{"id":1526,"date":"2022-04-05T09:15:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/?p=1526"},"modified":"2022-04-27T10:02:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T10:02:02","slug":"how-problem-spaces-are-possibilities-for-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/how-problem-spaces-are-possibilities-for-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"How Problem Spaces are Possibilities for Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What\u2019s your automatic response<\/span> to the<\/span> word <\/span>\u2018<\/span>i<\/span>nnovation<\/span>\u2019?<\/span>\u00a0 Gi<\/span>ven<\/span> the emphasis within the UK media, industry and HE discourse <\/span>on STEM, p<\/span>erhaps your first thought is of i<\/span>ndustrial solutions or <\/span>novel <\/span>developments in s<\/span>cience<\/span>, t<\/span>echnology or engineering<\/span>. <\/span>Despite these common <\/span>associations, an innovation mindset and approach are relevant for tackling any kind of social or industrial challenge or problem.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Innovation is exploring, designing, testing and scaling solutions to problems.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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The latest UK government Innovation Strategy published in 2021 described innovation as <\/span>\u2018<\/span>the<\/span> creation and application of new knowledge to improve the world\u2019. <\/span><\/span>The process of innovation is <\/span>relevant for<\/span> researchers working in<\/span> almost all areas of new knowledge creation.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Researchers constantly encounter and discover problems and problem spaces within their <\/span>work<\/span>. <\/span>From<\/span> air pollution <\/span>to misinformation<\/span> to<\/span> racism<\/span> there is scope to reframe <\/span>p<\/span>roblem spaces <\/span>as<\/span> impact possibility spaces<\/span>. Ultimately, p<\/span>roblems tend to be <\/span>examples of situations where <\/span>peoples\u2019 needs are not being<\/span> met<\/span>.<\/span> This \u2018lack\u2019 which problem spaces represent are an opportunity to explore, test and develop <\/span>existing<\/span> knowledge <\/span>and expertise to potentially solve specific <\/span>problem<\/span>s<\/span> by<\/span> developing<\/span> processes, systems<\/span>, service<\/span>s and products<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Here are three ways of thinking about innovation in relation to research problems:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

1. I<\/span>nnovation is a creative <\/span><\/span>process<\/span> which <\/span>– <\/span>when successful<\/span> –<\/span> is <\/span>grounded in <\/span>a deep understanding of<\/span> a <\/span>problem<\/span> rather than a preconceived<\/span> idea or solution<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

2. Innovation is applicable <\/span>to<\/span> any area of knowledge <\/span>which<\/span> when applied has<\/span> potential to improve societal wellbeing, quality of life, and \/ or economic security.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

3. I<\/span>nnovation is <\/span>primarily<\/span> about people and <\/span>meeting <\/span>their needs<\/span>.<\/span> A<\/span>lthough the <\/span>outcomes<\/span> \u2013 or end<\/span> solutions – <\/span>of innovation are often highlighted,<\/span> the<\/span> value <\/span>of outcomes or solutions <\/span>is <\/span>always in<\/span> their<\/span> response<\/span> to a lack <\/span>(<\/span>or problem<\/span>)<\/span> human beings are experiencing<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Where a researcher or team have the<\/span> capacity <\/span>for deep <\/span>understanding <\/span>of a problem, there exists scope to develop a<\/span> solution <\/span>which<\/span> make<\/span>s<\/span> meaningful impact within a research area<\/span>. <\/span>In fact, u<\/span>niversity researchers are uniquely well placed to innovate <\/span>given their<\/span> specialist <\/span>knowledge and interdisciplinary connections<\/span>. This is <\/span>rich<\/span> ground<\/span> for <\/span>innovation,<\/span> especially if <\/span>collaborating with government, charities, SMEs or larger corporates is added into the mix. When innovating towards a solution, a key consideration <\/span>is <\/span>actively<\/span> working with the<\/span> end users of the solutions or those experiencing a problem.<\/span> Collaboration enhances the entire process.<\/span><\/span><\/p>

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If you have an idea and want to explore it, you can experiment with an interactive tool from the <\/span>Knowledge Transfer Network: this <\/span><\/span>\u2018Innovation Canvas\u2019 r<\/span>esource<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span>This iterative tool can help <\/span>teams <\/span>innovate from an idea through to a proof of concept and even a final solution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>

The Collaboration Development team within the Research & Knowledge Exchange Office can support you to identify when problem spaces you are working in have the potential create solutions. <\/span>Where relevant, the team can also then connect you with potential external collaborators from organisations who are looking to make an impact in the same problem space.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>

Our University of Westminster values of being progressive, compassionate and responsible are all about making an impact in the world<\/span>. Through the process of collaborative <\/span>innovation<\/span> we can play a key part in <\/span>making an impact through innovation.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s your automatic response to the word \u2018innovation\u2019?\u00a0 Given the emphasis within the UK media, industry and HE discourse on STEM, perhaps your first thought is of industrial solutions or novel developments in science, technology or engineering. Despite these common associations, an innovation mindset and approach are relevant for tackling any kind of social or … <\/p>\n

Read more “How Problem Spaces are Possibilities for Innovation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":720,"featured_media":1529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,4,124],"tags":[126,125,127,80],"class_list":["post-1526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collaboration","category-funding","category-innovation","tag-collaboration","tag-innovation","tag-ke","tag-research-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1526"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1537,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1526\/revisions\/1537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/researchoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}