at least that’s the case with the Badger. You can predict neither the trigger in advance, nor how your thoughts will develop to a conclusion once they’re triggered. So, what caught the Badger’s eye and triggered the stream of thought that prompted the writing of this post? It was reading that an interdisciplinary team of scientists has found a new and sustainable way to recover gold from e-waste (see here and here). 

The Badger’s interest was piqued because of his metals/materials research background prior to a career in IT during which a latent interest in metals/materials never entirely disappeared. Gold, recovering it from e-waste, and e-waste itself, are fascinating topics given this metal’s unique properties. The total amount of gold ever mined makes just a 22-metre sided cube, and tiny quantities are used in smartphones, computers, and most other electronic devices. E-waste is any electrical or electronic equipment that’s been discarded, working or not. We all have some – perhaps an old MP3 player, smartphone, or tablet – somewhere in a drawer or cupboard. E-waste volumes, containing gold and other important elements, are growing but less than 25% of it is collected and recycled.  A new, sustainable, cheaper, and less hazardous way of recovering gold from it is an important development, especially if we stop hoarding our old devices in the first place!

Once triggered, where did the Badger’s thoughts end up? They meandered but concluded something about innovation, a subject that seems to be dominated in the mainstream by AI and new services in the virtual digital world. But here’s the point. None of this virtual digital innovation could exist without underlying ‘true physical innovation’ in the world of metals and materials. Without innovation in the science, extraction, processing, manufacturing, and recycling of condensed matter none of the electronic devices we rely on in the online digital world of today and tomorrow would exist. Youngsters looking for a stable and fertile career path should thus consider the physics and chemistry of metals/materials because the world today and in the future  depends more and more on innovation in this field. One thing, however, is a certainty. You never know what will trigger your thoughts and where they will take you if you relax with a cold beer in the shade under a tree in a heatwave….

‘Crash, Bang, wallop’ and the need for more Defence spending…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Defence, Information Technology, Innovation, Public safety, Security, Technology

The Badger’s first projects on joining the IT industry involved software and systems design, development, and delivery in the UK Defence sector. The experience provided an excellent foundation on which to build a wider IT career. Problem-solving using innovative software and hardware to provide operational capabilities, working with military people who were focused on getting the job done to rigorous standards, and ensuring deliverables met strict requirements, proved invaluable in cementing the right mindset for success. The military people the Badger encountered were well-trained, capable, and passionate about having operational capabilities that were effective against potential aggressors. Indeed, employers like the Badger’s recruited many of them at the end of their military service because their discipline, professionalism, work ethic, teamwork, and leadership skills were useful beyond just work in the Defence sector.

This was, of course, some decades ago when UK Defence spending was at a level before progressive reductions due to the so-called ‘peace dividend’. Today the UK spends ~2,~3.5, and ~5 times more on Education, NHS, and Welfare Benefits, respectively, than it does on Defence. The Badger’s felt for some time that Defence expenditure must rise, especially as security and defence today relies more than ever on fast-changing, digital information, command, control, communication, and unmanned weapons, as well as the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen who put themselves in harm’s way.

Which brings the Badger to something he does grudgingly, and that’s to thank the President of the USA for demanding NATO countries increase their Defence spending! The Badger’s not a warmonger. He just believes that it’s obvious that increasing UK Defence spending is long overdue. An increase can only be good for the UK’s economy and growing our own truly indigenous digital tech capabilities. Raising Defence spending will create more  high-value tech jobs, boost our natural flair for innovation, and help us hold our own in a fractious, tech-dominated world. That, however, is the limit of thanks to the USA’s democratically elected President and administration.

The Badger was creating a playlist of novelty songs when he saw the public berating and ejection from the White House of  Ukraine’s President on television. Having added ‘Crash, Bang, wallop, what a picture’  and  ‘Hole in the Ground’  to the playlist, the Badger immediately sensed that both had relevance to what he’d seen. The USA administration’s bullying of Ukraine, its coveting of Canada and Greenland, and its crass comments about the warfare experience of its allies, adds weight to why UK Defence expenditure must rise. For the average person in the street this side of the Atlantic, trust is hard-earned, easily lost, and hard to re-establish. Trust that the USA is a reliable ally is rapidly evaporating. More strained relationships with those embarked on a particular style of Making America Great Again looks inevitable, but that’s nothing to fear because history shows we are resilient in the face of adversity.

Seven small, fundamental, inventions without which the modern world would not be as it is…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Innovation, Learning, Life, Technology

After doing some repairs to a flight of garden steps in the blazing sun, the Badger settled down in the shade to finish reading a book he’d purchased a few days earlier. The book, a proper hardback from a local bookshop, is Nuts & Bolts, Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (In a Big Way) written by Roma Agrawal. She worked on The Shard in London, and is a structural engineer, author, and broadcaster with a physics degree and an MBE. It’s an excellent book, an easy one to read, and one that makes you realise that a small number of fundamental inventions underpin the world as we know it today. These inventions, the Seven Small Inventions in the title, are the nail, wheel, spring, magnet, lens, string and pump. Without them, our modern world full of complex technology that ranges in scale from the tiny to the huge, would not be what it is.

While chilling out reading the book, the Badger’s nephew arrived to return a laptop he’d borrowed recently after his own broke. He’s in the middle of revising and taking exams that determine whether or not he goes to University in the autumn. With video and music from Glastonbury streaming on his smartphone, the youngster sat down and asked the Badger what the book was about. The Badger playfully answered that it was about the fundamental inventions, namely the nail, wheel, spring, magnet, lens, string and pump, without which the Glastonbury music festival and his smartphone wouldn’t exist! The disbelief on the youngster’s face was palpable, and a light-hearted discussion on the Badger’s assertion ensued.

The Badger took the initiative and mentioned that without the fundamental invention of a nail none of the festival’s structures would exist, without the magnet there’s no electric guitars or sound systems, and without the invention of a lens there would be no pictures to stream. At first his nephew was unpersuaded, but a glimmer of enlightenment soon emerged as he started to think more deeply. ‘So’, he said, ‘you’re really saying that the internet, social media, and the smartphone are not fundamental inventions because they could not have been produced without the prior engineering invention of the nail, wheel, spring, magnet, lens, string and pump?’ The Badger nodded, and said that it’s worth remembering that integrated circuits, first invented in the 1950s and now at the heart of today’s computerised world, could not have been produced without the prior existence of the Seven Small Inventions highlighted in Roma Agrawal’s book.

The youngster, a budding biological scientist, grinned. He said he now appreciated that what we see as routine in our complex tech-dominated modern world is derived from simple, fundamental, and often not very obvious engineering inventions. The Badger sensed that he may have awoken an inner latent engineer in his nephew, and that’s no bad thing…

Innovation, USPs, and the herd instinct…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, Change, Education, Information Technology, Innovation, Learning

Have you ever listened to leaders talking in person, or via video or teleconference, about innovation, unique selling points (USPs) that make the company stand out from the crowd, and slogans to be used to grab the attention of potential customers? The answer is  ‘probably’, a word used to great effect in Carlsberg advertising campaigns  that trace their roots back to 1973. The Badger’s sat through many such talks over the years, but one more than twenty-five years ago generated a memorable insight that’s still relevant today.

At a senior staff gathering in a London hotel conference centre, the Group Chief Executive gave a lengthy presentation that announced and justified the company’s move beyond its software, systems development, and systems  integration roots into outsourcing and offshoring services. The presentation not only boasted about this being innovation, but also it conveyed new USPs. Many present were, like the Badger, experienced, delivery-centric people who felt the assertion that this was innovation was highly dubious, and that the new USPs were aspirational and not underpinned by any reality. The audience understood the IT market was changing, but they reacted badly to the claim this move was innovation because competitors were already way-ahead, and it felt like the company was just following the herd rather than playing to its true strengths.

In the hotel bar afterwards, a subsidiary executive provided some wise words of insight when tackled informally about the presentation. They pointed out that although the business world worships innovation as necessary for survival and growth, the reality is that true innovation is rare and it’s imitation that is the endemic driver. They used examples of the new products and approaches emerging across the IT industry at the time to illustrate that these were born out of imitation and not innovation. The executive also highlighted that since the herd mentality is a feature of human behaviour, no one should ever be surprised that companies follow the herd and assert USPs that are primarily just slogans to differentiate in business conversations with potential clients. The bigger a company, the executive asserted, the more the slogan is influenced by spin and market trends, and the more tenuous the link with raw capability. This has coloured the Badger’s calibration of company sales and marketing messaging ever since, and the executive’s innovation, USP and herd mentality insight still resonates in today’s world in which we are bombarded with information relentlessly, and organisations do everything they can to grab, keep, and capitalise on our attention. So, just remember that if something claims to be an innovation today, then be sceptical because imitation is endemic and true innovation is scarce. Similarly, always explore any asserted USP to see if it passes the ‘unique’ test amongst industry peers, because it’s the herd instinct rather than uniqueness that dominates the world of business.

Robots in Nursing Homes…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI & Robotics, Digital Transformation, Education, Health & Social Care, Innovation, Internet of Things, Uncategorized

The Badger’s immediate priority in 2020 so far has been dealing with the health and care of a frail, 91-year old, father in moving to a nursing home after a lengthy stay in hospital. This transition went better than anticipated and the Badger’s respect for all the health and care professionals involved has reached new heights. They have been magnificent. A transition to a nursing home becoming ‘home’ is, of course, difficult for any person, especially when they have medical, mobility and dementia issues but still desire full independence, but the staff have been great and have eased the process for everyone.

If you have dealt with a similar scenario then you’ll know that it makes you aware of little things that can improve the patient’s quality of life and the bigger things that would help carer’s in their work. Useful items of simple technology are available that can help with the former – see here and here, for example – and robotic pets might ultimately help some people in the future! Regarding help for carer’s, however, the Badger’s observation is that technology that helps to safely move the human body during the daily routines of life will provide the biggest help. There has been robotics research in this area for some time, and robot advances in nursing home settings is moving apace in Japan, gaining more momentum across the developed world, and receiving investment from the UK government. If the Badger becomes resident in a nursing home in a few decades time, then a robot will inevitably play a role in getting him out of bed!

A young digital native in the Badger’s family made the following comment after the Badger’s father had been in his new home for a week:

‘There’s no point in me having a laptop, tablet, smartphone, Alexa or online games when I get old because I’ll forget what they are and how to use them. Talking to someone will be more important’.

The Badger wouldn’t put it quite that way, but the comment was very insightful!

The right robots will undoubtedly help in a residential care environment, but in the Badger’s opinion they will never replace the humanity shown by the special people who really care for their vulnerable and high-dependent residents. The Badger ’s father readily responds to people who engage him with encouraging words, a touch of a hand, a smile, a wiggle of the nose or a wrinkle of the face, and a joke or some banter. Robots  that help care staff should get more profile and investment, but it’s people and the humanity of their interactions that really makes a difference in our twilight years. So, bring on the robots, but not as a replacement for the special people who look after us when we can’t look after ourselves…

It’s people that innovate…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Education, Innovation, Uncategorized

Tim Harper, a serial nanotechnology entrepreneur, recently wrote a great article on ‘Seven rules for nanotech innovation’ for Physics World, an Institute of Physics publication. Sadly, you can’t read it online unless you’re a member. What struck the Badger from reading the article was two things; first, just how closely Tim’s points aligned with the Badger’s experience in IT services, and second that innovation comes from people with belief, determination and resilience in the face of the indifference of others. Corporations per se don’t innovate, but the individuals within them do!

Of course, it’s corporations that benefit from the ideas of their employees, especially when there’s an internal culture that truly encourages creativity and innovation. Often, however, that internal culture is absent, and talented, hard-working employees become frustrated or apathetic about progressing their ideas, and some leave to take their chances as an entrepreneur in the big wide world.

Corporations must continuously innovate in the digital world (e.g. see this from McKinsey) and most in IT services say the right things, have innovation champions, have extensive internal processes to capture and evaluate ideas, and have budget to nurture ideas with potential. Processes and controls are a necessity for any commercial enterprise, but these processes are too often bureaucratic, cumbersome, and slow, which discourages busy people from engaging with them. The Badger’s seen few true innovations come to fruition through such machinery; most ideas seem to stall in the process with people wondering why they bothered!

So, what do you do if your ideas are getting nowhere? Be hard on yourself and re-evaluate your idea ruthlessly and objectively. We can all be blinkered about our ideas, so remember it’s ‘the market’ that comes first not the science or technology. Will your idea really have commercial usefulness and, if so, in what market? Who’ll use it, pay for it and why? If you’re unclear on this then it may be why you’re encountering indifference and getting nowhere.

If, however, you’ve clear answers, then you may just be mired in slow, dogmatic corporate bureaucracy which is at odds with a truly creative and innovation-centred culture. If your passion for your idea is overwhelming and your frustration high then you may be at a career crossroads. Do you leave for a dynamic, smaller company hungry for new ideas to fuel growth, or do you plunge into the uncertain world of becoming an entrepreneur? Only you can make such judgements. If you do, then do so knowing that  it’s people that innovate, most innovation originates in smaller companies or start-ups, and that most of these are eventually bought by bigger companies! Your job satisfaction could soar, and you could make your fortune far sooner than with a corporate. One final point. Be confident in yourself and never stifle your creativity. After all, your ideas are just as valid as anyone else’s…