elizabeth a duke : fostering innovation in community development finance speech by ms elizabeth a duke, member of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the 2011 exploring innovation conference on community development finance, st louis, missouri, 10 may 2011. * * * good morning. it is a pleasure to be in st. louis to open the third biennial exploring innovation conference. the first exploring innovation conference was opened four years ago by professor andrew hargadon, the charles j. soderquist chair in entrepreneurship at the university of california, davis and a senior fellow at the kauffman foundation. his remarks established a framework of collaboration for innovation in community development finance. since then, this conference has served as a forum for sharing ideas and maintaining the networks that are so critical to this work. professor hargadon initially set the stage by explaining that innovation and creativity are not the same. an individual acting alone to solve a problem can be creative, while innovation is the process of adding value by applying a new idea or method to something that is already established. for example, henry ford did not contribute the creative energy to invent an automobile. rather, ford ’ s innovation was the idea to combine the 100 - year - old technology for the automobile with the meat packing industry ’ s assembly line process, resulting in a means to mass produce cars. on the same note, apple did not invent the mp3 player with the introduction of the ipod. rather, the company used existing technology and a collaboration with the music industry to develop itunes software, bringing an affordable application of the mp3 to the public. in each of these examples, improving upon a good idea was as important, if not more important, than the initial idea. the message for community development professionals was the importance of collaboration, sharing ideas, and building upon the ideas of others in order to innovate for the benefit of our communities. the significance of professor hargadon ’ s message should not be lost in today ’ s challenging economic climate. times are particularly difficult for residents of our low - and moderateincome communities who are struggling more than ever to support their families, obtain affordable housing, and access basic services. we are here this week to develop fresh approaches to address these persistent problems that are even more widespread today than they were four years ago. throughout the conference, i hope you will contribute your own best ideas and look for ways to use the ideas of others to improve your own communities and enhance your innovation network.

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