What Is Innovation?

To invent, create, engineer, develop, originate, design, conceive, imagine

Can you imagine what life would be like if Babbage hadn't designed his Difference Engine, if the Wright brothers hadn't taken flight, Benjamin Franklin hadn't flown his kite, Fleming hadn't discovered Penicillin or Henry Ford hadn't wanted to mass produce the motor car?

No computers, no city breaks to Paris or holidays in Florida, no electricity, no antibiotics, no handy hatch for the supermarket run, but then again, no traffic jams!

Innovation has shaped the world we live in today, and the Merseyside Innovation Awards exist to encourage and enable people and businesses in Merseyside to develop and realise their innovative ideas. Visit the About the Awards page for details.

Trevor Baylis: The Wind up radio - most definitely a great invention and clearly innovative but is it better, cheaper or totally original?

James Dyson: The bagless vacuum cleaner, redefined the name 'Hoover' as representing the vacuum cleaner. But the product already existed it just became better, much better!