By Karen Abrams, MBA
Executive Director, STEMGuyana
Innovation is defined as the improvement of existing products, processes, services, and business or organisational models which drive long-term economic growth, competitiveness, and quality-of-life improvements, or the creation of entirely new ones. A U.S. Department of Commerce study found that technological innovation has been responsible for as much as 75 per cent of the growth in the American economy since World War II. In fact, some studies have estimated that innovation drives up to 90 per cent of per capita income growth. This is because innovation enables the productivity improvements that lie at the core of economic growth. It is important to note that such science and technology-based innovation is impossible without a workforce educated in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).