Innovation is back on the menu – we’re all using it but not defining it in the right way, says JC Oliver, global head of innovation at Microsoft.

Speaking at the Festival of Media Asia Pacific in Singapore, Oliver looked at how the high risk nature of true innovation does not deliver, which in our postmodern digital age must “graph failure in order to succeed across Asia.”

“People say that Asia is always behind – but I really don’t believe that this is the case,” said Oliver.

“You all have the platforms and the tools – it’s how you apply it that counts. Asia doesn’t have to worry about not innovating in this region.”

But when true innovation is true innovation, it has to be “radical” said Oliver. It has to be wrong in order to be proved right.

Oliver also discussed the importance of the internet in changing the way that global companies find “innovation” as well as changing the way the “value chain” works.

He said that it’s not just about the importance of data and marketing, the key is to look at where these aspects of the internet connect.

“Intersections are innovative”, said Oliver. “We have to look at the key places where data and marketing connect.”

According to Oliver, there isn’t a culture of “failing fast” in Asia – brands don’t like the risk. He explained that marketers need to identify what innovation that actually want and then take the risk.

When true innovation is true innovation it has to be radical – it has to be wrong in order to be proved right.

Quoting Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, Oliver said: “Our industry does not respect tradition – it only respects innovation.”