Collaborative Communities
I-Open Collaborative Communities Screenshots: (1) Midtown Brews (2) I-Open Civic Forums (3) I-Open (4) Tuesdays@REI (5) Swarm Creativity (6) Women's Enterprise Network. Sites designed and built by Betsey Merkel, I-Open.
Civic Forums Build Collaborative Communities
The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) is a not-for-profit economic development organization based in Ohio with a national reach. We connect to business, academic, government and civic leaders interested in learning more about Open Source Economic Development. I-Open offers Training, Coaching, and Workshops on Strategic Doing, Civic Forums, Social Network Mapping, and how to build On-line Communities using Web 2.0 tools.
Civic forums begin by building open networks to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. The civic forum process encourages new civic collaborations built on trust, mutual respect and accountability. I-Open promotes civic behaviors that overcome fragmentation by focusing on mutual interests, realistic business development opportunities and pragmatic "next steps".
Civic Forums accelerate trusted connections among a region’s extensive research, information, and civic communities to generate collaborative communities focused on transformative initiatives. I-Open removes the barriers that stifle "open innovation systems" within regional economies. These innovation systems – sometimes called "clusters" – drive regional prosperity. Civic Forums are not isolated events; they are part of continuous process for reshaping civic leadership and behavior.
I-Open partners with technology companies to develop Beta and established collaborative platforms and tools. By bringing together the best practices of Open Source Economic Development with the cutting edge innovations in Web 2.0, we can amplify efforts, focus intentions and build higher levels of connectivity.
