Going Green

Innovation, Energy, and ICT

Professor Andrew Hargadon

Soderquist Chair in Entrepreneurship
University of California, Davis

© Hargadon 2009
“We are not going to regulate our way out of the
problems... we can only innovate our way out.

”
— Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded

© Hargadon 2009
“"Our previous investments in science led to the
birth of the semiconductor, computer, and bio-
technology industries that have added greatly to
our economic prosperity. Now, we need similar
breakthroughs on energy..

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”
— DOE Secretary Steve Chu
“ ” “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works
backwards”
— the White Queen, Alice in Wonderland

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 Johann Gutenberg; Printing press (1450)
James Watt; Steam engine (1769)

The Great Man Theory Eli Whitney; Cotton gin (1793)

Michael Faraday; Electric Motor (1821)
Cyrus McCormick; Reaper (1831)
Samuel Colt; Revolver (1835)
Samuel Morse; Telegraph (1837)
Alfred Nobel; Dynamite (1866)
Alexander Graham Bell; Telephone (1876)
Thomas Edison; Phonograph (1877)
Thomas Edison; Light Bulb (1879)
Marchese Marconi; Radio (1895)
Wright Bros; Airplane (1903)
Henry Ford; The Automobile (1908)
Picasso; Cubism (1910)
Philo T. Farnsworth; Television (1925)
Alexander Fleming; Penicillin (1928)
William Shockley; Transistor (1948)
Watson & Crick; The double-helix (1953)
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Elvis Presley; Rock and Roll (1954)
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 1. It’s not about the idea.

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 4,400
24
2
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 300,000

264,972

225,000

150,000

75,000

1,599

0
1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914

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“ I invented nothing new. I simply assembled into a car the
discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of
work. . . . Had I worked fifty or ten or even five years
before, I would have failed. So it is with every new thing.
Progress happens when all the factors that make for it are
ready, and then it is inevitable. To teach that a

”
comparatively few men are responsible for the greatest
forward steps of mankind is the worst sort of nonsense.
— Henry Ford

© Hargadon 2009
 2. Innovation is about
connecting, not inventing.

© Hargadon 2009
 Pixo
Apple Design
Industrial
FIIC Design

Linear
Tech
MP3
Portal
Player

Sony
ARM

Sharp

Toshiba
Wolfson
Micro

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 ?

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 Revolutions set their own course.

© Hargadon 2009
 Internet Growth (in IP addresses)

20,000,000.0

15,000,000.0

10,000,000.0

5,000,000.0

0
69 70 71 72 74 77 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

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 3 criteria for innovation

New combinations of old ideas.

The network.
Evolution.

© Hargadon 2009
 Energy Demand

Residential/Commercial
30%
Transportation
41%

Industrial
29%

© Hargadon 2009
 ICT and Energy Efficiency

Residential/Commercial
16%
Supply-side waste
28% Res/Comm Waste
5%

Industrial

61%
17%

Industrial Waste
Trans Waste 4%
24%
Transportation
6%

© Hargadon 2009
 ICT and Energy Innovation
communications
applications computers standards
networks operating sytems
New combinations of old ideas.
measurement devices ASICs
regulators The network. utilities
power producers computing firms
consumers Evolution.
telecom companies
?
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 4. “The future is already here,
it’s just unevenly distributed”
—William Gibson

© Hargadon 2009