Tamara St. Claire - PARC blog

We want to invent the next killer app

13 May 2011 | Tamara St. Claire

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard this or its equivalent (just insert your industry’s killer app in instead of “iPhone”). Because most companies have incremental and next-generation innovation down – it’s the disruptive, non-core, “next big thing” innovation that eludes many and presents the most challenges. Yet this type of innovation is a necessity for any business that wants to access new markets, create a new line of revenue, or re-invent themselves in anticipation of future directions. So here’s my question: what happens AFTER you conceive the next iPhone (or killer app for your industry)??

The secret sauce?

30 September 2010 | Tamara St. Claire

In the world of open innovation, there are companies out there seeking the panacea that will save their business, or that will magically transform them into the “next big thing”. What this really reveals, however, is how people consider the role of innovation in addressing their commercial needs. I’ve noticed that many of the conceptions people have about the function and future of innovation are also closely tied to how people may perceive PARC... One of the first things some companies ask us is, “So, what’s your secret sauce?”...But as anyone in the business of innovation knows, innovation isn’t a noun; it's a process, a culture, an ecosystem. Let's examine the usual suspects.

On keeping U.S. innovation competitive

18 November 2009 | Tamara St. Claire

PARC today is no longer “Xerox PARC” but a commercial entity with multiple Fortune 500 and other clients. We're building our contemporary innovation model by positioning ourselves at the heart of industrial R&D, government contracts, and world-class university research. (For us, the last one is translated as bringing together the top minds from diverse fields: our talent is our primary asset.) To support the next waves of innovation, we need to examine how the rest of the U.S. and world will replicate Silicon Valley – with its access to top talent, multicultural citizens, venture infrastructure and corporate partners, universities, and inexhaustible energy. But here’s the thing: two-thirds of our commercial income comes from abroad. Asia, in particular, is aggressively probing for new engines of innovation.

Harnessing intrapreneurial horsepower to drive corporate strategy

26 August 2009 | Tamara St. Claire

Instead of generating undirected, academic solutions that can dilute the focus of the research organization, intrapreneurs can address target market needs. Their creative juices can be aligned with a well-articulated (and hopefully well-understood) vision about the future of the organization. The key is to channel individual efforts so their combined energy is directed to solving problems that the company can take advantage of – especially if the findings are breakthrough and game changing. Wouldn’t it be a shame to solve world peace if you weren’t in the peace industry??