Exchange Event: Innovation

Innovation has almost as many definitions as it has outcomes. It’s different for every business and can come from any quarter. It can be disruptive or it can be the smallest, most obvious solution.

At this event for Exchange members, we will look at what innovation means for particular organisations. We’ll consider if there is a right time and place for it, if innovation is always a positive thing or if too much time spent innovating carries risk.

Delegates can ponder whether their business is open to and ready for innovation and if they provide an environment that encourages everyone to be innovative. We’ll ask if big business can learn from the innovations of smaller organisations and vice versa, and how far businesses dare go to the edge of innovation.

Join our host, Professor Roy Sandbach, and a panel of expert speakers to discuss innovation and to find a route towards matching “what’s needed with what’s possible”.

Among his many roles Roy is innovation strategy lead for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, a former research fellow with Procter & Gamble, last year’s David Goldman Visiting Professor of Innovation and Enterprise at Newcastle University, Chair of the Prince's Trust North East leadership group and a trustee for Centre for Life.

Innovation can be about major change or it can be, as Roy says, “simply little delighters”. The trick is making it happen.