What Innovation Means to Me

The first time I heard the song “Formation” by Beyonce, I felt energized, powerful, strong…all that good stuff that comes with her fierce energy.
But there was one lyric that really stood out for me:
“I just might be a black Bill Gates in the making”
Yes, this part really stood out to me, not the Red Lobster portion. I guess that really shows how much of a geek I am. If you quickly search Beyonce and Bill Gates you will find a couple articles about this part of the song (you will also find some weird photoshop portraits). Beyonce and Gates do have a couple similarities in that they are both seen as very successful and have contributed to society through their non-profits. They are also both viewed as innovators in their respective industries — Beyonce released an album with no prior announcement, essentially breaking the internet. Gates was a pioneer in bringing computers to everyone’s home.
This lyric to me had other meanings as well. I don’t know what message Beyonce was sending by mentioning her race in the lyric, but for me it highlights a societal problem.
Are there certain people or communities who have a harder time innovating? And if so why?
Are there countries who are lagging behind in the global economy because they are not innovating?
For me, this lyric connects to a chapter in the book ¡Basta de historias! ( English cover name: Enough Stories!) by Argentine author Andrés Oppenheimer. He has a chapter where he asks the following:

“Why isn’t there a Latin American Bill Gates?”
This question made me upset. Surely there were many incredible entrepreneurs who came from Latin America. And why should we compare them to Bill Gates? The chapter describes how Latin America is falling behind in becoming a world leader in technology, science and innovation.
He describes his interview with Bill Gates where he asks him: (Disclaimer, I am not a certified translator)
One of the things that impressed me the most during an interview on the future of Latin American with the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, was his answer when I asked him about what the region should do in order to become a center of global technological innovation and leader in the global economy.
“Why has Latin America not produced a Bill Gates”, I asked him in between a joke, “would you have been able to become the most successful technology innovator and one of the richest men in the world if you would have been born in Paraguay?”
[…] Gates responded, “ In almost every place in the world I could have been born, I would have not been able to receive the incredible opportunities I had here: great education, and I was incredibly lucky in regards to my circumstances.”
Source in Spanish: http://emprendedoresnews.com/liderazgo/%C2%BFporque-latinoamerica-no-ha-producido-un-bill-gates.html
Oppenheimer describes how specific government policies support or, in the other hand, stifle innovation. For example, in the United States, Steve Jobs was able to build his business out of his garage. If he would have tried doing this in Spain, it would have been considered illegal. In the case of Bill Gates, as a student he was able to access schools that supported innovation, such as having a lab with one of the first computers. Having been exposed to technology at an early age helped Bill Gates see an opportunity in the future. He was lucky, as stated above, in having the right circumstances that led him to become a great innovator.
Oppenheimer’s underlying message is directed to both individuals and governments. There is a very crucial need for Latin America to begin focusing and investing more in innovative fields and education. If Latin America continues to remain stagnant and relies on an economy driven by the production of raw materials, it will not be able to compete in the rapidly growing fields of technology, science, engineering and design.
And other important detail he makes, is that having government policies that help entrepreneurs build businesses is incredibly important. He explains, Latin American governments have a problem with being stuck in the past, they may be fixated with how they were treated unfairly in the past by some other country or policy or some past battle. Oppenheimer explains that this type of mentality is not healthy, and instead keeps these countries behind.
How I became aware of “innovation”
Before deciding to go into design school, I considered studying international development or going to med school. My parents, eventually pushed me to apply to design school as they felt I should study a field that was innovative and growing. I realize how rare of an opportunity it was to have had the support of my parents when selecting a “non-traditional” career. After being admitted into college, I visited family in Argentina.
During this trip, we stopped by Buenos Aires. It was on one of the streets near the neighborhood Caminto where we saw several artists displaying their work for sale. The talent and originality I saw was incredible. I realized then that I was incredibly privileged to have been admitted to one of the best design schools in the United States. These artists way more talented than me deserved to have the same opportunity. But, living in a country that has had multiple recessions and suffers constantly with corruption is not always the most conducive to growth. I am a strong believer that each individual has to pave their way, but it is important to take into consideration the environment we live in. I have met many individuals who at a young age were learning about finances and how to run a business because they were either exposed to this at a young age or had support from their parents to do this. To me, this is incredibly important. I have a friend in Argentina who despite living in a country that makes it incredibly difficult to start a business, has been able to be a young entrepreneur because he was able to find a mentor.
Since that trip before college to Argentina, there has been one drastic change. Now when I visit family, almost everyone has access to technology — my aunts, cousins, and even my grandfather have had iPhones or iPods before I did. My family lives in a primarily rural area, but even so, almost every individual has some type of smartphone now. I find this exciting because it means that everyone has the ability to access the vast knowledge in the internet at any time. The opportunity I see here is that instead of Latin Americans being consumers of what is being produced by other countries, they can begin to create and share instead.
How some countries and cities innovate
Oppenheimer describes some great examples of countries that invest in innovation first and how that has led them to become leaders in technology and software. Singapore is an example of a nation that values education and technological advancement. They value education enough to make it a national symbol in their currency:

The benefit of having a country focus on promoting careers in science, technology, design and engineering is switching their economy from relying on raw materials and traditional manufacturing to more innovative fields such as digital products, web services, and nano technology. Currently, there will always be a need for this more traditional economic sources, but there is a lot of improvement that can be done to refine how we create energy and even building materials. Innovating in this fields also directly affects our planet’s health. Europe’s progressive switch towards green energy is a clear example of this. We used to power our homes with coal, now we can use solar energy to do the same and reduce our carbon footprint.
Innovating doesn’t only mean focusing on how to push technology and design fields forward. Houston is a city that promotes innovation by having no construction zoning laws. This may mean you may have a skyscraper next to a residential home, but it also means that developers and architects have more freedom to explore and create innovative buildings and urban spaces.
The lack of zoning “actually does give the developer and design communities the ability to do things unlike anywhere else,” says Tim Cisneros, a Houston architect.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/five-cities-that-are-leading-the-way-in-urban-innovation-1461549789
Houston is now becoming an incredible hub for innovative architecture and creative communities.
Medellin, Columbia is an other city that has been using innovation to completely change it’s landscape. Most people are familiar with this city due to the Netflix series Narcos, where Medellin is not necessarily portrayed as the safest place to live in. Now, this city has become an incredible example of how smart investing and innovation can help push a city out of poverty and crime.
Perhaps the most ambitious project has been a system of outdoor escalators built in one of the city’s poorest districts. The escalators, which extend about a quarter-mile up steep hills and feature several small plazas, have won international innovation prizes. Tourism has grown, and the projects bring visitors to neighborhoods they might otherwise avoid.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/five-cities-that-are-leading-the-way-in-urban-innovation-1461549789
In order to properly innovate, the user comes first
There are many businesses and entrepreneurs who claim they innovate. I feel that at times this word is thrown around when a company or product is trying to describe itself as a “game changer” or as “unique”. As shown by our best innovators, in order to truly have an innovative product or solution, the user comes first. Wether you are trying to solve a national problem, like health care, or a smaller problem, keeping more in touch with friends, the user is key.
I really liked this view of how to address the Health Care Act from Senator Warren Davis. During an interview with NPR early this week, he explained that he views the Health Care Act from a product development perspective. He said “we don’t want to be a Blackberry phone that only caters to some, instead we want to be like Apple and create a product that appeals to all”. This is of course is no easy task, but it does give hope that some congressmen on capitol hill are keeping the users first.

A One Laptop per Child is an example of a non-profit that attempted to provide access to technology for poorer communities. A very difficult feat, One Laptop per Child created a product geared towards children who lived in more rural and harder to reach regions, such as in the Andes. One Laptop per Child clearly wanted to do good, but they did not understand the immediate needs of their users. For example, the regions where their users lived had many limitations, such as no electricity. Maybe this product came too soon for its time, now I am sure the creators for this product would take a very different route and take advantage of new technological advancements.

Conclusion
I am extremely grateful for having had the opportunity to study design and be exposed to technologies such as 3D printing, CNC milling, coding and CAD modeling while in college. Having been exposed to these inspired me to dive more into what a computer can do in terms of fabrication and creating digital products. Now, getting trained in user experience design, my understanding for developing products and reaching users has been grown immensely.
What’s really awesome about receiving training from a creative agency like Huge is that they are known for being innovative in the way they work, but they clearly see where innovation is happening and want to be a part of it. Huge has offices in Singapore, Medellin, and Houston, places mentioned above that are lead examples of what countries and cities can do and achieve when innovation is placed first.
Do you have any examples of what innovation means to you?

