Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid: Governments must be engines of innovation

For governments, innovation is an existential question and it is what drives change in the world, writes Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Delores Johnson / The National

Companies, like people, grow old. They start life small, fuelled by youthful energy and fresh ideas. They compete, expand, mature and eventually, with few exceptions, fade into obscurity. The same is true of governments: they can lose the hunger and ambition of youth and allow themselves to become complacent.

Consider this: only 11 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies from 1955 exist today, while the average time that companies stay in the top 500 has fallen from 75 years to 15. In this age of rapid change, those who lag behind become irrelevant – in a heartbeat. Countries whose governments grow old face the same fate as outdated companies. Their choice is simple: innovate, or become irrelevant.

The race for national competitiveness is as fierce as the competition among companies. Countries compete for investment, talent, growth and opportunity in a globalised world, and those that are pushed out of the running surrender the greatest prize of all: human development, prosperity, and happiness for their people.

To avoid this fate, governments must focus on what really matters: how to be like the 11 per cent of companies that have remained, through the decades, in the top 500. The life cycle of companies should teach governments that the secret of eternal youth is constant innovation – seizing opportunities and behaving like the dynamic, entrepreneurial companies that are defining today’s world and shaping its future.

The secret to the renewal of life for corporations, to the evolution of civilisations and to the development of humanity is simple: innovation. I am always amazed when governments think they are the exception to the rule; that they are above the need for innovation. Innovation in government is not an intellectual luxury, a topic to be confined to seminars and panel discussions, or a matter only of administrative reforms. It is the recipe for human survival and development, the fuel for constant progress and the blueprint for a nation’s rise.

The first key to businesslike innovation in government is a focus on skills. Companies in the top tier of innovation invest continuously in their employees to provide them with the right skills for the marketplace. Governments must do the same, by constantly upgrading skills and nurturing innovation – among their own employees, across key sectors of the economy, and at the foundations of the education system. Governments that fail to equip new generations as leaders for their time are condemning them to be led by other, more innovative nations.

A US department of labour study found that 65 per cent of children in primary school will grow up to work in jobs that do not exist today. Another study at Oxford University found that 47 per cent of job categories are at high risk of ceasing to exist because they can be automated. So, how do we prepare our children and future generations for such times? How do we equip our countries to compete, not only today, but in the coming decades as well? The answer lies in innovation. We must hone our children’s creativity and provide them with the analytical and communication skills needed to channel it towards productive ends.

The second key to transforming governments into engines of innovation is to shift the balance of investment towards intangibles, as in the private sector. Whereas more than 80 per cent of the value of the S&P 500 consisted of tangible assets 40 years ago, today that ratio is reversed. More than 80 per cent of the largest companies’ value is intangible – the knowledge and skills of their employees and the intellectual property embedded in their products.

Governments too should think strategically about rebalancing spending away from tangible infrastructure such as roads and buildings, and towards intangibles such as education, research and development.

It is no secret that the US and Europe together annually spend more than $250 billion (Dh918bn) of public funds on R& D to maintain their leading positions. Likewise, a key driver of rapid development in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea has been their strategic decision to shift public expenditure away from hard infrastructure and towards the “soft” infrastructure needed to build and sustain a knowledge economy. The British government spends markedly more of its budget on such intangibles than on tangible assets.

Most of today’s transformative companies are well known for having an innovative corporate culture and working environment that inspires and empowers employees. Governments that set an example for innovation have the power to implant a nationwide culture of creativity. When such a culture takes root, people feel inspired to run further with their ideas, to aim higher with their ambitions, and to pursue bigger dreams. That is how countries that encourage innovation take the lead – and stay there.

To sustain innovation, businesses must attract and retain the most creative and productive minds. In this age of global mobility, countries, too, go head to head in the battle for talent. Global cities compete to provide an ideal life and work environment for innovators, and to harness their creativity to become stronger and more competitive still.

Innovative governments do the same thing on a national scale. They attract talent, perform efficiently, and continually upgrade their systems and services. They empower citizens to cultivate their collective energy and develop their potential, and thus become drivers for their countries’ growth and advancement in the world arena. Above all, they value human minds and help people become better guardians and builders of our planet.

For governments, innovation is an existential question. Only those that sustain innovation can drive change in the world, because these are the governments that never grow old.

HH Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is Vice President and Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai