Combinatorial Innovation: What can we learn from science?

In computer sciences it refers to combining good ideas in new ways. This has accelerated sharply over the last couple of years as the pool of accessible ideas and individuals is ever broader and deeper, with ever more opportunities for innovation. This is exactly what we are looking for.

Even if technology froze today, we have more possible ways to configure the different applications, machines, tasks, and distribution channels to create new processes and products than we could ever exhaust. (Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee on the exponential power of “combinatorial innovation”)

see also Recombinant Innovation, obvs