Innovation

The key lesson I have learned from looking at 600 years of technological controversies is that human history is a footnote on the tensions between innovation and incumbency.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

I tend to go with scholarship that argues that there no people called entrepreneurs but people perform entrepreneurial functions at different times. Edison performed great entrepreneurial acts. But he was also fierce opponent of innovation when it threatened his business interests.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

I would even say that people really don't oppose new technologies but they question the way they are used so the challenges are more social than they are technological.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

We are born creative and often seek to transform our surroundings to suit our existence. Everything around us constantly changes and so creative options for adapting to this change become the only guarantee we have for a meaningful existence.

Harvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert

I learned zooming from Steve Jobs, it was something he practices all the time. Steve zoomed out to look beyond how industries are defined presently to see what the possibilities might be... You need to go beyond the defined description of an industry today, and look at it from all angles, and all contexts. Don't forget... entrepreneurship is about finding a better way.

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s

To scale? you have the stars aligned- timing is everything. When we created the first personal digital assistant, the Newton... we were probably 15 years too early. Even some of the best computer scientists in the world didn't realise that at the time, we needed Moore's Law to continue doubling processing power every couple of years for at least a decade before it was practical to build products like iPhones.

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s

Entrepreneurship means the unrelenting belief that there has to be a better way. There has to be a better way of doing things... If it was obvious that things were already being done in a great way that couldn't be improved? There wouldn't be any need for entrepreneurs to step-in and create new ways of doing things that don't rely on the baggage of the past.

CEO of Apple Computer Company during the 1980s and 1990s

There's a lot of synergy between music and entrepreneurship. There's that kind of similar taking risks, that innovation. I think it's a really exciting time.

We need to change our hearts and minds, not just our behaviours. Forget even the moral argument, discriminating is such a waste. It is from our diverse cultures and communities that we could find the cure for cancer, where we could find all of the solutions for some of our most pressing problems.

British TV Presenter, Diversity Advocate & Commonwealth Games Federation Official

People find that you don't have to go around managing the maintenance of a building with a tool belt anymore, you can go around with an iPad. You've still got to operate buildings, but our buildings have to be technically oriented as we're challenging them to be greener. So, how do you go from a tool belt to an iPad?

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

People don't have to fear the innovation age as being victims of it. They can actually embrace it by saying 'okay, I've got to have some additional skill sets I can go back to, and maybe truck driving is not going to be the whole thing but maybe it's other mobility things so that I can actually use my background of skillsets to get involved in'.

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

If there's one thing that thematically aligns all startups: a tolerance for innovation in how the companies are run. This means there's a little bit more risk taking and attacking problems in a way that hasn't been done before.

Co-Founder of Slack, Former CEO & Creator of Flickr

I would love to say that we knew all the answers in advance, but the truth is that we discovered our product and opportunity, rather than planning for it. We started a company to build a massively multiplayer game, and in the process, it very quickly became apparent to us what the utility of Slack was as we used a prototype to collaborate internally.

Co-Founder of Slack, Former CEO & Creator of Flickr

In India affordability and improving life are also key pillars of entrepreneurship- coming from the circumstances and context of the country; for example, India has 1,000 radiologists for a population of 1.4 billion.

Co-Founder and Former CEO of Infosys, Indian IT Pioneer

When you innovate under constraints like this, you go to a different level- that's the opportunity India provides.

Co-Founder and Former CEO of Infosys, Indian IT Pioneer

For a civilisation to succeed, it must learn from failures. Dubai is a land of innovation and failure here is perceived as an opportunity to learn and not the end of an endeavour.

Founder and Chairman of Damac Properties, major UAE real estate developer