Innovation Hotseat Questions With Lea Eriksen

Описание: When I ask guests about the greatest innovation of all time, I am never really listening for the technology. I am listening to what they believe innovation is for.

In this conversation with Lea Eriksen, Director of Technology and Innovation and CIO for the City of Long Beach, her answer was the internet. Not because of speed or scale, but because of its power to connect people across distance, time zones, and moments of isolation. She spoke about COVID, about virtual connection, and about how access to information can bring people together when physical connection disappears.

But what makes this clip resonate is where she takes the idea next.

Innovation, in her view, now comes with responsibility. Digital rights. Fair and open access. An internet that is not censored and not reserved for the few. That belief extends into how she thinks about innovation teams themselves, crossing borders, jurisdictions, and institutional silos, because the challenges we face do not stop at city, state, or national lines.

She closes with something even simpler. People matter. Everyone has a role. Innovation does not live in one genius or one organization. It lives in communities, in shared purpose, and in the belief that each person can make a difference.

This clip is a reminder that the most powerful innovation stories are not really about tools. They are about connection, trust, and the human reasons we build anything at all.

I would love to hear what you think. What is the greatest innovation of all time, and why?

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