Innovation. Collaboration. They are believed to be vital to growing Rhode Island’s economy and distinguishing features of the state’s industrial profile.
The Business Innovation Factory, a nonprofit focused on improving industry in Rhode Island, coordinated and sponsored a two-day conference last week at which collaboration and innovation were central themes.
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The Collaborative Innovation Summit took place over last Wednesday and Thursday at the Hotel Providence, where innovators in business, health care, government, design and other fields shared their success stories.
“We’re trying to make innovation more central to how we reposition (Rhode Island’s) economy,” said Saul Kaplan, chief catalyst for the Business Innovation Factory and deputy director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation.
“This event is a great way to bring innovators both from here in Rhode Island and outside the state to bring focus to (innovation),” he added.
More than 100 people last Wednesday morning were seated in one of the downtown hotel’s conference rooms for the launch of the summit. From a small stage in the dimly lit room, speakers gave accounts of how they have applied innovation and collaboration to benefit their organizations.
Jim Lavoie, CEO of Middletown-based information technology company Rite-Solutions Inc., explained how his business thrives on tapping ideas from its 150 employees. “It’s got to be a 24/7 kind of thing; everybody’s got to be moving the company forward,” he said.
The summit drew a full roster of distinguished speakers. Among them was Lynn Margherio, a former White House staffer for President Clinton. She now serves as executive vice president of the Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative and CEO of Cradles to Crayons, a nonprofit in Quincy, Mass., that sends resources to homeless and poor children nationwide.
Dennis Littky, founder of the Met School in Providence, talked about the alternative approach the high school has taken to improve its students’ education. Rather than typical classroom learning, Met students choose subjects of interest and learn from professionals in that field. They also often take college courses.
“It’s the difference of filling a bucket to lighting a fire,” Littky explained of the school’s educational philosophy.
About 35 Met students joined Littky at the summit, where between speaking segments they mingled with the event’s innovators and other professionals.
Founded about 10 years ago, Littky said, the Met has a 97-percent attendance rate compared to 77 percent at public high schools in the city.
“That’s happened because the kids get inspired about learning,” he said.
The summit was the first that the Business Innovation Factory had hosted, said Kaplan, who plans to make it an annual event. The group’s members, which pay annual dues of $20,000, funded the event’s $70,000 budget.
The Factory’s membership includes CVS Corp., Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Citizens Bank, Cox Communications, Hasbro Inc., the R.I. Economic Policy Council, the RIEDC, Intel, Lifespan, Lucent Technologies, IBM and the Rhode Island Commodores.
Kaplan said he wants the summit to serve as a starting point for organizations in Rhode Island to start talking about innovation and collaboration.
“What we’re trying to do is get those discussions to happen, and then we want to translate those discussions into action,” he said.
“A lot of what we’re doing at the Business Innovation Factory is trying to put together the projects where innovators can roll up their sleeves and work together to do the experimentation … and we think this is going to be great for Rhode Island.”
