Innovative Ideas
You are encouraged to experiment and create innovative and impactful ideas, but we know it can be difficult to define what that really means. Consider the following points when you’re crafting an idea or concept.
Many of these attributes can be key ingredients of an innovative idea:
- Innovation = a technology, product, service or process that’s new and useful
- Creative – reframe problems into opportunities
- Original – may be radically new or just new to you, your team or OIT – it’s still valuable
- High Scope of Impact / Number of Users Benefiting
- Leverage Strategic Value – introduce or advance a strategically enabling technology, processes or concepts – supports campus/OIT strategic goals – aligns with customer needs/priorities
- Develop a Proof of Concept to lower risk – provides an opportunity to learn from failure
- Present an opportunity for a high quality completed concept that can shape a full-scale implementation – that’s what will qualify for cash incentive awards
- Foster experimentation with new technologies, concepts and processes – you and others can attain real-world experience working with them
- Enable OIT to respond to changing customer needs and evolving technologies – after experimenting, you’re ready to solve real problems faster than before