Innovation, business and academia: riding the wind of disruption

One of the by-products of the pandemic has been a boom in innovation — or at least rapid adoption of digital ways of working and doing business. However, the impact has been very different in different organisations. Some have embraced the potential and opportunities, but others have struggled even to recognise that the changes driven by the pandemic may turn out to be permanent.

Lessons from the past

Furio Camillo is Professor of Business Statistics at the University of Bologna, and the founder of Glaxi, a start-up focused on analytical modelling of emotions. He believes that we can draw parallels with the industrial revolution in the late nineteenth century.

“If we look back at the industrial revolution, there are some useful lessons. If the value of the steam engine had been clear to everyone, we would not have seen the boom in the English textile sector, because everyone would have taken up the new technology at the same time. I think innovation needs someone to recognise the potential of new technology, especially when other people doubt it. It takes courageous leaders to push their organisations, especially when they are already under pressure.”

Furio notes that there are other lessons that can be learned from the Industrial Revolution.

“I think the problem is that businesses do not necessarily think through what they need. They know that they want to use data, or analytics, or artificial intelligence — so they buy something to do that. It is a bit like saying, ‘Well, steam engines are fashionable, and we’re sure they’ll be useful for something, so we’ll buy one now and wait for someone to invent a purpose!’. It doesn’t work like that. You have to buy something to solve a problem. I think that is where the pandemic has been helpful, if one can ever describe a global pandemic as a good thing. It has driven adoption of technology by highlighting genuine problems and needs.”

A question of size

Furio suggests that one issue has been the size of organisations. Big organisations and businesses have plenty of resources to try out new ideas, which enables them to take advantage of technology. Start-ups have also done well, because they are nimble enough to innovate and change rapidly. However, for other organisations, innovation can simply be too much.

“It is very hard to tell if an element is too innovative. There was a time a few years ago when we talked about things that were too disruptive. If innovation is too disruptive, organisations are very cautious about it. They worry about an ‘excess of innovation’. In a way, COVID has freed up businesses from that fear. They have had to innovate simply to survive. However, it has still been easier for larger businesses to do this.”

He suggests that larger businesses, including consultancies, may need to take responsibility for driving change as we emerge from the pandemic.

“I think we will see the adoption of artificial intelligence and analytics driven by these big organisations, because they are the ones that have the capacity. I think maybe the big consultancy companies have a responsibility within their projects, because they will be driving the restart of the world. I think at that point, we will see these new technologies start to be a bit like the car: driving forward changes in other unexpected areas. Just think, we even built new types of roads because cars were not good over cobblestones. We actually changed our infrastructure to match the new technology! I think we will see that start to happen with technology like remote working.”

Furio perhaps has good reason for thinking this, judging by the transformation at the university during the pandemic.

“At the university, we transformed our classrooms and way of teaching extremely quickly, and I believe that the result has been really good. Our university has jumped to the top of the rankings. It has also made a huge investment to adapt classrooms, so that we can teach students at home and in the classroom at the same time. It has been expensive, but I think the investment has been worthwhile. Even my more reluctant colleagues now see the benefit and have embraced the use of technology. I think in many ways the pandemic has opened people’s eyes to what is possible, and the impact will be long-lasting.”

This interview is part of a recent interview study by SAS on how the pandemic has accelerated digitalization: Catch more conclusions from the study on post pandemic transformation.