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Innovation

Delivering Decarbonized Transport

Dan Kim ’97, chief strategic officer and director of Next Renewable Fuels, argues that existing elements of the energy and transport sectors can evolve to contribute to a future decarbonized economy, alongside more disruptive innovations.

The hood of a semi truck with a hydrogen fuel cell logo
  • Are ‘Patent Thickets’ Smothering Innovation?

    One analysis estimated that a smartphone is covered by 250,000 patents. As technology grows increasingly complex, companies must navigate a web of intellectual property protections. Are innovation and competition suffering from the race to create enormous patent portfolios? Professor Stefan Wagner of the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), a member of the Global Network for Advanced Management, talked with Yale Insights about the consequences of “patent thickets.”

  • Where Will Healthcare Innovation Come From?

    Healthcare is an industry as much as a science. Innovations that enable the system to deliver better quality at a lower cost are as likely to come from IT, business processes, and design as from new medicines. Moving medicine fully into the digital world could be the linchpin of a more integrated, coordinated approach, if the technology can mesh neatly with the needs of patients, providers, and payers; existing business models; and the complexity of medicine itself.

  • What Is Creativity?

    Where do the new ideas come from—the ones that change industries and societies? In a lecture at Yale SOM, Prof. Richard Foster explains what creativity is—and isn’t—and describes the kinds of traits, knowledge, and ways of thinking that lead to the moment of creative insight.

    What Is Creativity?
  • How Has the Pentagon Shaped Innovation?

    Defense spending has been a key driver of technology and innovation in the United States since the beginning of the Cold War, according to Yale SOM professor Paul Bracken. The Pentagon was a prime funder for the early growth of Silicon Valley and more recently quietly created another technology hub, focusing on defense, in northern Virginia.

    microchip closeup on printed board
  • How Big Can Organic Grow?

    Organic food is booming. Even after a dip during the financial crisis, organics have continued to grow at an impressive clip worldwide. But organic food remains a small fraction of total food consumption. Will organics will ever be able to break into the mainstream? Yale Insights talks with Denis Ring ’84, founder of organic chocolate company Ocho Candy and creator of Whole Foods’ 365 organic store brand.

    How Big Can Organic Grow?
  • Who Owns that Picture?

    Digital technology has vastly expanded the supply and the market for stock image providers like Getty Images, but it has also complicated the task of controlling their intellectual property. Jonathan Klein, Getty’s cofounder and CEO, talks about its business model and the “existential threat” posed by online image search.

  • Do Organizations Implement the Best Crowdsourced Ideas?

    Many companies use crowdsourcing in search of new ideas. But in a video interview for ESMT’s Knowledge series, Professor Linus Dahlander says that organizations seeking crowdsourced ideas end up sticking with the most familiar ones.

  • What Makes a Good Online Review?

    When Zagat launched its first survey of New York City dining, aggregating restaurant reviews by ordinary people was a novel idea. Today, the user-generated review has moved online and is a major influence on commerce. But models for collecting and presenting opinions continue to evolve.

  • What Can Big Data Do for Doctors?

    Electronic medical records and big data have huge promise for improving medicine, but creating a system that works for physicians is a daunting task. By starting with a single specialty—dermatology—Modernizing Medicine has created an electronic application that allows doctors to rapidly enter clinical information, and to draw on the data gathered from thousands of others doing the same. Co-founder Dr. Michael Sherling ’02 discussed the endeavor and how it fits into broader efforts to mesh incentives, incorporate technology, and execute effective change.

  • Can Newspapers Be a Growth Business?

    In the digital age, newspapers remain an important source of on-the-ground reporting and in-depth journalism, but the advertising revenue that once supported those expensive endeavors is disappearing. Some newspapers are closing down or scaling back; others seek to reinvent themselves and their business models. Jack Griffin ’88, CEO of Tribune Publishing, which publishes 10 major newspapers, talks about how he’s positioning his company.