Something New Under the Sun

THE ECONOMIST—Innovation, long the preserve of technocratic elites, is becoming more open. This will be good for the world, argues Vijay Vaitheeswaran

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” Vinod Khosla laments to Larry Page. The two Silicon Valley luminaries are chatting one evening at the Googleplex, the quirky Californian headquarters of Google. The crisis which Mr Khosla is concerned about is caused by carmakers’ addiction to oil and the consequent warming of the planet. “The energy and car industries have not been innovative in many years because they have faced no real crisis, no impetus for change,” he insists.

The two are plotting what they hope will be the next great industrial revolution: the convergence of software and smart electronics with the grease and grime of the oil and car industries. Mr Khosla is kicking around his plans for getting “chip guys” together with “engine guys” to develop the clean, software-rich car of the future. Such breakthroughs happen only when conventional wisdom is ignored and cross-fertilisation encouraged; “managed conflict”, in his words. Read article.