HP Innovation Journal Issue 14: Spring 2020 | Page 6

WELCOME
The family connection to HP
continued when my father-in-
law joined HP in its early days
as a microwave engineer, and I
followed along in the 1980s as
a design engineer. As I begin
my new journey as interim
CTO of HP, it’s hard not to
look back at the pivotal role
technology continues to play
in industrial, economic, and
societal advancement.
At HP, we know that the best
way to be prepared for the
new decade in tech is, perhaps
paradoxically, to look backward
a bit and see what there is to
learn. We can easily recognize
that global industrialization,
innovation, and ingenuity
have led us to one of our most
advanced states in history.
Consider that in the 20th
century alone, the world’s
economy grew 14-fold. Extreme
poverty has been cut in half
over the past 25 years, leaving
the average citizen of the world
4.4 times richer than they were
in 1950. People are living longer,
with the global average life
expectancy increasing by 5.5
years between 2000 and 2016.
4
Increased value in education is
helping to fuel economic growth,
new industries, and advanced job
skills. In fact, the global rate of
return on investment (ROI) in
schooling is approximately 10%
for primary education. That’s
significantly better than the
ROI for Treasury bills, savings
accounts, or the housing market.
HP has a long history of
innovating to improve
lives and transform industries.
I’ve seen it play out in my own
life story. My grandfather,
joined later by my father, started
an electronics company in
Oakland, California, more than
80 years ago. Among their first
customers were Bill Hewlett
and Dave Packard, looking for
capacitors to use on the audio
oscillator they were building in
their Palo Alto garage.
Yet despite this immense
progress and the breakneck
pace of change, we still have
much work to do as we try to not
just live our lives, but strive to
live our best lives. We will look
to innovations to help us deal
with environmental pressures,
economic inequalities, and
rising healthcare costs.
While there is no shortage
of challenges, the good news
is, there’s also no shortage of
ideas. In fact, the number of
worldwide patent applications
has increased five times since
the mid-1980s. The pace of
change and innovation is only
accelerating, offering us a
chance to create a sustainable
world where humans and the
planet find equilibrium and
ensure technology helps the
planet’s health as we advance as
a society; make education more
accessible, more engaging, and
more personal at all levels and
across all markets; democratize
how and where we gain access
to healthcare, as well as gain
significant cost efficiencies;
and transform manufacturing
with pioneering 3D additive
manufacturing to fashion
sustainable, customized, and
efficient products, parts, and
supply chain processes.
HP Innovation Journal Issue 14
There’s tremendous opportunity
for HP to grow in all of
these areas. To harness that
opportunity, we are committed
to working in more efficient,
secure, and collaborative ways.
At 80 years young, we are just
getting started.
GLEN HOPKINS
Interim CTO and
Global Head of HP Labs