The I-Open Backstory: A Tale of Industrial Economy Disruption and Spin-Out

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Image: REI Cluster Map by Ed Morrison & Laszlo Kosmon

From the Report: REI. Business Plan V.1.5 at I-Open on Scribd.

The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) is a 501c(3) not for profit educational economic development organization spun out (2005) of the Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI), a regional economic policy and report center based in Cleveland, Ohio from 1980 to 2005.

The Center was originally funded by the Cleveland US Federal Reserve Bank at the recommendation of a RAND Corporation report to advise the then many Fortune 500 corporate leaders based in the 23 counties of North East Ohio, a regional industrial economic success.

In 2003, Ed Morrison, lawyer, economic development practitioner, and policy strategist was hired as the Executive Director of REI, housed at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. The resident team led by Mr. Morrison, quickly incorporated legacy knowledge assets, updated and developed Center mission, generated a set of operational Principles, and aligned organizational investments with strategic programs in support of tech-based economic development in global networked economies.

(Note: Within 60 days of the time of the announced 2003 REI re-alignment, 60% of the Center's regional foundation funding provided by The Cleveland Foundation and George Gund Foundation was withdrawn; the remaining 30% funding provided by the Ameritech SBC Global corporation was re-dedicated by the corporate program office for the continued support of REI activities. Some 15 months later at the closing of the Center by CWRU in 2005, Ameritech SBC Global funds were confiscated by CWRU's Weatherhead School of Management, REI's host organization, during a time of organization and leadership disruption and financial downturn.)

In support of the REI 2003 mission update, and to catalyze and strengthen regional civic networks integral to tech-based economic transformation, team member Betsey Merkel developed the Civic Forum process, a pragmatic approach to civic engagement to accelerate the generation of transformational initiatives, ultimately engaging during the 17 month period over 3000 people "on a campus with no parking" - and before the advent of social media! (Costs averaged $.60 cents/person compared to a large failed regional engagement program averaging costs of $60.00/person, proving regional transformation for prosperity building does not need to be costly or complex in open economic networks.)

Simultaneously, Ed Morrison designed Strategic Doing, a rapid project development process to support, evaluate, and invest in the resulting Civic Forum entrepreneurial innovations for education, economic, and workforce development.

The Civic Forum process and Strategic Doing develop transformational civic entrepreneurial initiatives in Open Source Economic Development to accelerate prosperity for competitive regional advantage. 

 

Click Through For The Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) Slide Show at I-Open On Flickr. [16 Slides]

The Center was closed by CWRU in June 2005. Ed Morrison was hired by Purdue University in Indiana USA to assist in the development of the Purdue Center for Regional Development, now a national and global hub for education, economic and workforce development and policy.

Also in June 2005, Ed Morrison, Betsey Merkel and two others co-founded The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) to continue the education and development of new practices and tools in Open Source Economic Development begun at REI.

(Note: Open Source Economic Development and Strategic Doing developed by REI Exec. Dir. Ed Morrison were later spun out in June 2005 and widely adopted by U.S. Workforce Investment Boards, the U.S. Economic Development Administration at the U.S. Dept of Commerce, and U.S. Dept of Energy to accelerate workforce innovation for regional economic development.

In Northeast Ohio, Betsey Merkel, REI Strategic Networks and Communications, and developer of the Civic Forum Process, continued to lead Civic Forums with I-Open colleagues and community to construct regional civic entrepreneurial networks and support resulting transformational enterprise initiatives.)

Ed retired from I-Open a few years ago to dedicate his work to the advancement of open models in workforce development. Betsey Merkel continues to invent and develop new practices and tools in Open Source Economic Development for the acceleration of transformative enterprise in emerging network economies.

Links of interest:

Network Weaving: Connecting People, Ideas and Projects

Networks: Weaving People, Ideas and Projects from I-Open on Vimeo.

June Holley, Network Weaver, talks about simple steps community, industry and organization leaders can do to get started weaving networks.

Open economic networks are the social relationships between people to share information about resources and talent for the purpose of initiative building. Networks are generated by people connecting on their similarities and benefiting by their differences.

June is a global thought leader on the practice of network weaving, community building and the mapping of social networks.

View or download the story transcription at I-Open on Scribd below.

June Holley 02-21-09 Interview
 

You can learn more about June Holley at the Network Weaving blog.

Learn the wisdom of civic leaders across these I-Open communities:

Copyright 2011 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 2563 Kingston Road Cleveland OH 44118 Phone: 216-220-0172 Web: http://i-open.posterous.com/

I-Open Civic Wisdom Library Description

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Midtown Brews Conversation 2008 

Cleveland, Ohio 


“People will say today what they will do tomorrow” - Peter Gloor, Research Scientist, MIT Center for Collective Intelligence

The Civic Wisdom Library is a public archive of interviews and broadcast conversations contributed to I-Open by business leaders.

Knowledge is organized by innovation investment categories and industry topics according to the Innovation Framework - a heuristic model of investment in Open Source Economic Development.

Read why investing in open, guided conversations is important to the sustainability of communities, businesses and regions. View or download the Civic Wisdom Library Description below.

Learn from civic leaders at I-Open on Vimeo.

I-Open Civic Wisdom Library Description

George Nemeth on Open Conversations

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Painted

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr

A Summary Guide to Open Conversations

Guided, open conversations build trust and offer starting points for entrepreneurs and large organizations to identify local creativity for collaboration and capacity building.

How conversations bring value to local economies are summarized below from an interview George Nemeth, Founder and Chief Blogging Officer, Brewed Fresh Daily contributed to The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) January 2008, in Collinwood, Ohio. George is known for his natural talent to engage people in public discussion and dialogue.

 Q: What are Open Conversations? What is the value of Open Conversations? 

  • Open conversations means an intention to be inclusive – not necessarily "open to the public" – but with people who want to participate.
  • Contributors need to adhere to certain behaviors (not a free-for-all – if you choose to become a part of the conversation you need to behave in certain ways) and not intentionally steer the conversation toward your own agenda.
  • Contributors need to use a method of inquiry that is appreciative.
  • There needs to be a shared open mindedness and a sense to be inclusive.
  • The value of openness is that it has to do with being participatory – they are here to engage with us and we are here to engage with them, too.
  • People we have are dynamic and we need to be as energetic.
  • What you give, you will learn, you have more of a deeper understanding (a more complex understanding – as information comes up, questions get asked) this is much more of an integrated approach to learning.
  • A person needs to offer what they know – allowing the conversation to expand to the level of a quantum dialogue – an extended learning that goes beyond just giving explanations, which are fine upto a certain point, but beyond that it is the experiential and on-site aspects that are important for this kind of learning.
  • The other people who are there have interests in common.
  • These are the basic parameters we agree around and this is the value.
  • The intersection between creative industries, technology, and energy appeals to a variety of backgrounds. This is only one perspective. I try to play up the diversity aspect.
  • There is value in urban areas and their inherent diversity.
  • Midtown Brews Open Conversations are a powerful way to engage a community-minded chain of businesses.

Watch live streaming video from midtownbrews at livestream.com

You can learn more about George at GeorgeNemeth.com, connect on LinkedIn, and follow George on Twitter.

A Summary Guide to Open Conversations is available for download at I-Open on Scribd.

Learn the wisdom of civic leaders across these I-Open communities:

Copyright 2011 Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Betsey Merkel and The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open), 2563 Kingston Road Cleveland OH 44118 Phone: 216-220-0172 Web: http://i-open.posterous.com/

Open Conversations in Regional Economic Development

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Soil

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr 

Since 2003, I-Open has partnered with technology businesses and college and universities to build neutral civic spaces convening open, guided conversations for regional economic development. I-Open incorporates this process in it's collaborations.

We've learned in networked economies people move in the direction of their conversations. For this reason and because of the need to strengthen and accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship, the communities and regions that move ahead quickly and are not left behind will be those who invest in open conversations.   

The questions we ask determine the direction of our conversations and where we place our attention. In regional economic development attention can translate into millions of dollars of funding. The strategic attention of a small or medium business will determine the difference of a company's success or failure.

Open conversations are important because they build social networks for business development and act as a tool for entrepreneurs to spot new opportunities quickly they might not ordinarily know about. 

Open conversations build transparency and trust. Transparency  by informing everyone present and enabling  anyone with initiative to participate. And trust by observing standards of civility respectful of commentary and accepting of constructive criticism. 

Northeast Ohio Solar and Wind Entrepreneur, Bill MacDermott offers this description from his experience:

"We all have our own unique perspectives. We need to be willing to respect another person's perspective if we want our perspective to be respected in turn. That to me, is an open conversation."

 Ohio's extensive network of colleges and universities are home to a large community of positive change research leaders and consultants. Appreciative Inquiry, developed at Case Western Reserve University  in Cleveland, Ohio is a practice adopted by some civic leaders to guide open conversations and accelerate positive change. Open conversations cultivate deep reflection, rich insights and fresh perspectives on entrepreneurial innovations. 

 Gloria Ferris, Partner, Meet The Bloggers, is one such civic leader. In the video below she teaches us about the value open conversations bring to regional prosperity. Gloria has led many Northeast Ohio I-Open Open Conversations and is considered a valued guide in the civic community.

Where are open conversations happening in your community?

Challenging Jumpstart: A New Conversation About Regional Entrepreneurship

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Good Bubbles

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr

Marc Canter, CEO of Broadband Mechanics (BBM) is a 25+ year veteran of the software business. Marc was the co-founder of MacroMind, which became Macromedia and helped to develop the world's first multi-media player, the world's first multi-media authoring system, and the world's first cross-platform authoring system while at MacroMind. More about Marc here.

Today technology Guru Marc Cantor posted the article, "Challenging Jumpstart". This interesting article questions the operations of Jumpstart, the Northeast Ohio economic development organization recently cited by The White House as a model for replication across America to advance national innovation and entrepreneurship. Marc points out - and backs up in detail with organizational leadership and awardee email correspondence - that the present Jumpstart organization lacks serious levels of transparency and accountability about how and what percentage of regional and Federal tax dollars (upward of $1B+) are being awarded to fund Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurs. If Jumpstart and other regional organizations tasked to address regional poverty and joblessness via their stewardship of regional assets, innovation and entrepreneurship to generate jobs and prosperity, word out on the street wouldn't be "3 out of 5 folks in Northeast Ohio live in poverty".

Here's an excerpt from Marc's article:

"For several years now, what concerned entrepreneurs throughout Northeast Ohio have been calling for is greater responsiveness and transparency from Jumpstart (Ohio), an organization largely funded by taxpayers. Now, as we see Jumpstart (Ohio) spinning off Jumpstart (America) and moving on to tackle issues of national economic importance (while we continue to face staggering historical unemployment here at home) many entrepreneurs in our community are left scratching their heads."

If organizations adopt habits of transparency and accountability public funding would actually reach down to turbo charge the real powerhouse of Northeast Ohio's regional economic and job creation machine -- our expansive, courageous, brilliant regional network of entrepreneurs.

Learn more about Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs and the widespread innovation already here - invisible because it's under connected and under supported at the levels open innovation requires - in I-Open's Civic Wisdom Libraries on LivestreamVimeo and You Tube.

Read Marc's blog post, comment and participate in this important new conversation with Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs and Jumpstart - and hopefully joined by other regional education, economic and workforce development organizations - to implement better ways of connecting regional assets, resources,  and support services to advance Northeast Ohio's entrepreneurs.

Read Marc's blog post, and if you are so inclined, share this note with your networks. E-mail/ask Marc Cantor (on Facebook and Twitter) what you can do to strengthen transparency and accountability for prosperity building in our Northeast Ohio region, other regions in the nation, and perhaps the world.

Bring the best of the I-Open community's collective Brainpower to this important new conversation. Share your knowledge and expertise by posting to Marc's blog post examples and comments of how you strengthen transparency and accountability.

If every region's economic development organizations adopted the new practices and tools of Open Source Economic Development - openness, transparency and collaboration - entrepreneurs would be connected and regions would be cultures of bubbling-up thriving sustainability.

Design Frameworks for Health Facilities

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Light

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr

The Design Frameworks for Health Facilities paper was presented at the Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference, hosted by the Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, Georgia October 2010.    

Design Frameworks is an innovative online tool to gather resources from a cross-disciplinary field of problem solvers.

The tool is a model for professionals to inform their creative problem solving of systemic events in social, economic and environmental complexity.

Design Frameworks was developed by Alan Ricks and Michael P. Murphy Jr., Executive Director, MASS Design Group. 

Design Frameworks for Health Facilities from I-Open on Vimeo.

Stay connected to the COINs Conference community:

The second International Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference Oct. 7--9, 2010 was convened in collaboration with I-Open, galaxyadvisors.com and research leaders of MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence, Wayne State University's School of Engineering, Department of Manufacturing and Systems Engineering, and the Savannah College of Art & Design. The COINs 2011 Conference will be hosted in Basel, Switzerland.

Copyright 2011 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 2563 Kingston Road Cleveland OH 44118  

 

 

I-Open Social Network Maps

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Social network maps strengthen transparency by indicating where and with whom an entrepreneur or organizational leader can access information and resources. 

The 2003 Northeast Ohio Economic Development Social Network map shown above maps organizations and institutions in Northeast Ohio who invest in economic development. The arrows indicate directional flow of information. Colors designate TYPE of organization ... light green are all of the Universities, Grey are Government, Dk Green Commercial Biz, etc. This map was generated by Valdis Krebs, Founder and Chief Scientist, Orgnet.com and creator of Network Visualization - InFlow 3.01, and George Nemeth from public data.

Maps are tools to enable communities to visualize connectivity and, acting as intermediaries, strengthen connection or complete a connection between human talent, resources and capabilities. I-Open maps published in the Flickr set below were generated by Dennis Coughlin, I-Open using InFlow 3.01. See the Network Map Inventory below the set for corresponding title information.

 

Open Economic Networks Map Inventory


Copyright 2011 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open), 2563 Kingston Road, Cleveland OH 44118 Phone: 216-220-0172 Web: http://i-open.posterous.com/

The New "Cluster Moment": How Regional Innovation Clusters Can Foster the Next Economy

From the report:

What explains clusters’ renewed popularity?  To be sure, some of the concept’s new and bipartisan relevance owes to its sound non-partisan concern with the mechanics of value-creation in local economies, whether metropolitan or rural, high-tech or manufacturing.  And it’s true that as a matter of policy action clusters—ranging from the famous Silicon Valley technology cluster to the Vermont cheesemaking cluster—are all about synergies and efficiencies, and don’t tend to cost too much.
 
But what is most timely beyond all that may be the possibility that the new prominence of regional innovation clusters reflects something deeper: a positive interest in locating a more grounded, realistic way to think about the economy and development efforts so as to put both on a more productive footing.  
 
In this setting, the new cluster discussions redirect attention, analysis, and policymaking to the more grounded, day-to-day interactions by which real companies in real places complete transactions, share technologies, develop innovations, start new businesses—and yes, create jobs and locate workers. To that extent, clusters—whether of airplane manufacturing in Wichita or cleantech in Colorado or biomedical innovation in Cleveland—represent an antidote to the nation’s recent economic history of bubbles and consumption and also a framework for recognizing and bolstering the real-world variety and dynamism of regional economies.  Hot spots of productivity and collaboration as well as competition, clusters are the locations most likely to deliver a new economy that is export-oriented, lower carbon, innovation-driven and so opportunity and prosperity rich...

In sum, cluster thinking and cluster strategies have the potential to accelerate regional economic growth and assist with the nation’s needed economic restructuring, but they are more a paradigm than a single program. In that sense, the opportunities that a cluster policy framework provides for delivering impact, clarifying economic priorities, and coordinating disparate programmatic efforts will only grow more important in the coming era of intensified competitive pressures and tightened resources.

I-Open Civic Forums generate the open economic networks necessary to strengthen early cluster development in Open Source Economic Development.

Learn more at I-Open on Scribd, "I-Open Civic Forums Strengthen Entrepreneurship and Business Development in Network Economies".