Ways to Use Emerging Technologyto Drive Innovation

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It’s easy to say businesses should be innovative in order to be more successful. Innovation, however, is not something that can simply be purchased. It requires dedication, the right mindset, and, in many cases, the latest technology.

Businesses have their work cut out for themto drive innovation within their organization, but emerging technology can play a vital role in making it all happen.

There may be no guaranteed formula for success, but there are several ways, as noted by business leaders, that increase your chances of creating something truly innovative.

1 - Show a Di�erent Perspective2 - Create a Better Workspace3 - Look Internally4 - Gain a Better Customer Understanding

“Show a Di�erent Perspective

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Many customers have become used to the usual way of presenting products or services. Emerging technology can enhance this experience, in part by showing products in a completely di�erent light. One way is through maturing VR technology.

“Using VR technology to show o� your products looks and feels cool,” said Patrick Stroh, author and consultant at Mercury Business Advisors, “but more importantly, it can really help show consumers aspects visually that you could only explain before.”

Imagine instead of looking at pictures of a hotel room, you can take a virtual tour of the entire hotel. That’s the level of immersion o�ered by VR.

A Better Workspace

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While much of the attention may be placed on how emerging technology a�ects products, don’t discount the innovation it can bring to the workplace itself. Improved workplace conditions can lead to just as much success as a breakthrough product.

“Application of the Internet of Things (IoT) to the workplace, can help us better analyze the utilization of our workspaces and meetings rooms and lead to more e�ective and innovative space planning and management,” said Fred Guelen, Global CFO and President of North American operations for Planon.

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Look Internally

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Angela Bradbury, the Founder and CEO of chimeadvisors.com believes that encouraging a startup or labs team within your own business could be an e�ective way to cultivate more innovative solutions.

“Treat them as an investor would treat a founding team: give them funding to spend on emerging technologies,” said Bradbury, “but expect them to reach certain milestones and fail fast if necessary.”

Customer Understanding

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“Emerging technologies that leverage the power of the crowd to deliver real-time insights about customer behavior are invaluable when it comes to understanding what customers want, love, hate and would switch to another vendor for,” said Hal Charnley, President and CEO of Mobee. “Platform solutions that rely on mobile apps to gather crowdsourced data can also help businesses identify needs for products that don’t yet exist.”

Indeed, the customers themselves may be the innovative minds you need, and emerging technology helps to capture that. As Charnley points out as an example, Hershey’s is currently looking at crowdsourced data to create a new treat in time for the summer.

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