Innovation, construed as broadly as it is today, is seen as a universal panacea for all that ails developed economies. In the U.S., innovation has been credited with driving dramatic growth, productivity, and an unprecedented standard of living. Add the disintermediation of the Web, and innovation can also be credited with empowering the individual in … Continue reading “Innovating When You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: The View from PARC”
Author: Mark Bernstein
Mark Bernstein has directed one of the world's premier centers of research innovation since 2001, when he led PARC in its transition from a research division of Xerox to an independent research business. Under Bernstein's leadership, PARC has broadened its research agenda and established an independent commercial perspective, while retaining close strategic ties with Xerox.
Since Bernstein assumed his role, PARC has established strategic research relationships with multiple government agencies and industry partners, incubated new businesses, and developed significant IP licensing agreements. PARC's commercial relationships include client services for industry leaders in consumer electronics, biomedical sciences, enterprise computing, and renewable energy. Current clients include IT service provider Fujitsu Ltd., and the world's leading commercial printing company, Dai Nippon Printing Co.
Motivated by his passion for moving technologies out of the research lab and into real-world applications, Bernstein has developed PARC's business strategy, defined its organizational structure, and expanded customer relationships in challenging new fields. Leading nearly 200 of the world's leading experts in fields as diverse as materials science, distributed computing, human factors, mathematics, linguistics, and sociology, he is driven to see the results of their work influence the world in many and meaningful ways.
Bernstein worked closely with PARC's previous leadership as Manager of Research Strategy under John Seely Brown (1992-1999), and as Associate Center Director (2000), before being named President and Center Director (2001). He came to PARC in 1979 with a broad background in the semiconductor industry at Fairchild Semiconductor. He initially joined the former General Sciences Laboratory as a researcher, and later participated in joint ventures Spectra Diode Laboratories (which later merged with JDS Uniphase) and DuPont Xerox Imaging. Bernstein has also been instrumental in several ventures from Xerox PARC, including Groupfire (assets acquired by Google) and Inxight (later acquired by SAP).