Embarking on a 5-week around-the-world business trip is both exciting and daunting. This first week in Santiago, Chile was exciting. There is a great deal of innovation, invention and new ideas that are developing here. Work with SRI International’s “Five Disciplines of Innovation” brought me and another colleague to Santiago, Chile to work with entrepreneurs and university research teams. We conducted two workshops for 20 innovation teams.
What’s energizing innovation in Chile. The Chilean government is sponsoring innovation. CORFO is a government agency that promotes economic development and they are investing in innovation (for more info on CORFO go to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORFO). CORFO has several initiatives and one is in collaboration with SRI International to encourage entrepreneurs and researchers to participate in a national innovation program. The result has multiple dimensions:
- National awareness of the importance of innovation.
- Innovation as “fuel” for the economic engine.
- Commercialization of innovative ideas creates jobs which is an accelerator for the economic engine.
- Building centers of excellence for the country promotes globalization in the world economy.
Innovation in product, services & process. We saw some interesting innovations in bio-tech that will impact stem cell therapy, drug delivery, healing techniques and cell-based therapy. In high tech we saw innovations in security, wireless communications and satellite transmission. In other areas we saw other innovations for food processing and waste water treatment.
Building greener cities. Cities are a sea of concrete, steel and glass. In this way Santiago is similar to other cities around the world. But, it is also a city that cares about clean air and many building have “green elements” – like roof-top gardens or exterior growing walls. This is a growing wall on the exterior of the hotel where we were staying and conducting workshops in Santiago. This is innovation put into action creating a better city living environment for residents.
Creating a greener city
A few random observations from my visit. The most I got out was in a 5-6 block radius of the hotel to restaurants and a local shopping mall. No, I didn’t do any shopping. I was surprised to see so many American brand names like Taco Bell, McDonald’s & KFC in their food court along with many other local and international choices. Santiago is an interesting city. It is beautiful, surrounded by tall mountain peaks. We didn’t get to see much of the mountains due to the haze of a high pressure system; it is summer now. Ignoring the fast food & food court at the shopping mall, the food is wonderful here and I have dined outside every evening, hooray for fresh air after spending all day in a meeting room. There is no air con in the sleeping rooms so sleeping with windows open is perfect. Daytime temps are in the mid to upper 80’s and evenings are mid-70’s. I was up on the 10th floor and ear plugs help with the city noises. Santiago is a very clean and safe city. One unusual aspect is that they have many dogs that roam the streets. They are not mangy or unruly. I can’t really figure it out but it is an accepted tradition here.
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