One entertainment box finally !

Future Innovation Junction Trends

The convergence of media into one united space is a great example of how things get exciting when technologies come together that has occurred before our very eyes. The way we experience the phone, email, tv and radio are all blurring into one experience where content, IT and distribution, historically different fields are now a single field that empowers the consumer to make, and distribute content without restriction. One can only imagine what this will mean for Western society as a whole in the coming years. We definitely are going to need less boxes in the home soon. The proliferation of gadgetry has reached its peak.

Technology silos mostly offer incremental improvements. People build on the innovations made in their own profession. The way to make huge breakthroughs may be to introduce technologies from other fields where they can move things forward dramatically. Investors expect above average returns and these are becoming harder to deliver using incremental improvements. Paradigm shifts in capability require technologies to work in synergy to meet higher expectations.

Web Mashups are at the Innovation Junction

Web Mashup = API [A] + API [B] + API[C]

A web mashup is a website or web application that uses content from more than one source to create a completely new service.

Content used in mashups is typically sourced from a third party via a public interface or so called API. [Source: Wikipedia]

I think Web Mashups are a wonderful example of the Innovation Junction. Add two services and create something you that is bigger than the sum of the parts. Great examples include Zontube who link Amazon albums with Youtube video. Rrove is another great site that links Google Maps with travel information to make searching for travel ideas a lot easier.

The point here is the sky is the limit. Firms like Google and Yahoo are realising that sharing code and opening their platforms to external development creates value for them as well as the community as a whole. This is part of the ongoing trend to open source away from proprietary in the online world.

It will be exciting to see the kind of innovations that come along in the mashup world. I wonder if mashups between the online and offline world will occur...

Quantitive Examples of The Innovation Junction

I intend to show quantitative examples of how value is created at The Innovation Junction.

I'd appreciate getting comments from readers on how I can do this.

Here are some of my ideas:-

• A comparison of price to sales ratios of companies working at the Innovation Junction compared to those that don't eg. companies selling electronic/software combinations into other sectors (eg Apple iTunes/iPod) company valuations compared to electronics firms also selling electronics into the music industry that don't combine the different disciplines as successfully (eg Sony)
  

• A comparison of time to exit for Innovation Junction firms and pureplay firms.

• A comparison of no of employees per million dollars revenue between the two types of firms.

If you have any other ideas or sources of data please let me know.

Watch this space for upcoming examples.

Expanding on The Innovation Junction Theory

Mostly professionals and entrepreneurs solve problems in fields they understand using technology they are familiar with. For example, physicists solve their problems using physics solutions since they know the field intimately. The same goes for biologists, mathematicians etc. But when physics and mathematics come together and are applied in another field things get very interesting. Innovations like adaptive optics which allow astronomers to get better images of deep space by using lasers to adjust for the earth's atmosphere come into being and improve the quality of astronomy that can be carried out from Earth.

I will provide examples in this blog of how significant innovations are created when multiple technologies are applied in a third technological field.

So what kind of people can exploit this theory ? I believe we need more multidisciplinary people like me. Technological and entrepreneurial types who understand how different technologies work and can put them together in new fields. The world needs this new kind of technologist/engineer to move forward.

Sound Waves and Mathematics

I like this chest imaging product VRIxp from Deep Breeze. This Israeli company uses the sound of human breathing to acoustically image the chest and aid diagnosis of a range of conditions. It is a simple idea which could make a huge impact.

This application works at the junction of miniature sensors and some innovative mathematical analytical techniques.

This technology was recently profiled in The Economist.

Welcome !

World changing innovations require the conjunction of technologies !

Some of the world's greatest inventions have come when someone says what if we put these two technologies together and apply them in a completely new way. These new inventions can create stunningly successful products. I am going to look for examples in industry that demonstrate this theory and post them on this blog for discussion.

I hope to show budding innovators that ideas for stunning new products in our new multi-disciplinary world come when we create across boundaries.

Please post comments and lets develop a useful community that provides ideas for entrepreneurs everywhere.