The Critical Role of Information and Information Technology in Future Accelerated Radical Innovation

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Miller, Lawrence | Miller, Ruth | Dismukes, John

Affiliations: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, Mailstop 308, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606, USA | Mathematics and Computer Science Department, University of Detroit Mercy, 4001 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit, MI 48221, USA | Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Mailstop 305, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: lmiller12@utnet.ut.oledo.edu

Abstract: In this paper, we define and focus on one of the vitally important challenges of accelerating radical innovation. This challenge is the critical need for nearly instantaneous access to information which influences or impacts accelerated radical innovation. Without information enhancement, radical innovation will undergo considerably less than the 10X, or more, improvements in time and effectiveness envisioned by for the 21st century (i.e., it will not be accelerated). Information and Information Technology will play a critical, lynchpin, role in accelerating radical innovation as knowledge workers provide most of the human infrastructure to innovation enterprises. If the IT Tools are not in place to support Accelerated Radical Innovation, then the knowledge workers involved in the project will be inhibited from doing their jobs at the fast pace required for radical innovations in the time frames envisioned. These radical innovators, focused on developing and/or commercializing a discontinuous or disruptive innovation, will need effective tools for rapidly obtaining information and processing it into knowledge that can be acted upon and disseminated if accelerated radical innovation is to become a commonplace reality. Currently, the information that is needed to accelerate radical innovation is just not available in the timeframe required; it cannot be produced, acquired, processed, manipulated, or disseminated in a nearly (or at least visibly apparent) instantaneous timeframe. Existing IT tools are woefully inadequate for achieving this kind of rapid access to required information. Thus, significant new advancements in IT will be vital in order for accelerated radical innovation to become a reality in the 21st century. This paper proposes a methodology of information-enhanced accelerated radical innovation incorporating information technology tools to catalyze, enhance, and speed up the innovation process with the intended result of dramatically reducing time and cost, and increasing the success rate of commercializing radical innovations.

Journal: Information Knowledge Systems Management, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 63-99, 2006