How are DC’s largest companies applying new solutions to old challenges?

You’ve heard of innovation festivals, innovation centers, innovation officers. They’re all found and supported at some of the biggest companies in town, but what does it all mean?

It’s among the questions we’re thinking about as we plan coverage for October’s editorial calendar theme: corporate innovation.

Innovation has been described around Technically Media as “embracing of risk and failure, collaborating with partners you normally wouldn’t, iterating when things don’t work”; “making room for improvement where others see perfection”; and “moving past the status quo to solve problems.”

To others, it’s “a discipline, not a cliché.” It something companies want to look like they have. And it’s analogous to teenagers having sex — the more you talk about it, the less you’re probably doing it.

Next month, look out for reporting on how our four markets’ largest companies say they’re applying new solutions to old challenges, and profiles that highlight the folks attempting to enact that change.

A few relevant stories we’ve published in recent months:

• Comcast NBCUniversal is about to graduate its second Philly-based LIFT Labs Accelerator cohort, supporting founders from four countries.
• Delaware’s Christiana Care Health System has been training employees in non-technical roles to code.
• McLean, Virginia-based infotech consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton hosted its annual internship/pitch competition/hackathon combo.
• CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and LifeBridge Health of Baltimore are partnering to build an innovation center and fund for digital health startups.

We’re still forming our plans for next month’s coverage, so send story ideas — and your own definition of corporate innovation — by filling out the form here. (Full disclosure: If you use the terms “cutting edge” or “disrupt” to describe your company’s work, we’ll assume you don’t know what the heck you’re talking about and probably ignore you.)

Find our reporting here once we get rolling. And stay tuned for more stories related to September’s theme, as Technologists of Color Month wraps up next week.

P.S. We’re accepting nominations for the inaugural RealLIST Engineers through mid-October. Know of an outstanding community member who shows technical aptitude, community leadership and collaborative practices? Tell us here. We’ll curate and publish a list later in the fall.