Frost & Sullivan helps organisations accelerate revenue growth at the Growth Innovation Leadership 2014: Africa congress
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – 12 August, 2014 – It is no wonder that investors are looking to Africa as the ‘next big thing’. With several new innovations being launched on a daily basis, and businesses showing 82 percent revenue growth per annum, innovative companies are transforming the business landscape as we know it.
To help organisations develop powerful business models and accelerate revenue growth, Frost & Sullivan are hosting an interactive think tank session ‘Blue Sky Innovation Think Tank’ at the Growth Innovation Leadership (GIL 2014: Africa) congress (http://ow.ly/AbcQD) taking place on 14 August at The Table Bay hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. Frost & Sullivan’s Global Director for Growth Implementation Solutions, Mark Simoncelli, will lead the Think Tank session and demonstrate how companies can change the game by transforming innovative business models into business results.
“While it is important to focus on the cash cows of the present, the rapidly changing market could mean your current business is heading towards a dead end,” notes Frost & Sullivan’s Global Director for Growth Implementation Solutions, Mark Simoncelli. “It is vital for CEOs to ensure they are aware and in tune with the greater market changes and are looking to develop new offerings that keep up, and potentially, disrupt, collapse and transform the current market.”
Printing is a relatively old technology. However, new innovations, like 3D printing, have led to an explosion of novel applications, from printing organs to printing jet engines for NASA. Boeing is looking to 3D printing for its new aircraft – this will significantly reduce cost, lead time and weight, resulting in all round savings. Printers have already been constructed to print low cost houses from the foundation up, in less than 20 hours, revolutionising the property market.
“Blue Sky thinking is a curiosity based method of innovation that is designed to produce game changing innovations such as these outlined above. This method of innovation embraces the full innovation ecosystem to generate, develop and launch new disruptive innovations, notes Simoncelli. “Traditional innovation is market based, and is geared to develop incremental innovations that build on current products and are focused more on improvements, rather than new products. Conventional thinking would not have lead to the idea of printing a house.”
In 2000, IBM launched a division focussing on Blue Sky innovation. In a time when revenues from their current products were declining, this division was able to show 82 percent growth in revenue per annum, growing from US$1 Billion to US$11 Billion in just 4 years.
Companies need to take the time to assess current innovation management systems, and then embrace and embed Blue Sky thinking into operations. The full ecosystem needs to be considered to ensure these systems are successfully leveraged to generate maximum returns while promoting the long term sustainability of the company.
This annual one-day congress is part of Frost & Sullivan’s exclusive GIL community that represents a worldwide network of over 5,000 senior executives. The congress will begin at 9 am with a welcome address by Operations Director for Frost & Sullivan Africa, Hendrik Malan, followed by an inspiring keynote by EIA Partner & Director Dorman Followwill. Frost & Sullivan’s prestigious Best Practice Awards Banquet will follow on from the day’s events where companies, like Standard Bank, IBM, EOH, Sasol and more will be recognised for best practices and as innovative leaders.
To attend Frost & Sullivan’s congress, or to inquire about sponsorship and media partnership opportunities, please send an e-mail to Samantha James, Corporate Communications, at samantha.james@frost.com
