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What Does It Mean to Innovate?
Not all AI and data science will be innovative
We talk about innovation often. Whether you are a start-up, a large company, or an academic, we are supposed to be innovating. We are supposed to ask if we are innovating enough.
Innovation implies impact and we want to feel like what we do matters.
Conceptionally, it can be difficult to discuss innovation. The spectrum of what is deemed “innovation” depends on your context, perspective, and timeline.
A quick Google search defines innovation as “action of innovating” which is rather non-descript, so let’s go with the second definition — innovation is “a new method, idea, or product”. So, innovation is a process.
A “state” of innovation.
We can think of each part of this definition as a “state” of innovation.
First, we have “the idea”. This is where we first conceptually realize we have both a problem and a potential solution.
Second, we have “a method” which helps us to arrive at the solution. This could be our minimal viable product or a repeatable aspect of a potential solution.
