Buzzword of the decade

Innovation, one of the most used buzzwords over the past 10 years is quickly becoming a word used by everyone to describe things that are new and supposedly groundbreaking. However I think that our expectations have outgrown the meaning of this word in the past decade. The definition of Innovation is the introduction of new ideas, methods or things. The problem with this word is that we are so used to big leap innovations that we don't care too much for smaller leaps of innovation any longer.

The best example to use is the newly announced Apple IPad. "A larger IPhone" was the verdict from many critics as they concluded that Apple had failed to live up to the high expectations associated with Steve Jobs famous keynote. I don't think the IPad will be a flop but I don't think it will be a game changer like the IPod or the IPhone. The announcement of the IPad clearly demonstrates what we have come to expect from organisations and technology in general. We are no longer satisfied with small leaps, improvements and upgrades. We want big groundbreaking innovations that truly change the way we live and enjoy our lives.

Over the past 100 years we have seen the introduction of cars, TV's, Mobile Phones, computers and the Internet. These inventions have truly changed the way we human beings live our lives. Most of these innovations came along, ripped up the status quo and created a new way of doing something. Small leap innovations are simply less exiting, but are they less effective in moving us forward? The trend on the Internet seems to be similar at the moment as we impatiently wait for the next Google or Facebook.

But what if the upcoming decade or two don't bring any big leap innovations, but instead smaller and more linear innovations? Does it actually make any difference?

A question to universities, what skills do you think IT grads should have?

This week, Jon and I finished what I think we would both agree was one of the most compelling and important courses we have experienced. Looking into the wide variety of social, political and economic issues facing a modern ‘Network Society’, this unit was delivered with passion and insight whilst facilitating something I feel is all too lacking in higher education – the ability to debate and reason your own opinions.

If ever there was a good indication of how important these issues really are, the investment and publicity the BBC have put into their current documentary series ‘The Virtual Revolution’ is it. Both this series and our unique final year unit tackle the ever changing issues of the web’s impact on our lives, its effects on globalisation and the nation state, the implications of privacy to online communities, and asks challenging questions as to how technology both promises and threatens so much.

After considerable reflection it simply disappoints me to see so many of my higher education colleagues being given a limited range of technical expertise, with no consideration as to the wider impacts of technology. I do not foresee an IT industry where highly specific technical disciplines are redundant, but surely in a globalised world that is impacted so significantly by far more than just ‘how stuff works,’ isn’t it time we really stared to ask ourselves where people come into our new technologies. Bafflingly, multi-disciplinary courses such as the one we are currently enjoying are under threat at many institutions, including mine. Higher education, like most public services, has even more responsibility to deliver value for money in difficult economic times. Yet in my opinion, and far more importantly in the eyes of most employers, graduates that can understand the immense implications of technology as well as just how to create it, stand a far better chance of tackling the most important issues.

I would urge any young person to consider a degree that incorporates the technical, business and social implications of technology. The level of engagement and debate encouraged by the academic running my most recent course is, I fear, all too unique. Any university looking to remove such courses need to deeply consider the role they think their graduates will have in a modern, Network Society.