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Networks that drive innovation
The Network Innovation Lab, launched in collaboration with founding partner STMicroelectronics, kicked off with a conference
Sometimes, brute force works. If the goal is to boost an organization's level of innovation, increasing research and development investment almost always proves effective. But why are some organizations more innovative than others, even when investing the same amount?
A significant part of the answer lies in the structure of intra- and inter-company networks, say researchers from the Network Innovation Lab (NI Lab), which was inaugurated yesterday at SDA Bocconi School of Management, thanks to the contribution of founding partner STMicroelectronics.
It’s no coincidence, said the Lab’s co-director Giuseppe Soda, that diagrams illustrating the connections between people in a pharmaceutical research center or those between companies in an innovation ecosystem closely resemble the networks that form in the human brain. “Innovation,” Soda explained, “is a complex outcome of two components: the informal network that naturally forms among people and the formal one, shaped by the company’s established workflows.”
Fittingly, the NI Lab is already at the center of a network that, through exchange agreements and joint research initiatives, ties it to the Links Center at the University of Kentucky and the Department of Organization at University College London.
Lorenzo Grandi, President and Chief Financial Officer of STMicroelectronics, highlighted the company’s commitment to innovation and the shifting competitive landscape, which has led to increasingly shorter innovation cycles. “And what truly matters when facing changes that impact both us and our competitors?” Grandi asked. “People!”
Insightful discussions emerged from a roundtable moderated by Paola Cillo, Associate Dean for Research at SDA Bocconi and an expert in innovation. Contributors included Irene Boni, Senior Advisor Digital & Tech and Non-Executive Board Member; Maurizio Tamagnini, Founder and CEO of FSI; Gianmario Verona, President of Human Technopole and Professor at Bocconi University; and Federico Viganò, Board Member at Federchimica Assobiotec.
The event concluded with remarks from Marco Tortoriello, NI Lab’s co-director, who pointed out that while scientific literature has extensively studied the traits of innovators, it has largely overlooked the figures within their networks. However, recent research has shown that “innovation catalysts” also exist, and their presence within an innovator’s network can significantly enhance, and in some cases even double, an innovator’s productivity.
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