Business as unusual: Innovation applied
View(s):Innovation. It’s everyone’s favourite buzzword. The drive to innovate has never been greater. The need for innovation has never been more pronounced. This is all true. But in a landscape where the very nature of innovation is continually shifting – the CGMA report, ‘Managing innovation’ states that ‘The pace of innovation is accelerating, but the nature and focus of innovative activity is also evolving’ – how does one pin it down, actually implement it, and stay relevant?
‘Business as unusual: the innovator’s agenda’, the CIMA Management Accounting Conference 2013, will take a practical look at engendering and sustaining innovation within organisations, with industry experts recounting their experiences on fostering an innovative culture and relating what it takes to innovate when innovation itself is becoming a commonplace and overused term. (According to Amazon.com 255 books with innovation in their title were published within 90 days.)
Striking the keynote with her presentation on ‘Innovation and market resilience’, Shiromal Cooray, Managing Director – Jetwing Travels (Private) Ltd, will look at innovation across industries, discussing core competences businesses and industries should develop through innovation that will drive economic development. The keynote will also address how Sri Lanka needs to continuously innovate in terms of its national competitive strategies.
Shiromal Cooray is the Managing Director of Jetwing Travels (Private) Ltd, one of the leading inbound / outbound tour operators in Sri Lanka. Prior to this, she was the Finance Director of J. Walter Thompson Ltd, Colombo and has work experience in finance in the UK and Hong Kong. She holds 19 other directorates which include hotels, a hotel management company, finance company and Advertising and PR. She is a past President of the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators, holds an MBA from the University of Colombo and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK. She is also a committee member of SLID.
Speaking on ‘Intelligent information: driving innovation’, Dr Sanjiva Weerawarana, Founder, Chairman & CEO, WSO2, will explore the possibilities presented by the immense influx of data to today’s business. He will examine ways in which this can be exploited to drive innovation and create a better customer experience and more efficient organisation.
Prior to starting WSO2, Sanjiva worked for nearly eight years in IBM Research, where he focused on innovations in middleware and emerging industry standards. In 2003, Sanjiva founded the Lanka Software Foundation, a non-profit organization formed with the objective of promoting open source development, not usage, by Sri Lankan developers. He is currently its chief scientist and a director. In recognition of his role in promoting open source participation from developing countries, Sanjiva was elected to the board of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) in April 2005, where he served for two years. Sanjiva also teaches and guides student projects part-time in the Computer Science & Engineering department of the University of Moratuwa, and is a member of the university’s Faculty of Engineering Industry consultative board. Prior to joining IBM, Sanjiva spent three years at Purdue University as visiting faculty, where he received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1994.
The CIMA Management Accounting Conference 2013 will be held on 8 October 2013 at King’s Court, Cinnamon Lakeside. To reserve your place at this exciting event or for more information, please contact Jennifer Gnaniah on 0112503880 ext 263 or tlevents@cimaglobal.com
comments powered by Disqus