Innovation from a scientific perspective is never about a single invention. Rather, it requires a chain of novel steps and processes before an ingenious idea can be brought to market and deemed a success.
“Research is the rigorous process of testing an idea that can lead to discoveries and provide new insights into how our natural or physical world works,” says South Australia’s chief scientist Caroline McMillen.
“These insights can underpin the delivery of innovations in the form of new products or improvements in systems, or processes that give industry a market advantage or which support our quality of life.”
She says a fascinating aspect of research and innovation is that the usefulness of some scientific discoveries may only be fully understood after many years of hard work. An example is the development of the mRNA vaccines that have been so critical in fighting the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Scientists have worked for decades to understand how the DNA in our cells is transcribed into a ‘messenger’ – mRNA – which, in turn provides the instructions for making cell proteins.
“Major process innovations were required to scale up the production of mRNA in a form that could be delivered directly to a person and result in an immune response against COVID.
“Today we talk with family and friends about ‘mRNA vaccines’ such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna around the dinner table. Tomorrow we may talk about harnessing mRNA technology to fight cancer cells. This is how a research and innovation value chain works to continue to deliver outcomes with impact and value.”
McMillen says greater collaboration between industry and research is essential if we are to capture the full value of the innovation potential of Australia’s excellence in research.
“Collaboration between industry and research is required to support delivery of new products, access to new markets and increased productivity. The challenge of the COVID pandemic has also reinforced the importance of harnessing our research and innovation to support sovereign capability across major industry sectors.”
Jerad Ford, mission lead, critical energy metals with CSIRO Mineral Resources, says innovation is a new idea that has been executed to deliver value. He agrees with McMillen that successful innovation requires a chain from initia; idea all the way to a commercial product. He uses an oft-quoted example of innovation as an example.
“Thomas Edison is credited as the inventor of the light bulb. And of course, that was a wonderful invention, but the innovation that brought it to market was the fact he brought electricity from Niagara Falls to New York City, to power the lines that allowed those light bulbs to light the city. And that was the broader set of innovations than simply inventing the lightbulb.”
Ford, who has a doctorate in innovation, says innovations can be categorised into two groups.
“Products and services are the first group, such as new vaccines, the iPhone and Tesla – examples are everywhere. Consider the company Stagekings, which before the pandemic built infrastructure to support concerts. When everything shut down, they quickly started making standing desks, creating a completely new product to put into the market.”
Business innovations are the second group. These are innovations that happen behind the scenes. They include new processes, new service delivery methods or organisational change. An example is Woolworth Supermarkets, which developed a partnership delivery model for grocery home groceries.
“Now, they don’t have to rely solely on their network of drivers, they could draw on cab drivers without a fare to make deliveries. That’s a service delivery innovation. In the middle of the pandemic, they also partnered with [courier company] DHL to produce and deliver ‘basics boxes’; everything you need for a week at home, in a box, delivered through DHL,” he explains.
Ford calls companies that have developed product innovations, business innovations and business model innovations “triple threats”. He uses Nespresso as an example. They developed their own coffee machines, which is the technology, and designed a patented coffee pod to be used in their machines. They also retained control over product delivery, meaning consumers can only buy the pods from Nespresso.
“So they kept the really valuable part of the business model, their recurring revenue, which is the pods. Then they let partners like Breville or Cuisinart licence the coffee machine technology, and allowed them to develop other products. That’s the magic of having a unique business model that drives success. It’s about all those pieces coming together in a unique way to corner the market. No one has been able to unseat them since.”
Ford says really radical innovations involve a different way of looking at the world. “You don’t have to create the novelty yourself. You can adopt technology from a different sector and it could be transformational for your sector.”
Sounds simple? Perhaps. But there must be a drop of genius for innovations to really fly.
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