Why innovation is about more than shiny gadgets

WHEN we think of great innovations, many of us think of high-tech gadgets developed by polo-neck clad entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

Launches of revolutionary devices certainly grab headlines. Think back, for example, to when the iPhone and iPad were first unveiled; or, more recently, the buzz around the new generations of smartphones with folding screens.

But innovation is about much more than shiny technology and must-have gadgetry. It comes in many forms, it can be radical or it can be incremental, and it can happen in all types of industries, from small high-tech startups to larger, long-established, traditional corporations.