DuPont's Chowdhry Offers Steps for Innovation

In her keynote address at the Industrial Research Institute's (IRI) 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston, Uma Chowdhry, senior vice president and chief science & technology officer for DuPont, offered attendees a list of steps that their organizations can take to turbocharge the innovation and economic growth that will help propel the nation out of the recession.

"To emerge from the recession even stronger than before, organizations must remain committed to innovation, accelerate new product launch plans, partner through open innovation and focus on business transformation in order to take advantage of emerging opportunities and recognize the new reality," Chowdhry said in a company press release. 

Chowdhry was one of four keynote speakers at the meeting. She also encouraged attendees to build their future global organizations, surpass their competition and resource projects to release cash. IRI's meeting was attended by over 280 top R&D leaders from national laboratories, universities and Fortune 500 companies, such as Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, IBM and Kraft Foods.

"It is a difficult but exciting time for R&D. The recession has forced companies to reorganize and has stressed R&D but the future success of industry relies on innovation. Our meeting brought together a brain trust of R&D leaders to collaborate and share solutions that will speed up the process of turning innovative ideas into groundbreaking products and services," said Edward Bernstein, IRI president.

The meeting took place during a time of increased focus on the importance of R&D and innovation. In April 2009, President Barack Obama outlined a new commitment to establish policies that move innovation from inception to implementation. The President pledged to increase spending on R&D to 3% of the gross domestic product, reportedly the largest commitment to scientific research and innovation in US history.

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