MaRS

Henry Chesbrough first coined the term “open innovation” in his book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003).  He described a shift from a traditional closed model of innovation to an open model in which R&D-driven firms look outside their organization to solve internal research and development problems.  By working with external individuals or organizations, a firm can benefit from an increase in the number and diversity of potential solutions that would not have been possible in-house.

Life sciences businesses can now take advantage of this trend after the launch of the latest online marketplace for problems and solutions.

Couchiching Conference 2008

I recently spent three and a half days working out my brain to the tune of “Knowledge.” I flexed those muscles with the notion that we are in the midst of an “information revolution,” paced over the idea of a “knowledge economy” and quite frankly, broke into a sweat over digitalizing knowledge.

Clearly, I’m not ready for an avatar takeover just yet.

All this exercise was thanks to the 77th Annual Couchiching Conference, one of the oldest, most prestigious meetings of minds, put on by the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs. This year, the topic was “The Power of Knowledge: The New Global Currency.”

If you’re a scientist — and even if you have just peaked into the science world from time to time — you KNOW Nature, the mammoth scientific publishing group. But did you know about their social media tool for scientists, Nature Network? It’s hopping with important conversations and meaningful connections. Some call it the Facebook for scientists.

Until recently, you could only join Boston and London (UK) hubs on the Nature Network. Everyone else was dumped into the “global” category. Now, they’re opening up hubs for the city that brings the most members to the community. And we’re thinking Toronto should be the next big science city on the list!

So why Nature Network?

School of innovation in San Sebastian

Can summer school be something you look forward to? This one can: the Young Foundation and MIK’s International Summer School on Social Innovation is themed “Scaling up innovation – From ideas into action.” The event takes place July 28-30 in San Sebastian, Spain — a destination overlooking one of Europe’s finest beaches. Not exactly your local high school.

I’m just back from Italy but not all the way back.

I love walking into MaRS every morning. It’s the light. It’s the sense of space. It’s the living picture, hung on the south wall, of people working in their offices on business development, on conference planning, on making ideas work.

It’s like walking into a piazza in an Italian hill town: the traditional and the modern; storefront and houses clustered around a public space; people working and people relaxing and, more than anything else, people mingling.

In the last few months at MaRS, I’ve been able to drop in on lectures and seminars. I’ve stood on the upper floors and enjoyed singing and music. I’ve watched the interplay between media, ministers and the audience at press conferences. I’ve browsed by technology showcases. I’ve attended receptions. It’s good for the mind and it has sometimes, at moments, been very good for the soul. I’ve been a watcher and participant and I, too, like many who work in this building, have sipped my fair share of wine at the receptions.

But life in MaRS is not all about this planned stuff. It’s not even mostly about the planned stuff. It’s about the accidental meeting in the coffee line up downstairs. Out of these encounters I’ve had follow-up meetings about projects, been involved in input on public policy, learned about business connections that need to be developed.

Does it mean anything in terms of advancing our core business? I don’t know. Does it influence the way I think about our core business? Yes. Do I see value in these unexpected conversations? Yes. Most of the truly worthwhile projects I have been involved in over the years grew out of chance conversations. Vino rosso per favore. Grazie.