We live in an age of innovation, where digital technology is providing solutions to problems before we've even... — David Lidington

We live in an age of innovation, where digital technology is providing solutions to problems before we've even realised we needed them. We see it every day as we find new ways to travel, eat and shop.

Author: David Lidington

Insight: There's something almost disorienting about how quickly innovation now works. We didn't wake up ten years ago thinking "I desperately need an app that tells me where my food is coming from," and yet that solution exists now and feels natural. The pattern repeats constantly: a technology arrives, we adopt it, and suddenly we can't imagine life without it. What's tricky is that this can feel like progress is just happening to us, rather than something we're choosing. But there's a hidden tension worth sitting with. Sometimes we're genuinely solving real problems—making things more efficient, safer, more accessible. Other times, innovation is creating the problem and the solution together, turning something simple into something complex just because it can be. The convenience of having everything delivered to our door, for instance, solves a real need but also reshapes how we move through our neighborhoods and relate to our local communities. The real skill isn't just keeping up with innovation—it's staying honest about which solutions actually improve our lives versus which ones just fill a void that marketing created. Innovation isn't inherently good or bad. It's how we choose to use it, and whether we're still thinking critically instead of just reflexively adopting whatever's next.