The Art & the Science of Innovation- Journey of a Corporate Innovator

"the value of an idea lies in the using of it," Edison said. "i never perfected an
invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others." Turning inventions
into useful, valuable innovations takes a lot more than the creative spark. Research is a critical
step in the innovation process and technology a key ingredient, but successful innovators don't
just solve the problem right -they solve the right problem. They don't just "spend time designing
the bridge, but think about the people who are crossing it". They "fail often so they can succeed
sooner." In this talk, I will share some recent exciting innovations at Xerox Services (recent winner
of an Outstanding Corporate Innovator award), our recipe for success, and lessons learned along
the way.
Meera Sampath is Vice President, Innovation and Business Transformation, at Xerox
Services, the Business Process Outsourcing arm of Xerox. In this role, she serves as the primary
liaison between the company's four global labs and
its Services business and oversees a broad multiindustry
research and innovation portfolio.

Meera joined Xerox in 1996 as a research scientist
at the Xerox Research Center in Webster, NY.
As a Principal Scientist, she led the design and
development of intelligent self-diagnosing printing
systems and innovative support tools for field service
engineers. Later, as leader of the Xerox innovation
group's emerging markets expansion team, Meera
drove the creation of the Xerox Research Center India,
the company's fifth global lab and its first in Asia. As
Founding Director of the center, she established the
strategic research agenda for the center, pioneered
innovation for emerging markets, and created a
strong open innovation network in India with leading
academic institutions and research organizations.

Meera is a senior member of the IEEE and serves on
the ECE advisory board at the University of Michigan.
She has served as Associate Editor for the Springer
Journal of Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, as a judge
for the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation
Award, and on NSF panels. She holds 15 U.S. patents.