Malaysia: Innovation Nation. Building the ecosystem

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Malaysia must innovate to evolve its economy through creativity and Innovation

Countries where creativity is encouraged have benefited from the resulting innovation and invention as people discovered new ways to improve the way we lived and worked. The last century stands testimony to the fast pace of technological development that has completely transformed people and created a global life-style. Much of the lead has come from countries where innovation has been adopted into the fabric of society and industry.

Malaysia can lead if we are able to manage the innovation process. But first we must understand innovation so we can harness the knowledge and skills that we possess to move forward. This will mean a dismantling of conventional ways of doing things. It will mean the acceptance of ideas that may seem radical. Most of all it means creating the environment conducive to the experimentation of new ideas and the enabling infrastructure for commercialization of these ideas.

This convention is meant to provide the platform for those intimately involved in building their industries to recommend initiatives that will create for Malaysia a fluid ecosystem well supported by government to transform the nation into an innovation-led economy.

Innovation essential for transformation

Innovation is a vital part of growth. Innovation builds the new out of the old. Without it there can be no change. There can be no progress.

Innovation is part of the survival process. Perhaps it is a law of nature that all things must evolve and those that don't become extinct. The world is constantly changing. The more advanced a nation is the more adept it becomes at innovating to stay ahead of the rest of the world.

Innovation is not an easy process because it is about people. It is about how they think and what they do and why some are more successful than others in bringing their ideas to the market. The innovation ecosystem begins and ends with the individual. What takes place in-between depends on the environment and the encouragement.

Innovation can only exist within certain conditions that allow free flow of ideas, experimentation and exploration without restriction.

Innovation is pervasive. No one has ownership of it. Like creativity it is organic and depends on the passion of an individual to pursue an idea to its realization in whatever form or function. The level of skills and knowledge of an individual will decide the form and the function.

Innovation is an unpredictable process that cannot be micro-managed by an independent body that is outside of the process. It cannot be controlled by rules and regulations. When innovation takes hold norms are broken and rules are bypassed, paving the way for the adoption of new products and services that change and improve our lives.