Control and modelling concepts in the innovation process

This paper is concerned with the innovation process and its modem connection with control systems methods. The history of innovation tells us that in the past it required a number of key factors to coincide: economic opportunity, social requirement, technological feasibility and an 'x-factor'. The x-factor is usually associated with a human dimension that moves the whole process forward. Traditionally, the human force for this forward drive is either an entrepreneur or strongly driven scientist. The central point of this paper is that in our highly complex modem world the idea of a single person driving innovation is hard to sustain. It is argued that technological advances mean that it is not practical for one person to cover all aspects, and a team is required to move developments forward. The corollary to this argument is that the control engineer is ideally placed to be a key member of an innovating team by providing the technical overview and the scientific one that connects all parts of a project.