Malaysians must have the courage to take risks in efforts to become innovative, said Najib Abdul Razak.

The prime minister said an innovator would explore new avenues rather follow in the tracks left by others.

Najib said the loss of past innovators such as the co-founder of electronics company Apple, Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Sony Corporation and inventor of the Walkman, Akio Morita, and founder of Pan American World Airways, Juan Trippe was always felt strongly by the world that had benefitted from their innovative thinking.

"The legacy of Steve Jobs as well as Juan Trippe, Akio Morita and many others gave me pause for thought. There is much to be learned from visionaries and innovators like them," he said in his latest entry to the blog www.1malaysia.com.my.

As such, Najib suggested that they be made as role models with the hope that one day Malaysian names would be added to the annals of history as people who had changed the world with their innovative thinking.

The prime minister said: "Currently, Malaysians like professor Halimaton Hamdan, Phua Khein-Seng and Tony Fernandes have brought innovative ideas and approaches to how we view our modern world in terms of nanotechnology, data storage and air travel.

"It is with this hope that I announced 2012 as the year of National Innovation Movement, with several strategic initiatives such as MyCreative Venture Capital and C1PTA, as well as an allocation of RM100 million in the 2012 Budget," he said.

Najib said an innovator must keep an open mind to unconventional views and and see opportunity where most people see problems.

"It took Thomas Edison countless attempts with different materials before he successfully lit an incandescent lightbulb for 40 hours using a carbon filament.

"Innovators don’t hit on a successful formula at the first try, but they persevere and don’t stop trying.

"Like Edison, they view the unsuccessful attempts as steps towards the eventual triumph. In fact, Edison summed it up perfectly: “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration".

"This is perhaps the most distinct difference between an inventor and an innovator. Over the centuries, millions of people have produced billions of inventions, but only a small fraction has affected the world with their ideas.

"This small fraction became innovators because rather than trying to be the first to create an item, they sought to create a version of the item that best serves the larger public," he said.

Najib said innovators believed that inspiration could come from anyone and anywhere because learning for them was not confined to the classroom, but took place in every interaction with people and other living and inanimate entities.

He said it was the sense of curiosity and wonder that fuelled their desire to create better products and systems.

- Bernama