Innovation expert addresses midland business breakfast

A number of Westmeath businesses attended a business breakfast in Tullamore hosted by the Atlantic Corridor organisation last week. The breakfast was in association with Langdon Morris of Innovation Labs and was held in the Tullamore Court Hotel on Tuesday. Innovation Labs, which is collaborating in the Irish market with O'Kelly Sutton, strategic planning consultants, is recognised as one of the world's leading innovation consultants and collaborative design facilitators. Langdon Morris is known worldwide for his work in innovation, strategy, and collaboration methodologies. He is Senior Practice Scholar of the Ackoff Center at the University of Pennsylvania; a Senior Fellow of the Economic Opportunities Program of the Aspen Institute; a member of the Scientific Committee of Business Digest, Paris, and a member of the Editorial Committee of The International Journal of Innovation Science. He has taught MBA courses in strategy at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris and Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires. He is the author, co-author, or editor of six highly acclaimed books, with editions in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and French, as well as of numerous white papers and articles. His book 'Permanent Innovation' has been described as "the perfect primer" and "the best book out there covering the core concepts of innovation." The opportunity to learn about innovation from Langdon Morris was welcomed by Paul O'Kelly, Partner, O'Kelly Sutton. He commented: "In Ireland, and internationally we are working with companies that are thriving today; companies that are bouncing back after major setbacks in the last couple of years. These business have three things in common. "They have inspired, resilient leadership. They are flexible, yet rigorous in the execution of their plans; and they have the true culture and disciplines of innovation in their business. Although in Offaly and the Midlands we have many outstanding innovators and innovative companies, we need to dramatically increase innovation capability and investment for this region to prosper and grow. Langdon has given the people here today powerful insights into how to innovate, what people need to measure so that they are on track, how to build an innovation culture and the practical process required to deliver." In his presentation, Langdon spoke on the business model of innovation and how to create an innovation culture in your organisation and the role of innovation and how it is driven by economic change. In a fascinating insight into the process of innovation, he discussed in detail work he had done with Apple Computers, an icon of innovation culture. This event was organised by Atlantic Corridor, a development agency, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs Promoting Ireland Abroad Division to develop links for business and education between the Irish Midlands, the USA, Canada and North America. Further information is available on www.atlanticcorridor.ie