Global Innovation

Jonathan Reuvid

• Publisher: University of Buckingham Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781787198593
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: International Business
• Index: Business

Companies planning to expand their export business base or to enter international markets for the first time need to focus their strengths and match them with market opportunities.

The process of interaction, integration between people, companies, governments and nations is driven by international trade and investment, which in turn is aided by technology and innovation. A company's success is likely to be founded or reinforced by innovation which will need to be protected and supported by expert advice or partnerships. Global Innovation offers encouragement to innovators, advice on essential preparation for exporters and export strategy including a five-point approach to identifying priority markets.

The book is spilt into three parts:

• Part One: ENCOURAGING INNOVATORS
• Part Two: PREPARING TO EXPORT
• Part Three: ADDRESSING TARGET MARKETS.

The book also includes details of priority markets for export such as United States, France, Japan, Germany, China and more. With foreword by Chris Southworth, Secretary General, ICC United Kingdom and contribution from key industry experts such as Coventry University, Basck, BExA, Patentgate, TAIO, and Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply to name a few, this is an indispensable guide for business to expand their goods, services, process and IP's into the global market.

PART ONE
ENCOURAGING INNOVATORS

1.1

SPACE, HEALTH AND ENERGY – HOW MULTI-SECTORAL COLLABORATION IS FUELLING INNOVATION

Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

It is not uncommon for technology originally developed in one sector to find application in other industries. As a sector blooms, so does the pressure to innovate, and this creates a rich source of technology that becomes more accessible to communities outside of specialist teams. Opportunities for putting the technology to use in other industries accelerates considerably, resulting in the creation of new businesses and opening up new market opportunities for companies in those sectors.

An oft-quoted example is the Apollo moon programme, and today the space sector is again experiencing rapid growth in relation to investment and commercial interest as the possibilities and opportunities it wields become more widely known. Increasingly it is realised that science and technology should not be siloed, and healthcare and energy are two sectors taking full advantage of the opportunities for collaboration that this approach presents. Examples include the European Space Agency (ESA) developing suits with embedded biomedical sensors to study how the human body responds to living in space – technology that led to the creation of a baby monitoring system to protect against cot deaths. Similarly, microbiological sensors for space applications are being used to detect contamination for better water treatment, and NASA’s handling of hydrogen paved the way for developing light-weight hydrogen tanks for environmentally friendly cars.

Innovative thinkers and business leaders are no strangers to seeing the potential of technology from one sector being applied to another. Looking further into the crossover between space and health technology, there are applications in ultra-light robots for surgery and the production of artificial organs and prostheses. Previous uses also include a ‘pill camera’ developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute that can be swallowed by patients, dementia-tracking slippers which use GPS, and technology developed for space travel being used for breast-screening vans.

Technologies developed for the space sector are improving our daily lives and, as they rapidly pervade the healthcare sector and others, we are beginning to see more cases that demonstrate its positive presence, and positive return for the businesses with the vision to seize on these commercial opportunities. For example, earlier this year the UK Space Agency granted Adaptix £1m in funding to develop a pioneering portable 3D medical X-ray machine, based on technology used to study stars in distant galaxies. Working on Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, the scientists realised that, as well as providing access to previously unreachable parts of our universe, the technology will allow doctors to get a more comprehensive view of areas where they suspect tumours are growing, aiding more effective treatment and earlier diagnosis. Health and space-heritage technology may seem an unlikely partnership, but it is one that has led directly to life-saving technology and commercial returns.

Many other examples exist where technology originally developed for space exploration has been put to good use in healthcare. For instance, by adapting a small 3D Camera originally designed for investigating scientific samples on the moon, start-up 3D-oscopy has created an endoscope camera that can quickly record and digitally recreate a human digestive tract. For the clinicians, it means they can examine detailed footage of the tract off-line, rather than in real-time while the camera is inside the patient, with quantification tools to further inform their recommendations on surgery and treatments. For the patients, this means endoscopy time is drastically reduced, only requiring the camera to make one pass into and out of the tract, recording all and any features. For the health-care system, it means shorter waiting times, more efficient use of funds and better patient outcomes.

It is not only hardware that businesses should be looking at when it comes to innovating, but also the use of satellite-derived data, originally gathered with one use in mind but which can be repurposed. siHealth are one example of a company successfully combining satellite and ground-based data to improve health outcomes. They use satellite observations of Earth to allow people to manage their exposure to sunlight through a smartphone app. Exposure to sunlight brings risks and benefits – too little or too much can be bad for your health. Each person’s skin requires and tolerates different amounts of sunlight based on demographics such as age, skin-tone and lifestyle. Localised pollution can also work with the sunlight to increase damage, resulting in a complex series of factors which make it difficult for individuals to manage their exposure unaided. siHealth has recently announced a strategic alliance with BASF to use their app as part of a system to monitor the absorption and effectiveness of various medical skin creams.

In another example, the UK’s National Health Service has a shortage of doctors to staff local medical practices, leading to significant issues for some regions. This can lead to ailments becoming more severe than they would if treated quickly, and can add strain to local hospitals when patients access the healthcare system via Accident and Emergency units, unable to book appointments at their local doctor’s surgery. TekiHealth, a company established by two doctors, has devised a remote diagnostic solution. Through satellite technology it has provided high-bandwidth links that allows people to be examined at their local doctor’s surgery by a qualified medical doctor located elsewhere. This modern approach to the doctor-patient consultation is alleviating delays caused by shortage of local staff and improving patient outcomes.

CREATING NEW MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Cross-sector collaboration creates opportunities in new markets. Though not developed for space applications, Oxford Nanopore’s portable gene sequencer, MinION, is an example of the kind of technology that will be needed to support future space habitats. MinION has been used on the International Space Station to sequence both DNA and RNA. This can, for example, be used to identify microorganisms that might develop onboard so as to be able to mitigate any harmful effects they might cause, as well as to monitor changes in human health or microbiomes in response to spaceflight, and to conduct biomedical research in microgravity. Devices such as this will become ever more important in maintaining isolated, closed environments, be they in a spacecraft or on an extra-terrestrial body. As such ventures become more common and extensive, they are very likely to become technology drivers that will result in unexpected benefits here on Earth.

The value of cross-collaboration of space technology in other industries beyond just healthcare has also become very apparent. For example, the energy sector is adopting space technology to build better clean energy systems and solutions that have a positive environmental impact.

Mirico, an SME based within Harwell Campus, is one example of a company that has successfully taken technology developed for space and applied it to the energy sector. In developing its laser gas-sensing technology, originally designed to measure atmospheric constituents in space, it found that the technology could be perfectly deployed to accurately measure atmospheric pollutants for energy companies, helping them to determine where to focus their efforts in improving the efficiency and safety of operations.

It is evident, therefore, that taking an innovative, cross-industry approach to problem solving in energy and environmental issues is effective, as in the case of Mirico, which repurposed a technology developed as a result of more than ten years of cutting-edge Earth observation and planetary exploration.

EMBRACING TRANSFORMATION

The worlds of science and technology already intersect with every industry, sector and aspect of life. In the case of healthcare, a report by Aruba predicts the next five to ten years will see massive disruptions in this arena, with artificial intelligence playing an increasing role in diagnosis and treatment by 2030.

Technologies or applications being used in this sector are testament to the powerful advantage of working in close proximity with organisations outside a sector’s usual market – through shared learning and collaboration, new business opportunities are identified and innovative solutions to long standing problems are created. This is a huge advantage more generally and one that will continue to grow and develop.

To truly thrive, it is important for collaboration to be diverse, and that the public sector is closely linked with fast-growth SMEs and multinationals. This way, we can better collaborate, co-fund and problem-solve; ultimately developing innovative technologies that create new markets, resulting in job creation and economic growth.

1.2

BUSINESS GROWTH THROUGH INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA INTERACTIONS

Dr Brian More, Coventry University

INTRODUCTION

In 2016 on writing the first version of this chapter I alluded to global challenges as we entered the Brexit and Trump eras. The reality of the ensuing years has astonished most seasoned PESTEL analysts as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal paradigms changed rapidly, and indicate clearly that industry-academic collaborations and partnerships are a preferred, if not essential, way to solve these complex interrelated global issues.

Technological advances in 5G, mobile internet, cloud technology, processing power of big data, internet of things (IoT), artificial i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Global Innovation
• Foreword Chris Southworth, Secretary General, ICC United Kingdom
• Introduction The Editor
• List of Contributors
• Part One – Encouraging Innovators
• Part Two – Preparing To Export
• Part Three – Addressing Target Markets
• Appendix
• Contributors’ Contacts