Posted by Stanley P. Kowalski on November 9, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Imagine, if you will, two baseball games. In the first game, there are ostensibly rules of play, however in reality the umpires decide plays based on what they think the outcome should be, whom they favor or simply what their mood is. In the second game, there are established rules of play. The umpires decide plays based on these rules, regardless of whom they favor, what they think the best outcome would be or what their mood might be. Now, which game would attract the best players, the largest attendance, and foster the establishment of a greater baseball league?
The game of global innovation is completely analogous to these baseball games. The players are the inventors and innovators. The umpires are governments. The rules are intellectual property. As detailed in a recent issue of the Economist (October 11, 2007), innovation is a rising tide, indeed a virtual tsunami, around the globe. Those who “learn the tools of innovation [will] forge entirely new, knowledge based industries in energy technology, biotechnology and other science-based sectors.” According to Curtis Carlson, “India and China are [the] tsunami that is about to overwhelm us” in this global game of innovation. However, as compelling as this might sound, it chokes on its own logic. As pointed out by Vijay Vaitheeswaran, authoritarian governments, may, for a time, succeed in top-down, governmental-directed innovation systems, but ultimately these stagnate, and are not sustainable. Why is this the case? Because “technology and the pursuit of improvement are ultimate expressions of freedom.” Because “creative people like to challenge constraints and authority.” Because when people are scared they are not innovative. Because genius resides with the people, not the government. Because, according to Peter Diamandis, “Real breakthroughs require risk and the ability to absorb failure, and large organizations are incapable of such risk taking.” Because a bottom-up system is the route to sustained success in innovation. Amen!The global innovation revolution will be led by the genius and resourcefulness of individual players. And, just as the rules of baseball permit every player to excel at the game, hone skills and break records, intellectual property provides a framework for all innovators to protect, develop and market their products, in a level competitive playing field where all know the rules, the rules are fairly administered, and governments allow the game to proceed according to these rules, without interfering via well-meaning, clumsy or outright corrupt policies and practices. The wise government provides the rules and the playing field, and then permits the game to proceed. So, getting back to the statement above: “India and China are [the] tsunami that is about to overwhelm us” in this global game of innovation … why does it choke on its own logic? It comes down to the “tools of innovation”, of which intellectual property (the rules) is a critical central piece, interwoven into the entire fabric of innovation. Whether or not these two great nations, or the many other developing nations across the globe, will adjust and adapt to this new global game of innovation, permitting individuals to freely play, setting up fair, predictable, consistent intellectual property and legal systems (the rules), and permitting the game to proceed according to these rules … all of this remains to be seen. To assume that a tsunami is upon us might be premature. Unless serious investments and commitments are made, all that we might see in the long term will be a ripple. Innovation is for all to participate in, and for all to reap the benefits of. The future of many hangs in the balance.
http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9928154
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/vijay_vaitheeswaran/2007/10/the_innovation_game.html
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