Information for Innovation
Innovation is based on new ideas, and new combination of old ideas, the utility of which is tested with applications using different kinds of information. Empirical evidence reveals that it is the quality of the information activities and of the information possessed by an organisation which makes its innovations commercially successful and give it the competitive edge. Thus, information plays a large role in the process of innovation. Information systems and services may add value in their operations to enable their users to generate genuinely new ideas. This may be done in a variety of ways, some of which are:
• Providing an information rich environment
• Including peripheral and speculative material in their information service
• Providing inter-disciplinary information
• Indicating gaps in the knowledge
• Providing browsing facilities in the information services, etc.