We Have a Serious Innovation Deficit Says Silicon Valley Thought Leader Judy Estrin
I just got back from a very inspiring conversation with Judy Estrin, a serial entrepreneur, former CTO at Cisco, and one of Silicon Valley's top thought leaders.
I first met Ms Estrin about 7 years ago when I profiled her achievements in the Financial Times. What makes Ms Estrin interesting is that she is a dyed-in-the-wool Silicon Valley entrepeneur spanning several decades and she is not afraid to speak her mind.
Over the past few years she has been sounding the alarm about the lack of innovation in Silicon Valley, and in the US. We are living off of investments in innovation made many years ago and we are not creating the conditions for a new crop of innovation. And we need to harvest a bumper crop of innovation if we are to solve four major crises: energy, climate change, healthcare, and security.
Her work has led to a new book - Closing the Innovation Gap: Reigniting the Spark of Creativity in a Global Economy
Her research includes many interviews with corporate leaders and many others around the US.
"It was wonderful to get out of Silicon Valley and talk to people about what is happening to innovation," Ms Estrin said. "Too often we get caught up in our own little world in the valley, and we don't see what is happening elsewhere." She discovered that we are running a national innovation deficit, and that we need to act now to avoid serious consequences. She describes the problems and offers solutions.
I will have a video and podcast audio of my interview with Ms. Estrin coming up on SVW.
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