Government and business leaders shared their experiences and views on innovation and what the next IT revolution might be in a panel session on Saturday afternoon during the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia, being held in Boao of Guangdong Province from April 21 to 24. It was pointed out that  innovation was a key factor in driving growth and would bring changes to people's lives. .

Lou Qinjian, vice minister of the Information Industry of China, said at the meeting that innovation required the proper atmosphere, policies and management.

He took the development of consumer electronics as an example saying, "Previously, the policies and regulations on computers, communication and consumer electronic products were separate. But now the policies are being adjusted to integrate the development of the three sectors and this will benefit technological development and cater to the needs of consumers." 

In the future the government would work to create a better environment for innovation and let enterprises play the leading role in the field, Lou said.

He also emphasized  that innovation should be built on a solid foundation to ensure there was adequate protection for the intellectual property rights (IPR).

Michael Trescow, chairman of both the Confederation of Swedish Enterprises and the Ericsson Group said  innovation meant speed. "We rely on innovations to allow things to be done more quickly," he said.

In his view, innovation also meant the creation of a culture which included consumers and education for the development of talent in innovation.

Talking about the IT revolution, Craig Mundie, senior vice president and chief technical officer of Microsoft, said: "Information technology keeps developing. Nearly everything in the future, including communications, entertainment and private manufacturing facilities will be computerized."

As more and more people own computers the evolving IT systems will change the lives of consumers and the business world, said Mundie.

"These changes brought along through innovation will also require new policies to keep up with the new development," he continued. "We need to review some existing laws and regulations to form a new framework of policies," he continued.

On how an enterprise can become a competitive IT company, Mary Ma, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Lenovo Group, advised, "You need to have an innovative atmosphere in your company. This means not only encouraging R&D and design staff to innovate but also allowing them to fail on occasions."

Drawing on Lenovo's experience Ma pointed out, "The combination of IT technological development, the market environment and consumer demand is where an innovative product comes from."

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Yuan Fang, April 22, 2006)