BIG POTATOES

In an article on innovation in spiked’s Election 2010 Question everything series James Woudhuysen explores the roots of the establishment’s neglect of scientific and technological innovation, and calls for the creation of new industries for the twenty-first century. On the neglect of scientific and technological innovation James argues:
the categories of consumer society – and, [...]

Despite its importance to our economic future, innovation has largely been overlooked since the credit crunch and is being largely ignored in the UK General Election.
As a remedy, the R&D Society and the authors of BIG POTATOES: The London Manifesto for Innovation, in association with Epoch, have together organised an eve-of-election event at The Royal [...]

Manifesto co-author Norman Lewis is speaking at the Economist CIO Agenda in London on 9 June. Sub-titled ‘Guiding the Business into a New Era of Technology’, the CIO Agenda brings together ‘leading CIOs, experts and influential thinkers will come together for an intense morning of debate’ for which Norman will be a discussion leader. These [...]

Manifesto co-author James Woudhuysen spoke about BIG POTATOES at the University of Plymouth on 5 March. In a report published in SouthWestBusiness Colin Searls, associate Dean in the University of Plymouth Faculty of Arts, said:
We were delighted to have Prof Woudhuysen come to the university for what was his first talk in the South [...]

Sparked by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Science and the General Election 2010 event, Manifesto co-authors James Woudhuysen and Norman Lewis have written in spiked-online on how red tape-obsessed, visionless governments are holding back the kind of big and risky innovation society needs.

SOME TIME BACK, the authors of this Manifesto came together in London to write 10 case studies on innovation in 20th century recessions. We found ourselves impressed by some of the innovations of the Great Depression, pioneered by companies that have since proved durable – companies including Nestlé, Penguin Books, General Electric and Texas Instruments.
But [...]

On 5 March 2010 Manifesto co-author James Woudhuysen spoke on BIG POTATOES at the University of Plymouth Innovation for the Creative & Cultural Industries initiative.

Big Potatoes speech, University of Plymouth, 5 March 2010 from Martyn Perks on Vimeo.

Manifesto co-author James Woudhuysen was interviewed about managing innovation, and BIG POTATOES, by Computer Weekly after presenting to the Computer Weekly 500 Club.

In September 2009 Manifesto co-author Norman Lewis spoke at TEDxLeeds. His presentation ‘Yes We Can: Innovating out of a recession’ considered why we need to challenge the prevailing culture of limits and risk-aversion in order to foster innovation for future wealth creation.
Yes We Can: Innovating out of a recession
View more presentations from Norman Lewis.

The conception of innovation outlined in this Manifesto is humanistic. Science ad technology is vital in this conception, but it’s a means to an end – a higher human quality of life and societal progress. The more humanity innovates, the more quality of life can improve enough for more people to engage in innovation. That’s [...]