We are witnessing a period where the dominance of a single color or pattern in a season, or the question, what is in fashion this year, has become obsolete. Life and technology are now intertwined and mutually nourishing more than ever.

Nylon is found everywhere around us. It is in the toothbrush we brush with, the carpets we walk on, the jackets we go skiing in, the baskets in our dishwashers, and the tires on our car. It is hard to believe that nylon has been around for more than 75 years, starting as a replacement for silk in women’s stockings; then becoming strategic to World War II in flak jackets and parachute cord.

Wikipedia defines innovation simply as a “new idea, device or method”, but where the simplicity stops is when you try to manage innovation in your company or business. Despite reading many books, attending courses at prestigious business schools and over 30 years of experience at a global company that touted global market and technological leadership I still cannot come up with a clear answer to the question: “How do you manage innovation successfully?

In the ancient fable about the tortoise and the hare, the speedy and overconfident rabbit fell asleep on the job, while the "slow and steady" turtle won the race. 

There are always di‑erent trend topics in business. Each age has their own “zeitgeist” and innovative forces which create the trends of that specific age. Nowadays we hear more about “Industry 4.0” as a trend. The name implies that industry followed a path by increasing complexity about the technologies used in industry, through steam power and mechanization (Industry 1.0 – 1800’s) to electrification and assembly lines (Industry 2.0 – 1900’s) to PLC and automation (Industry 3.0 – 1960’s) and cyber-physical systems and networking (Industry 4.0 – today). Each path is driven by the innovations of their age. Then, what will be the innovations to drive “Industry 5.0”? The answer might be in our brains, literally “our brains”.

Are you ready for the perfect stormConvergence of all the ground breaking new technologies are forming the perfect digital storm for all kinds of industries. Some of the IT and business leaders will use this storm to blow their sails and get ahead of competition, while others will struggle to keep their boats afloat. Leaders of an industry as old and established as manufacturing have even a bigger challenge with their large, legendary but yet legacy systems they navigate.

Can trends in technology impact a manufacturing industry as old as textile? The answer is absolutely yes and the impact shows many similarities with other B2B and manufacturing sectors. New technologies not only enable new products and capabilities for value creation and competitive advantage, but also offer great opportunities to transform legacy systems and processes for continuous improvement.

IoL (Internet of Lives) may sound like a futuristic concept from a science fiction movie where all the living things are digitally connected. Sadly, it looks inevitable today with the pace that technology is integrating into human beings’ and animals’ bodies with wearable technologies and embedded chips. However, IoT (Internet of Things) is already here, part of our lives and it is here to stay. Regardless of the business you are in, there can be numerous ways where IoT technologies can be utilized to create value or competitive advantage.

A decade after Chesbrough published his book “Open Innovation: The new Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology” the topic of Open Innovation has once again become a hot topic.

It is possible to say that the most profound difference between the successful companies and the individuals from other companies is that they are prepared for the consequences of change; moreover they create the change themselves.