Innovation is the word, the project, an idea, the challenge for the progress of our time . It is certain, however, that man since his appearance on earth had to "innovate" the environment that surrounded him to make it safer and more conducive to the growth of the first communities. But what does it mean to innovate? It means introducing new products into a company, new ways of producing, selling, managing. In short, any aspect of our societies can be subject to transformation and innovation.
I was deeply influenced, in the field of medicine , by extraordinary characters such as John Snow and Ignac Semmelweis who characterized medicine in the mid-19th century when microorganisms had not yet been discovered. Semmelweis, who graduated in Surgery and Obstetrics in 1844, was employed in the general hospital in Vienna, the most important hospital in Europe. His first contact with the reality of the maternity hospital was dramatic. At that time, the mortality rate of puerperal women from so-called “puerperal fever” was very high, around 8.2%. Studying the path of mothers and doctors, he noticed that the latter, before visiting the patients, carried out autopsy findings in deceased patients. To break this possible contact, he made arrangements for doctors to wash their hands with a solution of chloride of lime. This resulted in a collapse in mortality .
In 1854, the cholera epidemic caused 15,000 deaths in London. The epidemic was concentrated in some neighborhoods, around some public fountains. Dr. John Snow made an epidemiological study assuming that water was the carrier of cholera. His hypothesis was the first epidemiological study that led to defeating that cholera outbreak.
If one were to make a general list of innovations this would be immense, but we don't particularly care. A central role in our historical moment is played by Startups that are central to "Innovation". Two examples: Uber has changed the world of taxis by putting driver and customer in direct contact. Netflix has radically changed the entertainment sector because it has allowed every user who subscribes to access the films they want to see, when they want and how much they want, bypassing the relationship with traditional television. But is all this innovation only the result of startuppers?
"The innovative state" is a book by Mariana Mazzucato in which the author, an economist who deals with innovation, knowledge and development, demonstrates how innovation is very often the result of a collective effort and not that of small groups of startuppers . In essence, all the latest technological revolutions have had pure research funded by the state as their origin. Examples are the Internet, smartphones, nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, green technologies, segments of the pharmaceutical industry. Certainly technologies and related innovations are changing the world and our lives so it is increasingly important to put humanity at the center of research.
Antonio Barracca