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PrintEnd-user needs - the engine of innovation
Every innovation starts with an idea and these can come from anywhere, at any time. New technology is often a prime driver of innovation, bringing exciting new communications capabilities to end-users. Yet highly successful innovations also often use existing technologies in new ways to meet the everyday needs of people.
Nowhere do we see this happening more than in emerging markets. Unconstrained by business conventions and established practices, emerging markets can leapfrog more mature regions in the level of innovation they create. Innovation is often borne out of a specific user need. There are many examples. End-users in emerging markets often engage in 'flashing', whereby they dial another user and terminate the call before it is answered as a way of requesting a call back from an employer or a more affluent relative. This is also a problem for operators because the practice consumes significant network capacity, but generates no revenue.
An innovative SMS-based service is solving the issue and generating about 20 million messages per day in South Africa by allowing a pre-paid subscriber to send an advertisingfunded SMS for free, requesting a call back. Similar services are taking hold in other markets.
Meanwhile, in mature markets, technology innovation is helping operators to make life easier for end-users, from Wireless LAN Internet access on trains, to seamless access to services across a variety of networks and access points. Innovation that makes services more accessible to end-users is a key way in which all countries can use their ICT more productively. The Connectivity Scorecard reveals this by analyzing not just countries' installed ICT infrastructure, but the ability of people to use it effectively.
The key to successful innovation is a true understanding of the needs of consumers and finding new ways to improve the end-user experience.
So, the next time you are reviewing a new service idea, ask whether this is an innovation that will make the life of your customers easier, or whether it's a purely technical solution to a perceived problem. There's a world of difference between the two.
Frederic Astier
Head of Marketing, Nokia Siemens Networks