Over at CIO magazine, they have a set of interesting perspectives on innovation. We get a chance to see the challenge from different angles. It all comes down to this: who’s going to assume the risk of innovating?

Link: Is the U.S. losing its innovation edge? – CIORoundtable.

Companies are starting to realize that customers now expect operational excellence, cost cutting and service. The differentiator has to be innovation. –Bob Wittstein, CIO of Sappi Fine Paper

Innovation is the result of a well-educated workforce coupled with a culture that encourages and supports new ideas. We certainly have the culture. It’s the education that I worry about. –Michael MacKenty, VP of IT for Nypro

We create the ideas, but [Asian countries] are then expanding on them and offering to the market more quickly. In our markets, we end up with less of a selection and much more of a high-volume, low-mix environment because of the retail distribution and the fact that stores like Comp USA and Best Buy don’t want to carry the broad range that a smallish shop in Singapore would. –Bud Mathaisel, CIO of Solectron

A lot that’s happened with innovation is that the whole IT sector is so unwieldy. People are laid off all time. Companies are bought and sold on a regular basis. I think that’s a big reason why people are afraid of getting too sunk into the technology area. People feel that it’s less attractive even though the money is there. –Barbara Bailey, an IS director in South Carolina state government