Community Mobilization

KM Cluster ... the Final Blog

Andrew Hargadon from UC Davis gave a truly enlightening presentation to close the KM Cluster meeting. His presentation focused on the community emphasis on innovation. Andrew recounted the success of Henry Ford, Alexander Fleming, and Tomas Edison as innovators of their time. The presentation made two striking points; innovations are usually the result of new creative uses and combinations of existing technologies, and that one man is never fully responsible for an invention.

I took away the concepts and have made observations about out Futuring and Innovation Center here at work. I am excited that we rely on others to collaborate on innovations, and that we are actively conducting environmental scans. We are always looking for the product, or process that will bring us success if reengineered to fit our needs. According to Andrew Hargadon PhD our innovation center is on the right track!

Blogin' KM Cluster Part II

The Power Hidden Within

This is the second installment of the KM Cluster meeting bring a quick set of notes about Rob Cross and his presentation. Dr. Cross teaches at the McIntire School of Commerce at UVA. Rob uses a number of techniques to identify social / business / trust / communication networks within corporations. Most often he uses surveys and not an electronic package that tracks e-mail. He uses the information to help companies get the most out of their employees.

Amazing analysis, and if it were coupled with a social networking tool it could be powerful. Again, the keystone is knowing who know what, who needs what, and who knows who. I found through Rob’s presentation that in both industry and social settings not being able to get to the right person could be stifle productivity. Harnessing the power of the internal network, bring employees together in collaborative fashions, may even foster a sense of internal community. Who know is this could lead to lower employee turnover and a more content staff.

Bloggin KM Cluster I

Spoke Vs. Visible Path
On Friday at the Knowledge Management Cluster Meeting just before Lunch I was treated to some healthy discussion on the virtues of Visible Path and Spoke as solutions for mining connections. There was good debate between Stanley Wasserman and Andy Haliday. I poured over what they were saying in terms of how their systems collect and crunch data. It was great until one of the V.P. salesmen started to expound on the virtues of Stanley Wasserman the expert professional and how his credentials lead to a far superior product yad…yad… and then the group booed him! We are intelectuals, give us information not hot air!

Discoveries include: Know who your people know, AND why they know them. A contact without context may be useless. Weak ties often hold the needed connections, and are valuable if you can determine what they have to offer. The software is useless unless I can enter a need and locate a provider. Finally, these systems can’t replace the basic establishing and maintaining of relationships.

Both of the tools give good information in different ways. Our business here is organizing people to do what the society needs done and it is more clear than ever getting into the weak ties of volunteer network could be a true boon in the fight against cancer.

A Converstaion With Phillip 'Linden'

On Thursday I had a great conversation of Philip Rosedale of Linden Labs at his office on San Francisco. This is the second time I have had a discussion with him at length and I am increasingly impressed with his vision of Second Life. The most interesting parts of his vision are the educational and cross-cultural barriers that SL can provide.

Mike Mitchell, Philip and I talked about involving a global audience in SL, and questioned if users would actively form enclaves and ghettoize themselves. With translation functionality cross cultural exchanges would be simple, and multilingual chat could build international bridges. We brainstormed about how architecture students and city planners could mock up plans in SL and see how users interact with their zoning and usage plans.

Yet, how will this affect the real world? Will these avatar relationships translate in the real world? And if they do what good are they to anyone else but those who posses them? And most importantly if that is the case is it all that bad?

Economics is a Game

The economics of online gaming always seem to escape me. An article titled 'Game Theory' in the Walrus Magazine caught my eye. This gives me a moment to talk about the economics of the system. The supply / demand in the digital world are relatively simple and I equate them to Abraham Maslow’s highest order ‘self actualization’. In digital you don’t need the basics, just acceptance, love, and self actualization which I translate into consumerism.

The article references that the Everquest Platinum Piece (currency) is equal to one cent USD. In Second life the Linden (currency) is equal to 1/25 of a penny and can be exchanged into and out of USD. I am curious to see if these economies are integrated into the US economy. Since the systems are globally tied through the internet is there reasonable concern that these systems could prove a point of leakage?

Moreover if there is indeed a significant of economic value being developed on these various systems how long is it until lawmakers seize on the opportunity to institute taxation. Besides … how would you levy a capital gains tax on the sale of virtual property?

Poindexter's TIA

The National Journal ran an article about the Total Information Act in their May 8 issue. It actually focused more on Admiral John Poindexter of Iran-Conta fame. The articles does not dig into to graphic details of the looming privacy violation TIA would inherently create, instead it reviews the challenges that the Admiral faced when proposing the concept, the value it could bring, and Poindexter’s almost paradoxical simultaneous development of privacy protection systems to insure there was no misuse of the TIA system.

The TIA reminds me of the grade school stories I heard about the KGB in the USSR. They knew where you were, what you bought and who you knew. Moreover they let you know that they knew! I don’t really care if there is a system that can harness everything I do / buy and analyze the data because I have nothing to hide. However if such a system exists I surely don’t want to know about it!

We see here the delicate balance of privacy versus security, and for the first time we must begin to make real concerted decisions as a country and as a community. Will this technology rally the country together against terrorism, or against the technology itself? The answer played out already, and we chose our privacy. But Poindexter’s wife raises a good point at the end of the article … if we are oblivious to it … ignorance is bliss.

Wired on File Sharing

Wired magazine writes about a new program funded by the Motion Picture Association of America designed to educate middle school children about the impacts of file swapping and their idea of being a good digital citizen. Technology is constantly subject to a social-hacks, and file sharing is one of the most notable.

This phenomenon has brought about a user community dedicated to sharing digital information, a community which is direct violation of the US copyright laws. In addition it spawned an anti-community consisting of the MPAA, Recording Industry representatives and others.

It seems that the MPAA is resorting to very no-tech means to educate youth and preempt the growth and expansion of the file sharing community. The internet file sharing created a community, and an anti community which in turn focused its attention on the destruction of the file sharing community. Clearly a great example of how technology mobilizes communities.

Babble about Fish

Technology is now ever creeping into Sushi houses in the form of voice recognition software. The article ‘Voice Over Raw Fish'details the enterprise. Chefs, especially busy ones, are finding that using the system is enabling them to make more accurate orders even in the face of dozens of shouting customers. The software is showing up on automated telephone systems designed to help channel customer service calls and reduce wait times.

I once heard a story of a man from Alabama traveling to New York, and when he got into a cab and gave the address the cabbie asked what country he was from. I am curious as to the effectiveness of the software systems in recognizing regional dialects and even foreign accents. With various pronunciations I anticipate there being a software learning curve until everyone can use the system with equal ease.

Url Stamps and Camera Phones

While at E-Tech I heard a speech about how the camera phone would soon incorporate the abilities of the now defunct Cue Cat, and double as a barcode reader. This would give shoppers almost unlimited information about products they buy.

Semacode has taken the technology another step forward with optical URL stamps. They are stamps that, once scanned by a camera-phone with the software, will open a browser to a specific URL page. This could be a boon for blogers, advertisers and even pranksters.

I just hope that we don’t see these things covering all of the telephone poles and building like the traditional advertisements of today.

You page me, fax me, e-mail me ...

Technology is being developed for the convenience and use of its users, and I think that is something that we are starting to forget. With the advent of multiple portable communication devices accessibility is at a level unheard of two decades ago. Society has developed a perception that these devices are for the convenience.

As users of technology we are now expected to take every phone call, answer every e-mail, and read every blog that is sent to us. Because communication is so rapid, and cheap it does not necessarily mean that it should be constant. That and I may not want to communicate right now!

Technology is really doing amazing things by uniting people but at the same time are we becoming overcommitted? Because it is so easy and so fast and simple are we taking on to much responsibility? Do we have to many friends to maintain real quality relationships? Are we missing life because we are glued to our Tivo or cell-phone? And if so are we willing to loose some of the gadgets to make real time in the real world?