Although the term ‘innovation’ has been exhausted in all sorts of messaging from schools, businesses to governments, its mainstream popularity is for good reason. Innovation has come to be accepted as a universal element of development, regardless of sector or country. 

Broadly defined, innovation is the introduction of a new product, process, or even mindset to society or the marketplace. This often begins with an identified unmet need or gap in the status quo, working to develop solutions, and implementing change. 

At its core, innovation involves ownership of one’s environment. Individuals do not have to wait for a problem to be solved in a top-down manner. Instead, innovation feeds the desire for continued improvement, re-imagining, and sustainability.

To stimulate interest and capacity for innovation, leading academic institutions offer a myriad of innovative programs in these areas. Examples include global programs, MOOCs, accelerators, incubators, and hackathons.

Key areas for innovation output include—but not limited to—entrepreneurship, digitalization, environmental sustainability, inclusion, and diversity. While it is hard to sketch out the parameters of an innovation program, some common characteristics supply clear benefits:

1. Hands-on learning 

Hands-on learning accelerates an individual’s understanding of an issue by making knowledge relatable and accessible. Research has steadily shown that learning-by-doing increases overall student engagement with the topic at hand, which is a highly desirable outcome for academic institutions. 

After all, lifelong learners are those who genuinely enjoy and are invested in the process of learning—of discovering, acquiring, and challenging knowledge.

Academic projects must no longer be viewed as theoretical models incapable of being practically feasible. Innovation programs rigorously assess resource and project management ideas for financial viability of their business models and long-term growth plans.

Unlike traditional assignments, these projects don’t stop after the program ends. Participants are made to attempt problem-solving for existing issues, be it unmet social needs or technological gaps. Innovation programs move the goalpost beyond the program, ensuring continuity in the real world.

It is for this reason that similar programs are popular with private companies, primarily in the tech field. In addition to fostering a culture of experimentation and innovation, internal innovation programs encourage proactive trouble-shooting from employees.

Facebook, for example, has actively supported innovation programs since its inception. In fact, its “features like Blood Donations and Crisis Response were first built during hackathons and are now used by millions of people worldwide,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

Previously, Facebook has also partnered with universities to organize a Global Hackathon. In addition to allowing university teams an opportunity to engage with Facebook’s developers at HQ, it is also a chance for the company to discover promising young talent and ideas. 

2. Developing employable skills 

Make no mistake, innovation programs aren’t just for competent software developers and budding entrepreneurs. Many programs look to help participants develop employable skills, preparing them for the digital and creative economy. 

These days, employers look for hires with both practical experience and transferable digital skills – a combination that can be difficult to achieve for fresh graduates who have had to dedicate their undergraduate life to the books or took up traditional fields of study that did not require much digital training.

Innovation programs look to tackle this gap head-on by placing participants in real-life situations and workplaces.

One such example is the Go Digital Programme, jointly organized by Me.reka and Hong Leong Foundation. The program funds and upskills 40 youths to kickstart their careers in graphic design or digital marketing, after which participants are given a 6-week internship to hone their skills in a real workplace.

Even in the workplace, innovation programs have proven to boost creativity, productivity, and employee morale. 

The 20% Project was an initiative popularized by Google at the beginning of the 21st century to encourage its engineers to spend 20% of their time pursuing pet projects. Born out of this were many trademark Google services, including AdSense, Google News, and even Gmail!

Atlassian, home to popular software as a service (SaaS) products like Jira and Trello, uses the 20% rule to encourage inclusive innovation open to non-technical teams. Unlike regular hackathons, Atlassian’s annual “ShipIt” event encourages participation from all departments, from Engineering, Design, to Legal.

Teams collaborate to develop an innovative product ready-to-ship in 24 hours – in recent years, even virtually for remote-working employees. Successful initiatives include ethnically-sourced clothing, the introduction of PayPal payment for cloud products, and the Jira Service Desk.

3. Building confidence and embracing failure

An often underlooked aspect of innovation programs is the confidence boost it gives participants. Through these programs, participants are often required to make pitches or presentations to fellow coursemates, judges, etc. 

Underneath public speaking and marketing is the ability to be self-aware, think quickly on your feet, and answer difficult questions. Most importantly, innovation programs require participants to bring organic ideas to the table and stand behind them – embracing the possibility of failure.

To attempt and fail, then rinse and repeat. This is an invaluable exercise of trust from both the organizing body and the participants. Academic innovation programs provide participants with a sandbox to experiment, bolstered by career mentorship, expert guidance, and funding opportunities.

4. Fostering new perspectives and ideas

The 21st century workforce requires a skillset that cannot be acquired solely through traditional academic programs. Therefore, innovation programs look more to setting frameworks—as opposed to prescribing a content-based syllabus—for participants to generate their own ideas.

This has particular significance for diversity and inclusion efforts, as innovation programs allow anyone to formulate and trial their own solutions. This is empowering for individuals on a grassroots level, especially the marginalized or underrepresented, who understand the needs of their communities best. 

Arunachalam Muruganantham is a social entrepreneur known for his work in improving and destigmatizing women’s menstruation practices in rural India. His quest to create affordable sanitary pads began in 1998, after discovering his wife’s use of unhygienic rags and newspapers to save on expensive commercial pads.

After experimenting independently for many years, Muruganatham caught the attention of the National Innovation Foundation – India’s national initiative to strengthen grassroots technological innovations for a creative and knowledge-based society.

With the NIF’s support, he has scaled his production; they have been installed in a majority of India’s states, manufacturing pads for less than a third of commercial competitors. Muruganatham has refused to commercialize his venture, working exclusively with women’s self-help groups in rural areas.

Closer to home, the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) has conducted 1000+ innovation programs for idea generation, capacity building, and business growth in the country. Biji-biji Initiative, PichaEats, and Langit Collective are some familiar names that have close ties with MaGIC’s Social Enterprise Accreditation and Partnership department.