Source: Chinese Think Tank
"Disruptive technology, this kind of innovation is difficult to achieve under the current administrative approval and review system."
This is a personal opinion expressed by Xu Kuangdi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, when he attended the international high-end forum on "Machinery and Transport Engineering Science and Technology 2035 Development Strategy" held at Shanghai University and made a keynote speech.
The organizers of this forum are the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, with nearly 200 representatives and more than 40 academicians from home and abroad.
Therefore, a considerable number of the audience who listened to Xu Kuangdi's report were academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as the heads of the National Science Foundation of China — their role is very important in the evaluation of various major national scientific research projects.
Which scientific research project can be supported, how much support is strong, academicians are review experts with "right to speak".
Perhaps Xu Kuangdi felt that after the "personal opinion" was spoken, he offended people, and at the end of the speech, he frequently waved at the academic colleagues in the audience, and what he got was a long, warm applause from the audience.
What is the "pinnacle" of innovation? It's the disruptive technology. Xu Kuangdi's report buckled this theme to carry out. He believes that as a "game-changing" cutting-edge technology, truly disruptive technologies have two commonalities:
One is based on solid scientific principles, which are not myths or fantasies, but innovative applications of scientific principles;
The second is interdisciplinary and cross-field integrated innovation, not "linear innovation" in the fields of design, materials and processes.
In the near future, the most classic example of innovative success with disruptive technology is Elon Mask. After Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Musk became another idol of the times.
He has dabbled in the Internet payment Palmay project, the Space X rocket for future space commercial travel and interstellar space migration, the Tesla electric car that subverts the traditional fuel engine car, and the "hyperloop train" that may become the fifth way for human beings to travel... At the heart of these projects are disruptive innovations.
What makes Xu Kuangdi quite emotional is that many of the innovative ideas and ideas proposed by Musk, at first glance, are contrary to the mainstream or common sense in the industry.
Take the Space X project as an example, rockets are a typical high-tech industry, where experts gather. During the rocket's lift-off process, the separation and shedding of the first stage rocket and the second stage rocket are completed in turn, which is a perfectly normal rocket propulsion process. So, no engineer ever thought about recycling a fallen rocket until Musk came up with the idea of recycling a stage rocket and "making a rocket cheaper than others and recycling it many times."
Musk, who is not a rocket expert, took only a few months to nibble the principle of rocket propulsion, and after encountering four failures, on April 9 this year, the Space X he formed finally successfully recovered the "Falcon 9" first-stage rocket at sea.
The same is true of Musk's other project, the Hyperloop Train.
Instead of today's high-speed rail and aircraft, the basic idea of this new type of high-speed transport is to build a manually manufactured vacuum pipe, so that the closed cabin can use magnetic levitation technology to achieve ultra-high-speed speed in the pipeline. In the field of traffic engineering, most experts consider the speed of transportation, and the general way of thinking is to reduce air resistance through changes in the shape of transportation.
Contrary to the mainstream thinking of the industry, raising a new problem that no one in the industry has ever considered does not prevent Musk from succeeding. Combined with this case, Xu Kuangdi turned his words around and talked about the current problems in the field of subversive technological innovation in China.
"In ancient times, there was no Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education, nor did we have all kinds of funds to support scientific research, but we had so many great inventions; but now, whether it is the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education or the National Natural Science Foundation of China, there is no bad money in scientific research investment, so why can't we smash innovation with so much money?!"
The reason for throwing out the view that "under the administrative approval and review system, subversive technologies are difficult to achieve", Xu Kuangdi said, is precisely determined by the nature of disruptive technologies: when new ideas and new technologies are at the forefront, most people generally do not look at it, do not agree with it, or even cannot understand it.
The existing major scientific research projects in our country are engaged in an expert review system, experts sit together to review and vote, and the final result is often to vote for projects with real innovative ideas.
"The willingness to disruptive innovation should be tolerated, understood and supported." Xu Kuangdi said that disruptive innovative technologies that may have an impact on the future require the establishment of a market-led mechanism, strategic vision and support from venture capital institutions. And this point has been confirmed in Musk's several entrepreneurial experiences.
Whether it is Tesla Motors or Hyperloop trains, they are supported by the industry, and venture capital institutions are involved in a timely manner, which is why Musk has been able to succeed.
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