Society in attendance at RSA/CEB debate

On Tuesday morning Society colleagues were in attendance at the RSA to witness a debate organised by CEB entitled ‘Transformative Innovation: Driving Growth Through Breakthrough Ideas'. The panel discussion was focused on challenges faced by modern businesses as they attempt to drive growth amidst stagnant and uncertain economic conditions.

CEB (the Corporate Executive Board) is a membership-based advisory and consultancy organisation. In a survey of businesses they recently found that three out of four executives thought their firm lacked the capacity to create the kind of breakthrough ideas needed to get ahead of the competition. Many businesses are asking themselves searching questions about how they can best reinvigorate their staff, fuel collaboration, and adopt processes that will be conducive to spurring breakthrough innovations.

Addressing these critical challenges was a panel of experts, chaired by RSA Chief Executive Matthew Taylor:

• Atul Dighe - a Senior Director at CEB;
• Richard Palmer - o2 Entrepreneur of the Year 2007;
• Kevin Yapp - Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Premier Farnell;
• Scott Edington - Head of Research and Development at Visa.

The RSA (the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) is an organisation committed to finding innovative and practical solutions to the biggest challenges facing modern society. With the inspiring strapline "21st Century Enlightenment", it offers a free public platform for debate, discussion and knowledge sharing across a range of disciplines.