October 2007 Newsletter

Nov 07 AusInnovation News Edition #28

Dear

Welcome to the November edition of AusInnovation News

This month we are focusing on the ABIG index:

The Australian Business, Innovation and Growth (ABIG) Index has been established to analyse business innovation and review emerging trends that underpin sustainable corporate growth.

The inaugural PATTERNS of INNOVATION Diagnostic Survey will be sent to over 10,000 senior executives representing 5,000 leading Australian and international organisations in October 2007. The major premise underlining this Survey is that growing organisations are adept at building existing operations while creating new business initiatives. Current management and industry studies support the notion that “the more innovative and entrepreneurial a company, the higher the growth orientation and performance”.

The ABIG index is based on a comprehensive and dynamic Innovation Model, as indicated on the next page. This Model and the ABIG research approach has been extensively reviewed by Deloitte Trowbridge. An eminent Advisory Board has also been established to review and validate survey findings at all stages.

Click here for more info…

CLICK HERE to access the 2007 Patterns of Innovation Survey

We are slowly creeping up to the end of the year so its time to start thinking about the 2008 Australian Innovation Festival. The Festival is heading into its 7th year and we are calling for all event managers to start planning for what we propose will be the biggest Festival to date!

The Festival will run from 28th April - 25th May and once again reach all States and Territories with events grouped into clusters of innovation.

3rd Leaders of Innovation Series

The 3rd Leaders of Innovation series is currently being held in Melbourne and Sydney.

Each of these luncheons is organised with international business councils from Japan, UK, India, Germany, US and China. Building business opportunities with the UK is the theme for the next luncheons in Sydney. This international series profiles successful innovative companies with global aspirations.

Invited Speakers represent Australian businesses achieving success in Germany as well as German companies with substantial operations in Australia.

Please note that there is a new speaker for sudney program who was sucessful in bringing over and launched CeBIT in Sydney.

Melbourne - 7th November 2007, Deloitte, Level 14, 180 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Gerhard Vorster, Managing Partner Consulting, Deloitte Australia
Thomas Kessler, German Consul General (Melbourne)
Justin Moran, Founder, Funky Sexy Cool Inc
Albert Goller, Chairman & CEO, Siemens Limited

Sydney - 15th November 2007, Deloitte, Grosvenor Place, Level 9, 225 George Street, Sydney

Markus Gilbert, CEO, German Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Dr. Guenter Gruber, German Consul General (Sydney)
Jackie Taranto, CEO Hannover Fairs (CeBIT)
Joerg Hofmann, Managing Director, Audi Australia

Investment: $120 per person, corporate tables of eight also available. Time: 12 pm until 2pm

Download the Invitation and Registration Form to attend this event.

The next two luncheons on the 7th and 15th November will have a German theme.

The Leaders of Innovation series features prominent Australian and international business leaders driving innovation and entrepreneurship within their organisations.

Leaders of Innovation event partners include:

Innovation Insights

Innovative Products and Organisations

Beyond Google: Cultivating Workplace Innovation

Google is often showcased as the poster child for workplace creativity and innovation, in no small part because early on—in their pre-IPO statement of intention, no less—the company declared that, "Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one."

Yet most conventional companies will never be a Google. Few have the deep pockets to subsidize perks like free gourmet meals, on-site dry cleaning and haircuts. But not all parts of an innovative work culture are a result of staggering fiscal returns; the larger themes can be adopted by any organization looking to boost employee innovation and morale.

Takeaways from Google's model that could be applied to any enterprise include a culture of trust, creativity in the recruitment process and a regard for the creative process so strong that every employee is expected to allocate 30 percent of their time to innovation.

Click here for more…

Innovation Quote:

This month's quote was used by Tom Kelley during his talk at last month's InnoFuture conference.

"The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes" - Marcel Proust

Frogs inspire new super sticky tape

The sticky toe pads of tree frogs and crickets have inspired Indian researchers to create an adhesive tape that is both strong and reusable.

Dr Animangsu Ghatak, an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and colleagues report their findings in the journal Science today.

When conventional sticky tape is ripped off a surface, cracks form on the tape, which also picks up dust and other particles and quickly loses its stickiness.

"Sticky tape gets contaminated with dust and you only use it once or twice. But lizards and toads use their toes all the time," says Ghatak.

"They don't get contaminated and they create very strong adhesion. We are trying to mimic that by creating this material."

Click here for more....

Environmental Innovation

Innovative Websites

Elka Graham urges Australians to make the switch

Former Olympic swimming sensation, Elka Graham is calling on all Australians to change their light bulbs to help reduce carbon emissions by 34,566 tonnes.

When not training for the current series of Dancing with the Stars, Graham is constantly searching for ways to reduce her environmental footprint and is now joining forces with light globe industry leader, Mirabella encourage Australians to become part of an initiative which will aim to see 250,000 trees planted by Greening Australia.

According to Graham the project will create 34,566 carbon credits which is the equivalent to the emissions created by more than 8000 cars.

Click here for more…

Inspired Online?

Have you surfed onto an insightful innovation website lately?

This is a new section of our newsletter and we are asking YOU for any exciting innovative websites that should be shared with the community.

Here are some to get you clicking...

Each of the following websites also has an interesting e-newsletter:

innovationtools.com - Some fresh global innovative ideas

about.com - An entrepreneurs guide

newscientist.com - Science and Technology news service

IXC Australia - the Australian information exchange network