What is the key to improving a company’s bottom line while adding jobs? Increase a product’s value by making it better, says Rotman School of Management Dean Roger Martin.

Here’s Mitchell Joachim, TED Fellow and urban designer, talking about his ONE Lab, which he hopes to turn into a “university without walls.”

“We are all exposed to certain information in the environment, but coming together and expressing that information is what turns that information into knowledge.” Designer Neri Oxman, at the Connecticut Forum, on the power of collaboration.

In this talk, TED Fellow and designer Anab Jain talks about “designing the new normal,” and explains how new technologies in design will drastically change the way we live.

TED Fellow Jane Chen’s Embrace—an affordable baby incubator designed for developing countries—started as a project at Stanford University, and has blossomed into a social enterprise that just might change the world. In this Google Talk, she shares tips on bringing an idea to fruition, and inspires us to think bigger.

“Innovation is entirely about watching your users and listening to what they want,” says Douglas Merrill in an exclusive interview with Lavin. “You can build great products simply by doing what your customers tell you.” The former Chief Innovation Officer at Google, Merrill’s latest venture is ZestCash.com—where is the CEO and Co-Founder.

Curt Carlson is the President and CEO of SRI International, and the noted innovation speaker’s company—you know, the ones who invented the iPhone’s Siri—have a few upcoming innovations that will change the way we live. Again.

Here’s four of SRI’s exciting new projects, from Fast Company magazine:

BRIGHT

Helping users focus on focus
Comprised of a touch screen, HD displays, cameras, and sensors, this system monitors user behavior to foster productivity. By tracking your eyes as you work, Bright can assess the time you spend looking at specific files or emails. In time, it will be able to gauge their importance and act as a prioritizing filter. Its eye-tracking tech can already detect when you’re looking at an image but not actually seeing it, making it valuable for, say, air-traffic controllers.
Timetable: Five years for full system.

FAST

Cancer-catching laser tech
A laser and fiber-optic system originally invented by Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, FAST (fiber-optic array scanning technology) can quickly scan your bloodstream for circulating tumor cells. The system—basically a biopsy, but from drops of blood—is presently tuned for breast and lung cancer, and could obviate debilitating, one-size-fits-all chemotherapy treatments by letting doctors prescribe targeted therapies. If all goes as planned, trials will begin by the end of 2012.
Timetable: At least three years.

LOLA

If Siri balanced your budget
Spanish bank BBVA-Compass worked with SRI for five years to create a Siri-like virtual assistant that carries out banking tasks. The web app can handle chores such as moving cash between accounts or setting up bill payments. Lola will be test-driven until early 2013 by bank staffers and their families before its release to BBVA customers. (From there, the software may be licensed to other banks.) Minor hurdle for a Spanish bank’s utility: Lola speaks only English right now.
Timetable: Within a year.

ROBOTICS

Providing a helping hand
SRI wants to mainstream the use of consumer robots with low-cost (under $1,000) robotic hands that can wield human tools. A robot holding a flashlight or pushing a button may not seem sexy, but some of the value of bots comes from their ability to operate in hazardous environments. A commercial venture called Redwood Robotics is licensing some of the technology from SRI and plans to market robots, albeit in a stripped-down manner: It’ll hawk the hardware; it’s up to consumers to program as needed.
Timetable: Within five years.

Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran, the award-winning correspondent for The Economist, talks about his new book Need, Speed, and Greed, and how innovation can solve the world’s “wicked problems.” Read more HERE.

“The new economy is all about collaboration,” says Tonya Surman, the co-founder of The Centre for Social Innovation, and Lavin’s newest exclusive speaker. In this video, shot at Lavin’s Toronto office, she talks about what makes for a successful social enterprise, as well as why she’s “not interested in working with non-profits that are simply going to beg for money.”