This Week In Innovation: 7/27/15 - 7/31/15

This week, Forbes released an article about 'The 5 Types Of Innovation For The Future Of Work.' Sounds intriguing right? Throughout the article, the author essentially lists these '5 types of innovation' and starts by discussing the 1st type: employee innovation. Here, we explore how every single one of your employees is a valuable asset to your organization and how they can be vital to the health of the organization. 'The logic here, is why rely on the intelligence of a few when you can tap into the collective wisdom of many'? The cool part about the layout of the article up is that this will be the first in a series of articles that explores each one of the 5 types of innovation. In other words, stay tuned!

Never did I think I would be using a Foreign Policy article in an innovation week summary, but alas' This week Neel V. Patel wrote an article for Foreign Policy on how vehicle innovation is on the rise and what that means for a true clean-energy car. To provide some background, there are a bunch of car companies investing loads of money into building zero emission and hydrogen-powered cars. However, the current models are extremely pricey due to the large size of the hydrogen storage unit. The article follows a man by the name of Joseph Wang, a nanoengineer for the University of California, who may have just discovered a cheaper and more compact alternative to the hydrogen storage model. Through a recent article in the German journal Angewandte Chemie, Wang and his team describe a system that stores the hydrogen as a space-saving liquid rather than storing it as bloated gas. 'The researchers' method produced more than nine times as much hydrogen gas as liquid reactions'' Well folks, the future of innovation is here!

We all know that feeling. In that moment when you need the most creativity your brain appears to fail you and any semblance of inspiration is lost. No, not anymore! Entrepreneur released a catchy infographic this week that's main purpose is to reveal 21 ways to get inspired. 'Consider this list of tricks and strategies your roadmap, all planned out with the benefit of the latest research and expert advice.' Among the many 'tricks' and strategies to find inspiration for innovation are 'Say Maybe: Be open to possibility,' 'Imagine Distance: Psychological distance boosts creativity,' 'and 'Start Over: Scrap everything. Think Fresh.' The infographic features many similar concepts and strategies that, to me, seem useful and applicable. So what are you waiting for? Check it out!

Did you ever think you'd hear the CTO of Amazon say 'We still consider ourselves a startup'? Amazon and the cloud computing business 'surged 49 percent last year, drawing $4.6 billion in revenue.' Nin Zipkin of Entrepreneur was able to sit down with Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, and discuss why the cloud is becoming essential for startup success. One of the questions asked by Zipkin was, 'How is the cloud solving everyday problems'? In response to this question, Vogel states that in everyday life people are feeling the benefits of the cloud. The example he gives is this device that you on your water meter and it can tell you where in the home you use up the most amount of water. Interested in learning more about Amazon's innovation practices and what it means for your life? Entrepreneur has more of the details.

Nichole Dicharry, is a Digital Marketing Assistant at IIR USA, Marketing and Finance Divisions, who works on various aspects of the industry including social media, marketing analysis and media. She can be reached at Ndicharry@iirusa.com