Philips study reveals that most North Americans think they are sitting on the “next big thing”

Philips North America has launched its second innovation fellows competition that aims to reward revolutionising ideas with mentoring and $100,000 cash prizes for would-be entrepreneurs. Almost two-thirds of North Americans consider themselves innovators, while 72% have ideas for a next big thing, according to Philips’ 2014 North American Innovation Report. Start-ups, individual inventors and academics are the top innovators with half of respondents feeling that financial support from larger-sized companies; mentoring relationships and government incentives are more favourable to achieving successful innovation. Areas for improvement include healthcare, work/life balance, education methods and technological solutions for homes and infrastructure.