The most successful nations in the world all have one thing in common – they all have an innovation culture. This culture is one where innovation and creativity are valued and appreciated, adequately funded and protected.
Leveraging natural creativity or spontaneous innovation for financial gain and national economic growth requires appropriate institutional support which is much more than merely funding. It requires a climate, and a culture, that is supportive of R&D; where a certain amount of risk-taking is balanced by the use of market discipline and good practices to identify the best products and services to bring to market, or the most efficient programs for governments to deploy.
The level and depth of a country’s innovation culture can be measured by several criteria that include economic, social, health and educational factors. One of the most reliable indicators of innovation in a particular country or region is patenting activity. Patents are a key measure of the extent and success of an innovation culture. They reflect inventive performance,
they can track the diffusion of knowledge, and they are good indicators of the level of internationalization, regionalization and nationalization of innovation activities. They can be used to measure the level of R&D activities, and ultimately, how effective those are, what structure they are taking, and which industries appear to be successful, and which not.
Patent applications in Malaysia in recent years by local inventors has shown spectacular growth in the last 5 years with applications more than doubling from 522 applications in 2005 to 1234 applications in 2009. It would appear that efforts to create a more conducive environment for local innovation and creativity is beginning to bear fruit.
But we need to look further – how can we as a nation further enhance the climate in which innovation and creativity are the norm rather than the desired goal? How can Malaysia integrate into its national policies and economic development agenda those innovation and creativity mechanisms and platforms which will bring about the desired results?
Innovation and creativity will only move if there is an incentive for the innovator or creator. It is harder for an invention to see the light of day if there is no commercial value. In order to stimulate innovation and creativity we have to policies in place that would stimulate the commercialization of these innovations.
For instance if we can have directives that would ensure that government departments only procure locally invented products provided that the technology meets a certain standard and the price is competitive and that continued procurement will only happen if there is continuous innovation and improvement in quality.
We can make sure that all national projects utilize local innovations as much as possible. In this regard Proton was going the right way when it came up with Satria Neo and Proton Persona after two decades of rebadging outdated Mitsubishis. However the latest move by Proton to revert back to its initial strategy does not augur well for local innovation and instead of providing a vehicle for local innovations to ride on is merely licensing innovations from overseas.
I need to add this point here about innovation. Early prototypes of innovations or early models are high on inventiveness but low on quality. If you look at the early Toyotas and Hyundais they were ugly and could get you into serious trouble if you were involved in an accident. However perseverance and a firm faith in the technology and innovation behind these new machines as well as some protectionist policies ensured that subsequent models improved on quality and performance and today these cars have captured the world market – Toyota is the world’s largest car manufacturer and Hyundai is a respectable fourth after producing the first Korean car in 1975 merely 10 years before Proton.
We are coming to the end of Malaysia Innovative 2010, a year dedicated to encouraging local inventions. Let us not stop at the idea or the proptotype. Let us look at putting policies in place to ensure they have commercial viability. We need to be surrounded by Malaysian innovations just like the US, UK, Japan and Korea are surrounded by innovations developed in their respective countries. Only then can we look forward to a truly developed nation by 2020.
Leveraging natural creativity or spontaneous innovation for financial gain and national economic growth requires appropriate institutional support which is much more than merely funding. It requires a climate, and a culture, that is supportive of R&D; where a certain amount of risk-taking is balanced by the use of market discipline and good practices to identify the best products and services to bring to market, or the most efficient programs for governments to deploy.
The level and depth of a country’s innovation culture can be measured by several criteria that include economic, social, health and educational factors. One of the most reliable indicators of innovation in a particular country or region is patenting activity. Patents are a key measure of the extent and success of an innovation culture. They reflect inventive performance,
they can track the diffusion of knowledge, and they are good indicators of the level of internationalization, regionalization and nationalization of innovation activities. They can be used to measure the level of R&D activities, and ultimately, how effective those are, what structure they are taking, and which industries appear to be successful, and which not.
Patent applications in Malaysia in recent years by local inventors has shown spectacular growth in the last 5 years with applications more than doubling from 522 applications in 2005 to 1234 applications in 2009. It would appear that efforts to create a more conducive environment for local innovation and creativity is beginning to bear fruit.
But we need to look further – how can we as a nation further enhance the climate in which innovation and creativity are the norm rather than the desired goal? How can Malaysia integrate into its national policies and economic development agenda those innovation and creativity mechanisms and platforms which will bring about the desired results?
Innovation and creativity will only move if there is an incentive for the innovator or creator. It is harder for an invention to see the light of day if there is no commercial value. In order to stimulate innovation and creativity we have to policies in place that would stimulate the commercialization of these innovations.
For instance if we can have directives that would ensure that government departments only procure locally invented products provided that the technology meets a certain standard and the price is competitive and that continued procurement will only happen if there is continuous innovation and improvement in quality.
We can make sure that all national projects utilize local innovations as much as possible. In this regard Proton was going the right way when it came up with Satria Neo and Proton Persona after two decades of rebadging outdated Mitsubishis. However the latest move by Proton to revert back to its initial strategy does not augur well for local innovation and instead of providing a vehicle for local innovations to ride on is merely licensing innovations from overseas.
I need to add this point here about innovation. Early prototypes of innovations or early models are high on inventiveness but low on quality. If you look at the early Toyotas and Hyundais they were ugly and could get you into serious trouble if you were involved in an accident. However perseverance and a firm faith in the technology and innovation behind these new machines as well as some protectionist policies ensured that subsequent models improved on quality and performance and today these cars have captured the world market – Toyota is the world’s largest car manufacturer and Hyundai is a respectable fourth after producing the first Korean car in 1975 merely 10 years before Proton.
We are coming to the end of Malaysia Innovative 2010, a year dedicated to encouraging local inventions. Let us not stop at the idea or the proptotype. Let us look at putting policies in place to ensure they have commercial viability. We need to be surrounded by Malaysian innovations just like the US, UK, Japan and Korea are surrounded by innovations developed in their respective countries. Only then can we look forward to a truly developed nation by 2020.
