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AND NOW FOR THE WORD OF MONTH
As the new year gets older, the phrase “global financial crisis” is seen less and less. I, for one, am thankful. Phrase overuse quickly causes a perfectly fine term to seem hackneyed and trite, and it discourages substantive dialogue on the important question at hand: Where do we go from here and how do we get there?
One answer, if this issue of Business Monthly is any indication, is to innovate. While one of my goals is to occasionally devote the magazine to a single, important topic, I must acknowledge that the emphasis on innovation in the following pages is largely coincidental. It started with a cover assignment on the importance of innovation as the “global financial crisis” recedes – how businesses and government can build frameworks that encourage and support new ideas. Then came an In Depth examination of Egypt’s ICT sector, where it turns out that innovation is not a new idea at all, rather already acknowledged as simply part of doing business. Another In Depth is about part of the process for procuring US visas going online. Corporate Clinic excerpts a report dealing with creating an entrepreneurial environment, and Marketing Practice looks at how neuroscience delves into consumers’ brains.
As if that weren’t enough, Nobel laureate Ahmed Zewail spoke to an AmCham breakfast event on the topic of – you guessed it – the importance of innovation and creativity in education, business and government, as well as in society at large. At a special AmCham luncheon meeting later in the month, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel emphasized the need for innovation as a driver of economic growth in Egypt, citing the Smart Village and the new ICT hub in Maadi as tangible examples of the country’s potential.
Innovation for breakfast. Innovation for lunch. It shouldn’t be difficult to guess what’s on the dinner menu.
In the spirit of the moment, Business Monthly readers will notice one change in content with the February issue. The “Media Watch” feature has been renamed “Media Lite,” and moved to the last page of the magazine where it replaces “Inside AmCham.” A new feature – “Opinion Page” – will present an easily accessible sampling of US newspaper editorials with an economic focus. Plus, there’ll be a cartoon.
Now that’s what I call innovative.
Bertil G. Peterson
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