"We either innovate, or we become irrelevant"
– Dean Ernie Wilson, USC Annenberg School for Communication
People frequently associate Northern California as the state’s innovation hub, and perhaps rightfully so. While the rest of the state has some catching up to do, the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California is chipping away at this perception under the leadership of Professor Jonathan Taplin, the lab’s director. Taplin, a former Bob Dylan confidant and digital media entertainment expert, hosted the first annual "Innovation Summit" and invited leaders from academia, business and the non-profit world to learn and participate in the day-long event.
The summit profiled the projects taking place at the Annenberg Innovation Lab—where some of the brightest university minds are collaborating on projects that can and likely will change the way we lead and enjoy our day-to-day lives.
Some of the projects showcased at the summit included an app to coordinate citizen involvement in emergency situations and another that uses mapping and user-generated images to invigorate civic engagement in cities. The Annenberg Lab provides students with the tools needed to realize their innovative ideas. "Their work is exciting," said Professor Barbara O’Connor, Director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State University and CALinnovates Advisory Board Member.
One topic that received a considerable amount of attention when discussed by the expert panel was what the Innovation Lab will mean for the future of the technology community in Los Angeles. For one, it may serve as a central hub for innovation—which is especially important in a city that is so geographically diverse. Los Angeles needs more centralized "clusters" of activity if it is going to establish a vibrant tech scene.
Professor O’Connor applauded the efforts of the Innovation Lab. "Jon Taplin and the Annenberg Innovation Summit have asked different questions from traditional trade conferences. They are pushing new boundaries at the Innovation Lab and the summit did as well. It is one of the few places that really blends cross digital platform experiences and a strong theoretical grounding."
The final takeaway from the summit is that there is a need for strong working relationships between government, academia, nonprofits and corporate America. Attendees commented that government must strive to maintain healthy relationships with the private sector, and more importantly create tech-friendly policies and incentives that these companies need in order to push the boundaries of innovation in the form of common-sense solutions to ensure California, north and south, continues to lead allow the state to maintain its lead as the innovation capital of the nation, if not the world.
