Innovation in Asia

Asia has strengths that promise to make it a leading center of technological innovation in the 21st century. These strengths are substantial, fundamental, and durable according to Eric Drexler, author and expert on technology strategy and emerging
nanotechnologies, and why Asia may be poised to become a world leader. At their base lie aspects of culture, on both a civilization and generational time scale. Human capital and the capacity for mobilization can build on these cultural advantages.

“Technological innovation drives innovation throughout the global economy”, he argues, “changing what we make, what we use, and what we do.” Centers of technological innovation can become centers of innovation across a broad economic spectrum for two reasons: innovation in technology is inseparable from the innovations that flow from it, and the regearing of a society for innovation of any kind has effects on law, capital, and business culture that spill across boundaries.

To become a world-class center of technological innovation, a society must have three basic elements: drive—a culture that supports change and hungers for it; human capital—the personal abilities that make world-class technology possible; and a capacity for mobilization—a society’s ability to pursue ambitious new goals. These basic elements are more fundamental than any current performance metric or economic trend, and they are durable.

Drive for change. Cultures can shift between complacency and drive on a generational time scale. Where one generation struggles from poverty to prosperity, the next often treats prosperity as a natural part of life. Where one generation upholds a rigid social architecture, the next may be scrabbling in rubble and building anew. Japan and most Western societies have been stable and prosperous throughout the adult lives of their leaders. Recent history makes much of Asia quite different. The experience of change facilitates further change. People who have gone (and are continuing to go) from villages to skyscrapers in a single generation are prepared to dream of going further.

Human capital. Cultures differ radically in their attitudes toward education. In the rising societies of Asia, education is a top priority, far above, for example, sports. The Indian government has plans to double the number of IIT’s although its spending on primary education still remains woefully low. Another issue of note is that Asian education relies on drill, which tends to dampen the critical thinking and spontaneous habits of thought that generate innovative ideas. But this has been recognized as a drawback and efforts being made to readdress it.

Mobilization capacity. Drive and human capital are applied through organization, by entrepreneurs and corporations, as well as national leaders and governments. Under its new leadership in recent times, India has been outstanding in its capacity for reform and for promoting entrepreneurship, albeit it is seen only in a few sectors of the economy. But as science and technology grow in importance, it will become increasingly important for leaders to have a good understanding of these disciplines.

Asia has the potential to be the leader in innovation and creativity in the future. But that outcome is hardly certain. Asia has much to overcome: till recently the region has adopted innovations primarily from abroad; about 45 percent of its four billion people live on less than $2 a day; the average Asian income is only 40 percent of the world average; other than Japan, successful Asian economies are newly industrialized; and many Asian governments are weakly democratic or nondemocratic. Yet adversity can foster innovation, and innovations can convert adversity into advantage. Indeed, Asia has been doing just that in a number of areas.

But there has to be far greater focus on primary education as the fundamental building block of technological change. The rote approach in the educational system has to shift to innovation and encouraging creativity. Gelb argues that there are seven critical principles that need to be followed for success in innovation and creativity based on his study of Lenonard da Vinci:

· Curiosita: An insatiably curious approach to life. Great minds have one characteristic in common: they continuously ask questions throughout their lives. Leonardo's endless quest for truth and beauty clearly demonstrates this.

· Dimonstratzione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience. Wisdom comes from experience and the principle of Dimostrazione helps you get the most out of your experience.

· Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to clarify experience. According to da Vinci, we can best practice Dimostrazione through our senses, particularly sight. That's why one of Leonardo's mottoes is saper vedere (knowing how to see) upon which he built his work in arts and science.

· Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty. An essential characteristic of da Vinci's genius is his ability to handle a sense of mystery.

· Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination ("whole-brain thinking"). This is thinking with the “whole brain”.

· Corporalita: The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness, and poise. Leonardo had amazing physical ability that complemented his genius in science and arts.

· Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and phenomena; "systems thinking." This, in other words, is systems thinking. One main source of Leonardo's creativity is his ability to form new patterns through connections and combinations of different elements

Looking forward, this problem has been recognized by Asian governments, which have undertaken efforts to offset it. In India, a stronger move towards innovative and creative thinking is long overdue. But perhaps the magnitude of the problem may be in part an illusion given the performance of Indians working abroad.

A major stimulus lies in the fact that .8 billion people in Asia live on less than $2 a day. Although India is considered an IT powerhouse, more than one billion Indians lack Internet access. However, the self-interest of Asia's considerable commercial entities will compel them to engage vast low-income populations in serious commerce. That will require new products, approaches, and forms of employment and participation. Microcredit and innovative distribution schemes for solar panels, cell phones, and drip irrigation systems in rural communities are examples of ways to engage the traditionally unengaged.

Asia's companies know that by addressing low purchasing power, they can reach vast markets. The lure of these markets is pushing them to search for ways of achieving dramatic savings in energy and materials. Tata's affordable, fuel-efficient Nano automobile, for example, caters to low-income markets, but its impact may extend well beyond them. Admittedly, the environmental effects of the Nano remain to be seen because it will probably translate into more cars on the road and the product itself has yet to mature. However, the thinking behind the Nano and the practical experience that will result from its use could lead to innovations for global markets that increasingly must reckon with climate change.

While Asia's late industrialization implies a weakness in fundamental research, it also means that the region is less locked into old infrastructure and legacy technologies and more willing to adopt new ones. For instance, 95 percent of South Korean households have broadband Internet access, while only 60 percent of US households do.

It should also be noted that innovations often emerge from existing technologies. Electricity, for instance, was not harnessed originally to facilitate computing or wireless communication, but it led to these transformative innovations. Likewise, Filipinos and Indians are innovating in ways to transfer money through mobile phones, which were originally invented in Western countries for other purposes. Thus, when technologies—no matter where or why they were invented—are applied to diverse contexts, they provide a foundation for previously undreamed-of permutations and combinations. India has recently appointed Nandan Nilekhani as a cabinet minister to develop a universal multipurpose card which would serve as an identity card and also function as a bank to transfer money among other things.

Finally, though vast amounts of human energy and ingenuity remain dormant beneath Asia's weakly democratic or nondemocratic regimes, this is changing rapidly. Recent events in Iran—whatever their eventual outcome—demonstrates the potential for the Internet, mobile phones, and Twitter to bolster democratic pressures. As democratic forces gather steam and people become more empowered, new entrepreneurial activities and innovations will follow.

These forces of innovation are self-reinforcing, their effects cumulative, and their impact exponential. Together, they can make Asia this century's global center for innovation.