Page 89 - Cyber Warnings

Illuminating Innovation: A Roadmap for Incubating and

Advancing Technologies

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and it’s true that good ideas are often born as
a response to opportunities for improvement, or when there is a stark necessity.
Far too often however, the cost, time and effort required to develop, test and implement those
new ideas or innovations are outside the capabilities of an organization.

As a result, those freshly born ideas, however revolutionary and regardless of potential, don’t
get the opportunity to advance.

In terms of technology, this is an especially acute problem, with the result being that many
software applications, platforms, and solutions remain void of the innovation needed to catapult
them to the next level of performance.

Even research labs, which are a natural hotbed for idea creation, often lack the ability to
capitalize on many of the innovative products and services they create. Many wonderful
innovations with great potential never get the opportunity to evolve into usable forms, or become
productized for the wider commercial market.

Whether it’s due to a lack of resources, time, money or executive sponsorship, the chips are
stacked against any invention making it much beyond the concept phase.

But there may be hope for good ideas yet, especially if an organization fosters an environment
of innovation that includes a champion to support and help infant technologies become
disruptive innovators.

One recent example of a successful technology transfer occurred at Pacific Northwest National
Lab (PNNL).

PNNL, part of the Department of Energy (DoE), was able to help spur the support of a start-up
business based on an innovation that was developed at the Lab. In fact, this technology has
since been spun out, refined and then adopted by PNNL.

In this case, PNNL became a customer of the innovation that they helped seed.

PNNL has been operated by Battelle and its predecessors since its inception in 1965 and has
over 50 years of experience advancing the frontiers of science and engineering.

The national lab makes fundamental scientific discoveries that solve the mysteries of the Earth
and the universe, and is able to apply their scientific expertise to tackle some of the most
challenging problems in energy, the environment and national security.

89 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2017 Edition
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