Speaking at the first Chamber of Commerce lunch of the year, the body, set up by the Committee for Economic Development 12 months ago, outlined how it was looking to focus on addressing common barriers to innovation.
It wants to develop a centralised innovation hub to help drive economic progress across all sectors of the local economy.
‘If there are three people who have a great idea, they’ll form a committee. If there are five people who have that idea, they’ll form two committees. There’ll be a split. Our job is to look for these synergies and bring unification, so you’ve got a central place for innovation,’ said Justin Bellinger, chairman of the board.
He asked those at the session what was holding their business back from being more innovative? Feedback was varied, and ranged from bureaucracy and regulation to individual psychological inhibitions.
This kind of feedback is intended to drive the board’s action moving forward, with extensive lists of innovation barriers already published on its website.
The lists are divided into categories – technology barriers, skills barriers, people barriers, business and regulatory barriers, and finance barriers – and are arranged as something of a checklist, so that they can be marked as resolved in a manner that allows the board to tangibly demonstrate its effectiveness.
To date, it has ticked off one – the lack of a ‘fintech sandbox’ – while listing more than two dozen additional unresolved barriers viewed as limiting the island from reaching maximum potential.
Unresolved issues include technology, particularly cyber security, broadband capacity, and issues with payment systems; banking and tax uncertainty; AI and the digital skills gap; compliance issues; and attracting talent, including the cost of housing and travel.
One key mode of action that the board declared an intent to pursue was hosting workshops which would attempt to guide innovation leaders through the barriers they face.
‘That’s what’s coming up next,’ said board member Susan Watson.
‘We are going to hold a workshop for each barrier, whether they’re real or perceived, to try and resolve or improve each of them.
‘We’re looking for ownership, either via the Innovate Guernsey Board, or anybody who has a particular specialism and would like to step up and help us own the barrier.’
In the meantime, Ms Watson sent the business leaders away with the board’s top tips for innovation.
She recommended that each engage in one of three ‘micro-experiments’ that might help them maximise their innovative productivity.
‘Cancel that recurring meeting. I can bet you nobody will notice,’ she said, suggesting that that time be instead devoted to innovation.
‘Actively put: “Unless you object by the end of today, I’m not going to chase you tomorrow. I’m going to go ahead and do this.” Silence means yes.’
Thirdly and finally, she recommended that innovators re-examine what reports might be superfluous, and which are essential.
‘Reports,’ she said.
‘Does anyone read them? Yes, they do, but you might be able to find one that you’re putting time and effort into that isn’t needed. It’s just being done because it’s always been done.’
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.