Place matters because innovation is a contact sport

There is a very interesting dichotomy developing. People globally to collaborate via the Internet in incredible ways that were not possible a few years ago, but people are social creatures and personal relationships still matter.

Randall Kempner, vice president for regional innovation at the Council on Competitiveness, observes that in a recent interview that,

We believe that regions are the place where innovation takes place, because innovation is actually a contact sport. In this highly-connected world, people still like to have personal interactions and know the suppliers, buyers and related institutions that enable new product and idea development.

He also identifies what I believe is an enormous untapped opportunity for all regions, especially ours.

I'll just use Rochester , New York , as an example. Kodak has a bunch of orphan technologies. There you have a large company that has developed a bunch of patents and potential technologies that don't fit into their business strategy because the opportunities are too small or not in the company's core market. However, one firm's “small” $100 million dollar market is another man's fortune. But, as of yet, neither the region nor the company has found a way to get their technology into the hands of people that could actually do something with these opportunities.

InnoVenture is at the infancy of building on these concepts.