FIGHTING BARRIERS TO INNOVATION
Often the term innovation is linked to white coats and laboratories full of unknown machinery. There is another perception that innovation comes from the market; from listening to people for whom the products are intended. However, are there other forms of innovation which go beyond the already well known 'technology pull' and 'marketing push' innovations? Recently the definition of a new innovation concept, defined as 'design-driven' innovation, has developed and is being established. This innovation is not necessarily linked to technological innovation or to sophisticated market analysis, but its driving force is design capacity.
Design-driven innovation
Design-driven
innovation refers to reconfiguration processes of value creation that
are the result of the generative interface - that is capable of giving
birth to unexpected solutions - and social potential (the 'field of
what is socially possible'). In order for this to take place, a special
ability to straddle the borderline between disciplinary, organisational
and linguistic areas that are normally considered different and distant
(technical, economic and managerial skills, on one hand, and
socio-cultural, aesthetic and communications skills on the other) is
called for.
What is needed is a kind of innovation that
involves not only products but also, in a broader view, fields of
services and communication. The importance of these is evermore
relevant within the whole process, from the definition and anticipation
of needs to the ways in which the product is launched nowadays as well
as consumed by the users. One good example of this kind of innovation
can be seen in the Italian production system where the success of 'Made
in Italy' products is seldom related only to technology and where the
real strength is given by the design of new qualities that often
crosses all the above-mentioned borderlines. This kind of innovation
allows these Italian companies to acquire a competitive advantage over
firms - in many cases bigger and better structured - involved in other
national economic systems.
How can innovation be transferred?
Even
in Italy, where awareness of the potential of design-driven innovation
and competitive value is higher, many enterprises are still far from
these innovative dynamics. Next to the so-called 'design-oriented'
enterprises there are a multitude of SMEs (a productive force which
represents a great richness for Europe), for whom innovation is seen
merely as process innovation - production with lower costs. These costs
are mainly seen in economic terms, as human resource investments and
risks by micro and small enterprises that are not able to bear these
costs on their own. Hence, in order to 'overcome the barriers' between
design and enterprises and meanwhile contribute to local development
through design, it is important to address attention to those
enterprises able to offer a 'leapfrog advancement' and potential for
innovation.
At this point, the role of institutions, innovation
centres, chambers of commerce together with universities, education
centres and design associations who work in this field is crucial for
directing enterprises towards design through practical projects, for
example:
-- Building trust through design with demonstration and experimental projects;
-- Involving groups of enterprises and designers;
-- Making design economically accessible to SMEs.
As
a second step, for more mature companies able to express 'design
demands', it is possible to organize more structured projects in
different forms, such as:
-- Empowering education processes, focused on different specific realities;
- Offering design services to companies, through the organization and tutoring of design
creative workshops, internships, combined design studios, etc.
-- Enabling the birth of design companies through projects focused on:
- The empowerment of design entrepreneurship;
- The stimulation of the designer's entrepreneurial role;
- The creation of incubators for design companies.
Two Italian case studies
DxD Design for Districts
The
project DxD - Design for Districts is an experimental design studio
born early in 1999 through the connection of the Design Study Course at
Politecnico di Milano and Lumetel, the agency for the local development
of one of the most important and oldest Italian industrial districts
located near Lumezzane, close to Brescia (supported by the Region of
Lombardy and the Chamber of Commerce of Brescia). The aim was to lead
the firms belonging to the district through product differentiation
policies as well as policies for the improvement of their communication
systems and through the development of services tied to product
distribution and marketing, in order to better face the medium-high
market demand.
The DxD project (1999-2001) project initiatives:
--
Final Year Design Studio: more than 60 students for two semesters have
studied the local reality (from its product, production and
distribution processes to the structure of the industrial community)
and designed for its improvement;
-- Work Placements: all the students have been involved in work placements in 22 district companies and institutions;
-- DxD Design Award, 2 Seminars And 2 Exhibitions:
all
the projects designed by the students together with the companies
within the placement, participated to a Design Award and have been
discussed and presented in seminars and exhibitions;
-- 46 Degree Thesis: most of the students graduated with a dissertation on subjects related to the district.
This model has been replicated and adapted afterwards in other Italian, as well international contexts.
Design Focus
Design
Focus is a cultural institution formed by different actors -
Politecnico di Milano Foundation, Chamber of Commerce of Milan, and the
Design Research Agency of the Politecnico di Milano. It is a meeting
place, where it is possible to compare and thoroughly talk about design
issues, aimed at facilitating research, innovation and competitiveness
within the project field and the Lombardy economic and productive
system.
Some of the actions being promoted at the present moment are:
-- Adopt a designer : the creation of a standard of excellence for young designers within local enterprises;
--
MIDES - Milan Design Scenario Innovation an initiative to involve and
stimulate Lombardy enterprises to structure a common path of strategic
research, encouraging companies to identify project scenarios and
develop a series of proposals up to the realization of prototypes. This
is supported by young professionals and developed with the active
support of enterprises;
-- Research Project and informative Network: an Informative System shared among the actors involved in the Design
--
A Focus Observatory that has been built in order to share, through the
web, relevant information for improving the territorial design-system.
Conclusions
In
order to overcome the barriers between design and SMEs it is important
to start specific actions which are focused on communities of
enterprises, more than single companies and intended to force the
companies to 'try', to 'touch', to 'taste' design rather than to
'listen about' design. These should be supported by universities,
institutions, designers associations, local development agencies or
organizations, as facilitators of this convergence process.
About this article
This article is re-published with permission from Design Issues in Europe Today, a White Book published by The Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA), ISBN: 1-905061-04-08. Please visit the BEDA website for more information or download a pdf of the White Book
About the authors
Luisa Collina Is Associate Professor at the Politecnico Di Milano. She
is responsible for international activities and projects in the field
of design.
Giuliano
Simonelli is a professor at the Politecnico Di Milano. He is the
Director of SDI, the Italian design research network.
About BEDA
Founded in 1969, incorporated in The Netherlands and headquartered in
Barcelona, BEDA exists to ensure permanent liaison between design
organisations - the professional societies, promotional, educational,
research, social and design management networks - and the authorities
of the European Union. The organisation's objective is to develop
long-term policies on design for Europe, to promote the use of design
across the continent and by so doing, to help industry compete in world
markets.