Gregory N. Polletta and iGNITIATE Keynote: Design, R&D + Retail @ Paris World Retail Congress Oct 30th

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, in Paris at the World Retail Congress, iGNITIATE founder & Design Professor, Gregory N. Polletta, will give the morning introduction and a 1hr afternoon masterclass on Leveraging Design, Design Thinking + R&D in Retail

 

The retail industry is currently experiencing a Renaissance in it's adoption of design, design thinking, and R&D models to further deliver design lead breakthroughs to the marketplace. Examples such as digital payments, mobile devices, customer profiling, advanced architectural forms, 3D printing, and rapid new product development launches has allowed retail, traditionally the last leg in the product lifecycle before recycling, to be the new playground for ground breaking experimentation. 

Further examples explored in "Percieved Usefulness of Innovative Technology in Retailing: Consumers׳ and Retailers׳ Points of View" and R&D in Design Creativity and Innovation? Let us Not Forget the Reality of Companies will be discussed along with new product design examples from ancillary industries which more than 20yrs previous only now are finding themselves inbedded in the everyday fabric of the retail world.

In 2014 after more than 500 industry professionals have passed through his classes, Gregory was named as the most inspirational professor in the ENPC PhD Engineering / MBA program program by the 2014 participants and is the Designer in Residence at the True Start & True Capital Venture Capital firm focusing on the consumer and retail sectors. 

                               

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Why Design Dies: Microsoft closes Palo Alto Labs, Xerox PARC lives

The famous Xerox PARC Labs Keg Parties? Microsoft Labs Barbecues? Sony R&D all nighters out? Maybe how R&D labs make "innovation" but why? Freedom. But not at Microsoft anymore. Here's why. 

    

  

Recently  Microsoft announced the closing of one it's most important R&D centers right in the heart of silicon valley. This signifies one of the fundamental shift from a firm of leaders to a firm of followers. In the case of previous economical governmental regimes, the idea of trickle down economics the argument was that tax breaks for the rich assisted the poor. While the governmental economical tax model argument rages on, there is no need to even question the validity of Trickle Down R&D which shows us not only the validity but the necessity to foster design, invention and fail fast fail often model. With of course a specific model of learning and commercialization built in. 

When the precursor to all modern computers came from the Xerox PARC labs, the founders of SUN Microsystems, and of course some of the how biggest leaders in silicon valley venture capital, it cannot be denied that R&D thinking and commercialization is the basis for major breakthroughs as the New York Times reports. That and a lot of fun and freedom to make the mistakes necessary to make this happen. Let's hope Microsoft does not go the way of Bell Labs. 

                               

Visit the entire iGNITIATE blog history here