Expert workshop predicts high relevance of frugal innovation for German industry & society

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Rajnish Tiwari

On 12 January 2016, around 30 stakeholders from industry, academia and politics met in Hamburg to analyse and discuss the relevance of frugal innovations for German companies and society-at-large. Frugal innovations are defined as (technological) solutions, focussed on their core functions robustness, user-friendliness and affordability. This phenomenon has, so far, predominantly been observed in emerging markets. The model of frugal innovations could, however, also hold great potentials for industrialized nations, such as Germany, and other international marketplaces. The importance of frugal innovations is, as evidence shows, expected to increase for the domestic market, too.

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Experten sehen frugale Innovationen auf dem Vormarsch

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Rajnish Tiwari

Erkenntnisse aus dem ersten gemeinsamen Workshop vom Fraunhofer-Zentrum Leipzig und der TU Hamburg

Am 12. Januar 2016 trafen sich rund 30 Vertreter aus Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Politik, um die Relevanz frugaler Innovationen für deutsche Unternehmen zu analysieren und zu diskutieren. Als „frugale Innovationen“ werden auf Kernfunktionen fokussierte, robuste, benutzerfreundliche und bezahlbare (Technologie-)Lösungen bezeichnet. Dieses Phänomen wurde bislang vornehmlich in Schwellenländern beobachtet. Für Industrienationen wie Deutschland könnte das frugale Innovationsmodel jedoch im Rahmen des internationalen Wettbewerbs große Potenziale bergen. Ebenso wird erwartet, dass die Bedeutung frugaler Innovationen im Hinblick auf den Binnenmarkt zunimmt.

Workshop-Teilnehmer im Gästehaus der Universität Hamburg (Bild: Kühl/TUHH)

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“Frugal Innovation in Scholarly and Social Discourse”: New Paper on Trends and Societal Implications

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Rajnish Tiwari

As a part of our joint BMBF-ITA project with Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy (MOEZ) in Leipzig we have published a new paper to assess trends and potential societal implications of frugal innovation by analyszing scholarly and social discourse.Apart from this the paper also reports results of our workshop held in Hamburg on January 12, 2016 to assess the potentials of frugal innovation in the specific context of Germany. The publication details are as follows:

“Frugal Innovation in Scholarly and Social Discourse: An Assessment of Trends and Potential Societal Implications“

Authored by: Rajnish Tiwari ^a, Luise Fischer ^b and Katharina Kalogerakis ^a

^a Center for Frugal Innovation, Institute for Technology and Innovation Management, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Hamburg, Germany

^b Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy (MOEZ), Leipzig, Germany

Abstract

The topic of frugal innovation is increasingly gaining relevance in social as well as scholarly discourse. Frugal innovations have been perceived by many to be a phenomenon generally confined to emerging economies where there are large groups of unserved consumers with unmet needs. But there is increasing evidence that this phenomenon is getting relevant also in the industrialized nations potentially affecting the long-term competitiveness of domestic firms not only overseas but also at home.

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Call for Contributions – Scientific symposium: “Potentials of frugal innovation in industrial countries”

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Rajnish Tiwari

Frugal innovations offer high customer value (core functionality, durability, ease of use) as well as significantly reduced costs of ownership compared with standard products and services. The phenomenon of frugal innovations was initially observed in emerging economies and the scholarly discourse still largely focuses on this context. Now there is increasing evidence that frugal solutions are also diffusing in the economically developed nations. It is, however unclear, to what extent frugal innovations are relevant for industrial economies such as Germany in economic and socio-political contexts.

This symposium is part of a larger research project funded by the BMBF as a part of its ITA (Innovations- und Technikanalysen) programme and entitled “Potentials, challenges and societal relevance of frugal innovations in the context of the global competition for innovation”. Project partners are the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy in Leipzig and the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management at the Hamburg University of Technology.

Date: 24 June 2016, 10am – 5pm

Venue: HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Leipzig, Germany

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Workshop zum Thema “Potenziale Frugaler Innovationen”

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Rajnish Tiwari

Am 12. Januar 2016 organisieren wir einen Workshop-Tag zum Thema „Potenziale frugaler Innovationen“. Dieser findet als Teil unseres BMBF-geförderten Projektes “Potenziale, Herausforderungen und gesellschaftliche Relevanz frugaler Innovationen in Deutschland im Kontext des globalen Innovationswettbewerbs” am besagten Tag in der Zeit von 10.00 Uhr bis ca. 17.00 Uhr im Gästehaus der Universität Hamburg statt.

Neben Fachvorträgen wird ein zentraler Mittelpunkt der Veranstaltung eine gemeinsam mit den Teilnehmern durchgeführte „Expertendiskussion“ im kleinen Kreis von ca. 20 Personen aus Wissenschaft, Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft über das vorwiegend in Schwellenländern beobachtete Phänomen der „frugalen Innovation“ und dessen mögliche Relevanz für Deutschland sein. Die Veranstaltung richtet sich an relevante Stakeholder aus ausgewählten Bereichen. Sollten Sie Interesse an der Teilnahme haben, so setzen Sie sich bitte in Verbindung mit uns (ausgebucht; Stand: 8.1.2016).

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