Technology and innovation go hand in hand to ensure greater success for companies and, in addition, a better experience for users.
In this sense, the use of new technologies has been growing annually as a way of adapting processes and services to the digital transformation scenario.
Thus, faced with so many changes in a short period of time, innovation, in turn, arrives with the proposal to organize this evolutionary process without leaving aside new trends.
Therefore, with the main objective of optimizing results and adding value to the business, these two terms need to go together within their particularities. But what about you, do you know the difference between them?
Despite being similar, innovation and technology are different concepts. In this way, investment in both guarantees necessary tools for companies to remain competitive in the market.
So, with that in mind, we have separated key concepts that you need to be aware of to stay up to date.
What is technology and innovation?
First of all, innovation means leaving the traditional, seeking new creative solutions for products, services and processes that need improvement to meet consumer needs. This is based, of course, on market trends.
Thus, the broad concept of innovation is based on the principle of improving what is already in progress in order to add value, increase competitiveness and corporate sustainability.
Meanwhile, technology ensures that opportunities mapped out in the innovation sector are put into practice. This occurs through the use of advanced resources, such as agile tools, techniques and models in the construction of products and services.
What are the benefits of technology and innovation for companies?
Both concepts are interconnected and when worked together result in profitable opportunities and business benefits, such as:
- Strengthening the organizational culture: with the implementation of new technologies in the company, the sectors work in a synchronized and agile way, strengthening internal communication and accountability.
- Evolution in the customer experience: more efficient processes in customer service and problem solving can directly impact the consumer experience, who may or may not recommend your service/product.
- Productivity in processes: have you ever heard the phrase “less is more”? With technology aligned with your internal processes, you save time and can perform more in less time. In addition to synchronizing internal communication, ensuring historical information.
- Staying competitive in the market: with the rapid advancement of technology, it is necessary to stay up to date with the opportunities available within your sector. This avoids stagnation and opens up space for new business.
Therefore, the options for improvement are countless and must be adapted to your company’s current situation. Therefore, when it comes to technology and innovation you can map:
- products that require improvements;
- services that require adaptation to the public’s new needs;
- techniques of management in business;
- internal and external relationships with brand stakeholders;
- use of marketing as responsible for promoting the previous points.
Step by step to apply technology and innovation in business
First of all, do you feel prepared to implement the concepts of technology and innovation in your business?
Therefore, now that you understand the concepts behind these two pillars, you need to look at how to implement them in practice - we show you step by step below.
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Despite being adopted by large companies, the research sector is responsible for staying constantly updated on the latest market trends that may impact their organizations. Fundamental step to map, create hypotheses and validate new suggestions for improvement.
Therefore, if your business fits the entrepreneur model, it is also possible to propose a market and competition analysis to identify opportunities.
Applied research
If you identify a business opportunity, use existing technologies to test the proposed solutions.
Development
As a result of previous tests, they will serve as a basis for the development of new processes, products and services. The use of a prototype, a product in the testing phase, is essential at this stage. Therefore, ideally, the target audience itself should be able to access the first version to collect assertive feedback.
An interesting approach to implement in testing is the design thinking, a method focused on the real needs of the consumer considering human behavior.
Engineering
So, with the prototype in hand, it’s time to scale your product or service by mapping all the resources necessary for its execution. The list ranges from materials, suppliers, inputs and other materials necessary for the success of your project.
Manufacturing
What is the best way to deliver this new solution to the consumer? This step requires a well-defined flow and processes. However, you can choose to use process modeling software to optimize time and cost.
Marketing
With the product in hand, you can opt for marketing research and testing with the product's target audience in order to measure the level of acceptance.
Promotion
With the tests completed and feedback in hand, it's time to structure the launch at a national or even global level depending on the size of your business.
You can benefit from agile methodologies marketing ensuring assertive planning.
Continuous evolution
Finally, continue monitoring the metrics and results of new products and services. This way you guarantee continuous evolution and necessary adaptations according to the needs of the public.
How can technology and innovation impact society?
When we talk about social impact through technology and innovation, we associate it with a two-way street. In other words, at the same time that big brands use these resources to position themselves and generate profits, the social side is strengthened with support practices.
We monitor the effects of the environmental impact caused by unsustainable practices over the years on a daily basis. In addition to the blatant economic inequality, which became even more evident during the Covid-19 pandemic. IBGE data (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) demonstrate that more than 30% of the 211.8 million residents in the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities had to be supported with the aid of R$ 600 approved by Congress.
Therefore, showing the consumer that the money they spend is being invested beyond the product, with a connection to a greater cause, is to insert technology and innovation into the context of purpose.
Any company, whether large or small, can externalize its vision through social practices where its audience is located. And the actions are diverse, such as allocating partial or full income to social causes, including sustainable processes in the life cycle of a product, among other collaborative actions.
Science, technology and innovation: understand the relationship between concepts
According to the Action Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (PACTI 2007-2010), science, technology and innovation “are, in the contemporary world scenario, fundamental instruments for development, economic growth, the generation of jobs and income and the democratization of opportunities”.
When we look at each of these pillars separately, we notice that one complements the other. Science is directly linked to quality of life, ensuring advances in health, food, energy and others; as well as technology that involves a set of tools, methods and techniques capable of solving problems in practice.
The act of innovating closes the other points by observing what is already being done and proposing improvements based on trends.
Science, technology and innovation are essential pillars of humanity's development. Global challenges such as access to water, social inequality, waste disposal, quality food, energy consumption and other problems require scalable solutions.
Innovations based on technology are increasingly replicable due to their applicability based on scientific knowledge.
In Brazil, the National Science, Technology and Innovation System (CT&I) points out three main problems in applying these concepts in Brazil:
1. deficit of qualified human resources, especially in the areas of basic sciences, engineering and other technological areas;
2. low scientific and technological insertion on the international scene;
3. limitations in university-government-industry relations (actors of Triple Helix).
The Brazilian Government has been working on a series of official documents on the public policy of Science, Technology and Innovation for the period from 2016 to 2022. The published document was named as National Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy – ENCTI, with challenges, predictions and data about a case study of the current Brazilian scenario on these fronts. You can stay up to date with the sector on your own government website.
iFood, technology and innovation
Thinking about the connection between social impact, technology and innovation, iFood has adopted a series of innovative solutions to help combat current problems, such as food insecurity.
In Brazil, access to quality and quantity food consumption are still synonymous with privilege. With the new coronavirus pandemic, this resource became even more restricted, leading to companies with similar purposes coming together in the search for solutions.
In this way, iFood teamed up with the startup Begreen with the proposal to implement urban gardens, with all the appropriate structure to keep the food in perfect condition until it reaches consumers' tables. Around 1.7 tons of food are donated monthly to the Osasco Food Bank, impacting more than 3 thousand families. This and other initiatives are aligned with iFood's vision of a better future.
This and other initiatives are aligned with one of the pillars of iFood's culture, innovation. The ability to reinvent oneself, in an agile and solution-oriented way, are pillars of disruptive innovation method which they use to take on challenging new projects.
