Innovation key to sustainable business

“Innovation is a vital ingredient for the sustainability of any organisation, especially during these fast-changing times,” said Amer Farid, director for corporate partnerships and innovation at the Unicef Norway.

“Being relevant is a big part of being innovative,” he said, while presenting a keynote at the Bangladesh Business Innovation Summit 2019 at Le Méridien in Dhaka.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Shariful Islam, founder of the Bangladesh Innovation Conclave, said for Bangladesh, innovation is the only way to achieve its vision and pursue inclusive growth.

“Every institution needs to embrace innovation at its core to survive and thrive in the age of the fourth industrial revolution.”

Kin Wai Michael Siu, chair professor of public design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said it is necessary to increase investment in high-risk and breakthrough to grab the future.

“We should always try to keep aside 5 percent to 10 percent of the earnings to invest in something new,” he said, while making a keynote presentation.

The event was designed to share local and global best practices and approaches to innovation. The key focus was to drive innovation within different sectors and harness the skillset to drive innovation, adding value to the lives of people and helping them pursue inclusive growth.

The summit was followed by the Bangladesh Business Innovation Award 2019 that recognised the vibrant community of innovators – from startups to established companies – and its breakthrough creations and ideas.

The award was given across 10 categories and all the nominated campaigns were selected through rigorous jury sessions, according to a press release.

The Summit and the Award are the initiatives of the Bangladesh Innovation Conclave, which is organised by the Bangladesh Brand Forum.

Newton Howard, professor of neuro-computation, neurosurgery and mathematics at the University of Oxford; Prof Syed Ferhat Anwar, director of the Institute of Business Administration under the University of Dhaka; Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of Dhaka Bank; Anir Chowdhury, policy adviser of the Access to Information, and Sabbir Hasan Nasir, executive director of ACI Logistics, also spoke.

Nihad Kabir, president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka; Md Sirazul Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority; Arif Ud Dowla, managing director of ACI; Munawar Misbah Moin, managing director of Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy; Tanzeen Ferdous, marketing director for homecare, foods and refreshment at Unilever Bangladesh, and MM Monirul Alam Tapan, managing director at Guardian Life Insurance, also shared their thoughts.