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How Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing is Helping Find Asteroids and Planes

Open innovation and crowdsourcinng are concepts that have taken the research and strategy gurus by storm. NASA and DigitalGlobe are using similar concepts to help solve problems such as finding a missing plane and developing better asteroid algorithms. Using and hedging knowledge to solve problems, improve services, reduce costs, and be more effective is the main goal. The organizations have put forward two different but interrelated programs. NASA and Planetary Resources Inc. have teamed up to put more eyes on the sky. They are offering $35K in prizes to citizen scientists that can improve upon existing algorithms for asteroid hunting. Participants can sign up on Top Coder . The goal is to help NASA find, derail, or destroy asteroids that could threaten Earth.  According to Tom Kalil, the deputy director for technology and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology, " I applaud NASA for issuing this Grand Challenge because finding asteroid threat

Enhancing Networks for Knowledge Creation

Knowledge diffusion is naturally affected by the quality of organizational information networks. These networks encourage the transference and use of higher levels of information that impact the service functionality of an organization. Dong, et. al. (2011) explores the need to understand these networks, enhance them, and effectively use them to develop organizations. Their explanation moves into the need to train workers on how to manage information in order ensure that information resources are fully utilized.  Service and information systems are “ value co-creation configurations of people, technology, value propositions connecting internal and external service systems, and shared information ” (Maglio & Spohrer, 2008, pp. 18). Organizations that use information properly can ensure that they are receiving the right kind of information and putting that information to good use for service effectiveness. Each network has inherent value fostered by their ability to connect

Growing Small Business and the Economy Through Clustering

Small and medium businesses have difficulty getting past a critical threshold that allows them to grow in the market. Helping them collaborate with like-minded businesses helps their growth potential. A paper by Dhakal, et. al. (2013) discusses an open-innovation concept of living labs that allows stakeholders and customers to engage in the co-creation process together. They studied a cluster in Australia to show how this enhances business development and the economic engine.   A living lab is a user-centered open innovation ecosystem (Hippel, 1986).   It uses modern technology to foster communication between stakeholders and customers to co-develop products.   The natural environment becomes the testing grounds for new products and services and this allows users to offer feedback on the success of changes and provide ideas on how to improve on the products and services.  It provides a collaborative space (virtual or physical) that distributes problem-solving tools, capacit

Managing Project Conflicts

Conflict is inevitable in public projects and activities. This the case when money, influence, and limited opportunity abound. By changing the fundamental nature of stakeholders from power over to power with a higher level of collaboration can occur that leads to better results. A paper by Eivind Brendehaug shows how the planning process can be improved when local stakeholder interests and conflicts can be compromised and integrated into the development process (2013). Co-management is a concept that helps to explain strategic development with three aims that include 1.) fulfill management aims, 2.) distribute cost and benefits among local stakeholders and authorities, and 3.) supplement representative democracy to reduce conflicts (Brechin et. al. 2003). It is a process of reviewing the varying issues inherent within projects and then finding a way to co-develop that concept. When projects are developed they rest in the authority of the planners. The planners have instru