Swarm Creativity Blog: Reflections on COINs2009 - Towards a Science of Collaboration

Why is the Science of Collaboration relevant now? For thousands of years people have collaborated, from the first tribal bands hunting for large game to the feudal states in the middle ages to the large multinational companies of today. But only now with the emergence of the Internet and the Web do we have the means to solve tasks collaboratively at a large scale, with anybody, about anything, at anytime, and anywhere. Anybody planning a totally crazy project has the chance now to find the few other people on the world who care about the same topic with the same passion, and form the COIN, the Collaborative Innovation Network, to tackle the issue and collaboratively develop a solution.

I hope you'll take a moment to read this thoughtful post by Peter Gloor, Research Scientist at MIT, to the Swarm Creativity Blog, reflecting on the recent COINS 2009 conference.

Peter offers insights into the the timely and emerging Science of Collaboration and the particular value collaboration offers to strengthen networks, community, and creativity. An additional insight addresses the contrast between competition and collaboration, and the value altrusim brings to collaborative innovation networks.

How we learn and share knowledge in social network analysis, collaborative leadership, emotional intelligence, and many other fields will make the difference in the quality of innovation and enterprise communities and their cultures generate. How we integrate and practice this new knowledge is our most difficult task, and critical to advancing global sustainability.

I-Open continues to learn and share important research and practitioner findings from fields such as the emerging Science of Collaboration to improve Open Source Economic Development. The Innovation Framework, Civic Forums, and the process of "Strategic Doing" - taking ideas to action quickly - offer starting points to advance new conversations, knowledge creation, and enterprise opportunities for education, economic, and workforce development.

Posted by Betsey Merkel