Jayshree Naidoo is currently the head of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). She initially joined the bank to assume the position as head of Group Strategy. She has launched this new function in the Bank with a focus on embedding a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship to create a capacity that identifies projects that can address development challenges as well as improve internal processes.

She has been selected to represent her organisation on the Innovation Systems Leadership Programme funded by the DST. The aim of the programme was to identify individuals that could influence the National System of Innovation.

Before joining the DBSA, Jayshree was employed as a Divisional Manger at Discovery, were she was responsible for launching Discovery’s Mobile Self Service Platform that allows members the ability to access key information using Mobile technology, she later joined their international division PruHealth to head up their virtual member portal.

Her previous roles included positions at ABSA were she was responsible for the Customer Centric Programme and Internet Solutions, were she was the manager for Vertical Industry Strategies. Her knowledge, understanding and experience of e-channels, marketing and innovation, spans over a period of 16 years having successfully managed e-commerce marketing-related projects. She has worked in the Financial services Sector for over 13 years

Her qualifications include a Certificate in Marketing, Marketing Diploma, Advanced Marketing Diploma, C A I B (SA), MCSE and Project Management. She completed a Programme in E-Commerce Management (PEC) which is an NQF7 – Honours level qualification through Unisa SBL. She is also a Certified Trainer on Six Thinking Hats and Lateral Thinking (Edward de Bono Tools). She has an MBA qualification with her dissertation focusing in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Capacity Creation.

Jayshree has presented at several conferences including the Innovation Summit and the Innovation Festival and has been featured in several magazines including CEO Magazine and SA Innovator. She often guest lectures at universities and gives motivational presentations to students and members of the public. She has her own consulting company that focuses on innovation strategy, training and consulting and is a board member of JASA (Junior Achievement South Africa), as well as a steering committee member of SAINe, the South African Innovation Network.

A few personal thoughts on innovation and creativity

Innovation and creativity could be compared to tools and like any other tool it needs to be used effectively to achieve the most out of it and the users need to receive proper training on the use of the tool as well.  Organisations that are able to harness the potential of innovation through a deliberate and focused intervention that cuts across all levels and functions will be able to achieve significantly better results.