Create

THE NEED
for innovation
II.
It is just as well that everything does not
need to be accomplished at once. We do
not yet have a series of well developed and
thoroughly investigated solutions. We now
need to start the establishment of a number
of conceptual ideas for future operations that
have been given a chance to start on the road
towards becoming candidates for the future
system components or concepts.
If conceptual ideas for the future are to
be developed progressively and stand as
candidates from which choices can be made
in later years it is clear that they must be
allowed to be grown. Every innovatory
change must be preceded by study – and this
most certainly will be true of the aviation
sector. However, there are serious obstacles to
getting such studies moving. There is a lack
of an adequate system of investment in such
ideas. Secondly, due to financial pressure for
short term return on investment, there is a
reluctance on the part of the enterprises of
aviation to invest today’s money in particular
concepts and, since they cannot work on
them all, this implies choosing winners which
is well known to be usually foolhardy.
What are the characteristics of a process that
would allow a portfolio of new and perhaps
radical ideas to be studied for possible future
use?
Building on the thoughts above we can see
that the system must allow for several issues
to be resolved:
(a) Stimulating and encouraging the
formulation of ideas for the future.
(b) Providing a structure of review, assessment
and down-selection.
(c) Providing funding for the progressive derisking
of the most favoured, interesting
and potentially important concepts
through exploratory research and study.
(d) Protecting that funding from premature
re-evaluation and change before the idea
has been adequately examined.
(e) Engaging the progressive attention of
the industries concerned as the ideas are
developed.
(f) Providing for the progressive transfer
of IPR and funding responsibility from
a collective endeavour to individual
industrial enterprises.
This is the challenge that is addressed by the
evolution of the CREATE process.
4. A Concept for Innovation
4.1. The aim of the CREATE
approach
In addressing the challenges set out above,
CREATE has refined the scope of its ambition. It
has, from the outset aimed to be a system for
Europe. This is at once such a simple aim and a
complex issue that its implications are set out in
section 4.3. below. Nevertheless, developing a
system for Europe was the CREATE project aim.
It was also an aim from the earliest days to
concentrate particularly on the areas that
were not provided for at present. It was never,
therefore, an aim of the CREATE project to
cover the entire span of innovation. Some
areas of innovation are perfectly feasible
within present arrangements. For example:
companies in Europe and elsewhere can
and do invest in innovative new materials
and components for their existing products
and it is entirely appropriate, and necessary
that they should do so. The area that is a
particular focus for the CREATE process is in
the area mentioned above; large scale systems
innovations with the potential to change the
concept of the air transport industry.
HIGH
RISK
LOW
LOW
Will not be done
Low benefit
High risk
May be done
Low Benefit
Low Risk
BENEFITS
Vectors
of Risk & Benefit
Fig.1. The CREATE target area
The CREATE
Direction
Will be done
High Benefit
Low Risk
HIGH
Getting good ideas relevant to the focus into
the mainstream of research programmes
has been the primary aim in developing the
CREATE process. Key to that achievement
will be identifying and developing the most
promising ideas and building them to a level
of credibility that will allow them to compete
for support in the mainstream. Identifying
which are the ‘most promising’ implies a
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