`The Global Brain' by Satish Nambiasan and Mohanbir, Wharton School Publishing (2008)

Satish Nambisan is professor of technology management and strategy at the Lally School of Management Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, and Mohanbir Sawhney is McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology and the Director of the Center for Research  in Technology & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

In this book, the authors trace the titanic shift from Firm Centric to Network Centric Innovation and prescribe 4 models to tap the Global Brains.

Innovation used to be something companies did within their four walls. Thousands of researchers and scientists toiled deep within the bowels of large corporations to create the next big thing. Corporations attempted to hire the best and the brightest researchers and managers to drive research and new product development. Then came Internet , Open Source ,Crowd sourcing,  Open Innovation etc and consultants, academics , media joined the chorus to liberate innovation from organizational boundaries.

The Global Brain is rich and diverse- a large number of innovative firms as well as a large pool of innovative people  exist in different parts of the world whose knowledge and creativity can be leveraged by the companies. Moreover, new types of innovation intermediaries and new technological infrastructure have made tapping into such global network of innovators, scientists and innovative firms easier than even before. Thus the imperative for sourcing external innovation is matched by the rapidly expanding horizon of innovation opportunities.

Network Centric Innovation (NCI) is an externally focused approach to innovation that relies on harnessing the resources and capabilities of external networks and communities to amplify or enhance innovation speed and the quality of innovation outcomes. A wide variety of networks, players and roles are emerging; business ecosystems, alliance constellations, open source communities, expert communities, inventor communities, customer communities etc. Network Centric Innovation embraces these different types and also captures the unique approaches to organizing innovation  that arise from the combination of different types of networks and interactions of companies with different types of innovation networks.

The concept of NIC has four defining principles: shared goals, shared world-view, social knowledge creation and architecture of participation. The four models of network centric innovation are: The orchestra model,The creative bazaar model, The Jam central model,  The MOD station model.

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Democratizing the future

Democratizing the future is a free to download ebook from Josephine Green of Philips.

This paper argues that we need different ways of thinking, being and doing if we are to live well, prosper and safeguard the future. Primarily we need to go beyond the straight jacket of consumer needs and a consumer approach, and also encompass social needs and a social approach. By doing so, we can drive a new era of creativity and growth.Working with this emerging social space therefore becomes both an opportunity and a necessity. However, we must not only re-invent our social industries, but also our lifestyles and even the very growth models upon which they are based. To achieve this, the new technologies enable more radical innovation through the delivery of more context-based customized services and systems. Such place embedded systems have the potential to deliver sustainable solutions for the 21st century. Shifting our emphasis from consumption to services and systems, and combining a consumer-led and socially-led approach, means that how we think about and interact with the future will change. This paper explores these changes and examines how we might open up and engage with the future differently, in terms of going beyond:

• a market-led approach, based on consumer research and innovation, to a socially-led approach based on social research and social innovation.
• the act of researching the future to directly engaging with the future through people who are already creating it today.
• closed research and innovation to open co-creation with stakeholders, especially users.
• a linear interpretation of time and the future towards new conceptual models that allow a more imaginative and creative interaction with the future.
In short, we need to shift the emphasis away from technology and the market and more towards people and responsibility through ownership. It is time to democratize the future.

Download :http://www.newscenter.philips.com/shared/assets/Downloadablefile/democratizing-the-future-16071.pdf

Insights from GE research

Gopichand Katragadda, in his book `SMASH' talks of hand to mind barrier. Many analysts referred to our aversion to dirty hands leaving us a nation of million spectators always struggling to find 11 to soil in the field. Bright engineers for decades shunned shop floor jobs and reserachers lived in ivory tower unconnected to market. Gopichand also ( probably for the first time from any MNC) shares his insights on what makes GE and MNC R&D units such a productive places. The activities highlighted:

1. GECR-B Signature Programs: The idea is to have a branding and instill pride in the programs being worked by the team.

2.Learning Environment: A culture of learning and growth is maintained through technology specific and industry specific conferences organised by JFWTC.

3.Innovation Department: A constant focus on innovation is maintained through a variety of activities such as Business program Manager Challengers, innovation workshops by external experts, innovation process sharing with external companies, TRIZ training, tools, pilot projects, internal technical career path trainimng on innovation, innovation portal and idea management systems.

4.Customer connectivity: The indian session T (T for technology) held in 2006 broght together close to 100 GE customers and GE engineering, research, sales and marketing teams.

5. Cross JFWTC collaboration

A must read for all CSIR scientists.