‘It’s not government getting in the way, it’s us’

PROBLEM SOLVER: Saul Kaplan, former executive director of R.I. Commerce Corp.'s predecessor, believes the Ocean State must do a better job of promoting and supporting innovation. / PBN PHOTO/ RUPERT WHITELEY
PROBLEM SOLVER: Saul Kaplan, former executive director of R.I. Commerce Corp.'s predecessor, believes the Ocean State must do a better job of promoting and supporting innovation. / PBN PHOTO/ RUPERT WHITELEY

Saul Kaplan founded the Business Innovation Factory in 2005 to build a place where partners from across the public and private sector could focus on solving social-system challenges.

BIF focuses each year on a portfolio of projects in the BIF Experience Labs to help organizations experiment and collaborate to explore new business models and systems for delivering value. A large part of that is BIF’s annual summit, a popular fall event held at Trinity Repertory Co. in Providence. Prior to starting BIF, Kaplan was executive director of the since-renamed R.I. Economic Development Corp. and executive counselor to the governor on economic and community development.

What are the biggest hurdles to starting a business in Rhode Island?

I’d take a counterview. It’s a great place to start. I talk to a lot of folks looking for advice on how to come into the Rhode Island market, and usually say if you need a traditional corporate job but have the wherewithal to start your own business, it’s a great place to start, there’s a lot of creative talent here. The only barrier to starting, here and elsewhere, is imagination and guts. … We love talking about the business climate and the role government has, but to be honest, it’s not government getting in the way, it’s us, our imagination and guts to start something. We should be creating a favorable business climate for citizens to be more entrepreneurial and let them decide where to innovate, and not be blocked from exploring new approaches. We have the technology and platforms to scale new systems that deliver customized solutions to the individual, but we are frozen in industrial-era systems that only know how to deliver the same solution to the masses. We see this same pattern in health care, education and energy. These are well-intentioned systems with outmoded business models and no capacity to experiment.

- Advertisement -

Does Rhode Island have the resources to help companies develop innovative products and services?

I think we have a lot more resources than before. There has been a significant increase in investment tools and programs in what’s now the R.I. Commerce Corp. And it’s not just government, but colleges and universities making them available, and they’re happening in the community. There are people you can connect with to be helpful if you want to start something. The future of the state’s economy is based on innovation and entrepreneurship, and not something treated as a fringe part of the economic-development story, but as an essential part. The colleges want to play a role, they have to, it’s what students are interested in. Whether they want to start a business or not, they want to see how their learning applies in the real world.

What industry offers the greatest potential for growth through innovation in Rhode Island and why?

There’s great opportunity for innovation here, but people tend to think innovation is different from invention. There’s a difference between creating new ideas and creating new value. It’s not innovation until it delivers value, and innovation is a better way to deliver value or solve a problem in the real world. Spreading of ideas is critical, but the end goal is solving a problem or creating a new opportunity. I think a lot about how to enable R&D at the business model and systems level, where we have the best chance of launching ideas that convert to scalable, transformative innovations.

Why did you found BIF?

I started it while I was working in government, leading the [former R.I.] Economic Development Corp. I had to work hard to move the conversation to entrepreneurship and innovation; I always believed that was central. We created a lot of programs, one of which was the formation of BIF, which really took off. When I left government, it was exactly the work I wanted to do in support of the innovation climate here and across the country.

The annual summit BIF hosts continues to be a huge draw?

Yes, we fill the place up every year, it’s an amazing two days where 500 innovation junkies come in, celebrating these ideas and innovations and seeing how it can transform lives, companies and communities. It’s inspirational and makes me proud to be a Rhode Islander. It sets up an avalanche of new conversations and connections we spend all year trying to take advantage of.

How do you think outsiders view innovation in Rhode Island?

We need to get clearer on how to show the state as an innovation hotspot, we need more institutions and people around the state sharing and promoting it. It’s not a government role, it’s a citizens role. We have to be confident in our place. If we want to position ourselves as a hotspot, we have to deliver on that promise. •

No posts to display