Esther Dyson: Creating a culture of innovation

Esther Dyson, chairman of EDventure Holdings and an active investor in a variety of global startups, recently shared her experience as part of February's U.S. technology delegation with The Moscow Times.

Our mission was to foster U.S.-Russian cooperation in the spirit of 21st-century statecraft and citizen diplomacy... I started my discussion with Russia’s government leaders by talking about my experiences as chair of NASA’s innovation and technology advisory committee. The issue, I said, was not really about funding technology innovation. It is how to create a culture that rewards thoughtful innovation and considers mistakes the price of learning.

During her talks with Russian government leaders, Esther Dyson discussed important factors that are needed to make the development of an innovation economy possible.

You need to let business grow, without too much interference, but with protection from monopolists, bad customers and bureaucrats.

One project that Dyson believes has potential is a Russian version of a service recently implemented in the U.S. called Text4Baby. This service

invites pregnant women to sign up by SMS to receive periodic messages and information exchanges on their cell phones. The system refers women to a clinic if their questions are outside the normal range...

In Russia part of the challenge is to find local sponsors. But in any market, the biggest challenge is to find someone to take responsibility for the project.

In Russia, that person is Yelena Dmmitriyeva, head of the Healthy Russia Foundation, who is now engaging with local sponsors and the Russian government, which must supply or at least endorse the medical protocols that the system will implement...

Esther Dyson said the delegation fostered connections and mingled with many entrepreneurs, and on “many occasions” realized nongovernmental organizations that the various Russian entrepreneurs should coordinate with. “We have already connected some of them by e-mail,” she announced.