Camden Gateway Innovation Week

By: Mary-Anne Bowring

Camden Gateway explores Innovation. For a week we invited Camden Gateway audience to explore their approach to innovation and internally looked at ways Camden Gateway can support innovation for its member and the broader community.

How does Camden Gateway define innovation?

Camden Gateway was born of the idea to built a space of innovation inspired by the creativity of the local Camden area and our partnership with pioneering 3D printing Studio Additive. Camden Gateway is now home to a community of startups and creatives.
The nature of members and surroundings make it a space where innovation thrives.

At Camden Gateway we agree with Paul Sloane’s definition of innovation: Creativity is thinking of something new. Innovation is the implementation of something new.
We asked the audience: How do you define your values?

How is coworking an innovation?

Coworking is an architectural innovation. Architectural innovation is defined as innovation that creates an improvement in the ways in which components are put together. You keep the principle behind something but change the architecture around it. Coworking spaces are office spaces. However, while the structural components like desks and chairs can still be found in most spaces, the architecture around these components has seen a drastic change. You don’t rent an office - you join a community. It is this core principle that will make all the difference.  

We explored why startups like Coworking spaces.

Innovation attracts innovation. A new way of doing things attracts a different way of thinking. Coworking spaces operate with a similar mindset than startups. Out with the old and in with the new. Gone are long office leases and no flexibility. Isn’t it time for a space that adapts to you?

The full article can be found here: https://thestudio.work/en/blog/read/1202249049/why-do-startups-like-coworking-spaces- 

How do ideas turn into value?
Innovation is a process.

Camden Gateway Alumni Switchee, shared with us:
“Switchee is an idea that evolved… Four of us (the founding members) met up in business school a few years ago, and we discussed ways to reduce fuel costs for people living in affordable housing.
We started with the basics, put it out there and used feedback to keep improving on it and create the smart, simple solution we have today. The first version was a box of wires, but now we have an intelligent, user-friendly thermostat that learns a home’s habits without wi-fi or mobile apps”. “Don’t be afraid to get out there and learn what works and doesn’t work… Otherwise, you can spend months developing a solution, only to find you missed something critical.”

The full Interview with Switchee founder Adam Fudakowsku can be found here:
https://thestudio.work/en/blog/read/590842257/introducing-switchee

The reference to the process mentioned above can be found in a quote by Michael Graber
“New, organic value creation by applying creativity, in-depth relationships with consumers and customers, and new thinking.”
 

How does innovation work? And how can you nourish it?

Innovation is the action or process of innovating, a combination of the latin “in” and “novare” meaning to make new.

The four types of innovation commonly known are

• incremental innovation
• disruptive innovation
• architectural innovation
• radical innovation

The majority of innovation is incremental innovation, where a brand makes small scale improvements to add or sustain value to existing products, services and processes. Most companies have to operate under at least an incremental innovation strategy to innovate what they do and not end up like Blockbuster.

Disruptive innovation creates a new market and value network by entering at the low-end of the market and driving upwards. It has also been defined as a small enterprise targeting overlooked customers with a novel but modest offering and gradually moving upmarket to challenge the industry leaders. Airbnb is a classic example of disruptive innovation.

Architectural innovation is defined as an innovation that creates an improvement in the ways in which components are put together. You keep the principle behind something but change the architecture around it. Memory foam was an architectural innovation by NASA developed to improve the safety of aircraft cushions.

Radical innovation is what we most often think of as innovation. Radical innovations are new technologies, markets and business models that eventually supplant existing ones. Online Streaming video has replaced traditional video rentals.

How do you apply innovation?