Digilogue: How to Win the Digital Minds and Analogue Hearts of Tomorrow's Customer

8: Analogue location drives digital innovation

Round 7 homed in on how innovative ideas, products and services can capture the imaginations of the marketplace, and analysed the diffusion process across societal cohorts. This round examines where those innovative ideas come from and the insight that analogue location drives digital innovation. Through this chapter, you’ll observe the critical importance of place in innovation and business model applicability, and why analogue, personal connections are a key in the digital world we are increasingly spending time in. We will take a look at world-class MBAs and where the true value in a business degree lies, before examining how digital natives may affect collaboration and digital innovation in the future. But first, join me at Sprout Cafe in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley. Digital Disruption is about to have its digital bubble burst by an analogue needle.

The importance of local connections

Silicon Valley. This name conjures up word and brand associations like high-tech, digital, Facebook, Google, venture capitalism, Stanford, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Infinite Loop, LinkedIn, Cisco, cloud, big data, Xerox PARC. But think about the name in two parts. Firstly, silicon — the raw material for most commercial semiconductors; the backbone of the digital world. Next, valley — a physical description of a geological depression with predominant extent in one direction. Put the two words together and we have the metonym for the US high-tech industry. ...