The opening session of the Global Forum on Tuesday October 29, 2013 began with a panel discussion on Innovation. Panelists included Chairman, Bror Salmelin, Advisor Innovation Systems, DG CONNECT, European Commission, Moderator Jay E. Gillette, Professor of Information and Communication Science, Center for Information and Communication Sciences Ball State University, USA, Key Note Speakers: Nicole Dewandre, Advisor for Societal Issues, “Digital’s Social Sciences and Humanities” DG CONNECT, European Commission, Ann-Mari Finema, Head of IT Applications & Service Department, VINNOVA – Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Sweden, Enrico Fiore, Chairman Truyoins, Israel/Italy Antoine-Tristan Mocilnikar, Energy Digital Infrastructures Head, Interministerial Delegate to the Mediterranean, France, Gary Shapiro, President & CEO CEA – Consumers Electronic Association, USA, Michael Stankosky, Research Professor George Washington University, USA, Yoshio Tanaka, Professor Tokyo University of Science Graduate School of Management of Innovation Studies; Emeritus Councilor National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan.

These nine participants gave compelling presentations on what innovation is and how important and crucial it is to developing advancements in the growing field and world of technology. To be innovative means to be open and forward thinking.  No longer should you be working on self-development, but on professional development or the development of others. Innovation takes more than one person with a brilliant idea to make things happen. That is where the idea of Cross-Boundary Innovation comes into play. It is taking innovations from different fields ranging from organizations, nations, regions, sectors, age, background, etc. and putting them together to foster innovation. Innovation is going above and beyond the normal realms of thought and idea creation. It is pushing back against your peers and asking questions, discovering new and unique processes. Value what knowledge you have, but then continue to look for and improve that base. Knowledge is our wealth and we need to use that wealth to keep innovations moving forward.