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60% of the Center's regional foundation funding provided by The Cleveland Foundation and George Gund Foundation was withdrawn; the remaining 30% funding provided by the Ameritech SBC Global corporation was re-dedicated by the corporate program office for the continued support of REI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:

The Innovation Framework in Open Source Economic Development

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Shaded Grass

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr  

The Innovation Framework is a guide for entrepreneurs, scientists and business leaders to successfully navigate a shift in mindset from scarcity to abundance in Open Source Economic Development.

Collaborative leadership is a discipline driven by the laws of natural systems, and is designed to catalyze individual creativity, communication and collaboration, ultimately leading to flourishing cultures of innovation.

I-Open conversations share insights and innovations in health care, energy, land, food, water, and technology. Leaders in the Civic Space generate a collective intelligence to solve the social, economic and environmental challenges of the world with transformative enterprises.

View or download the full screen view of the Innovation Framework on Flickr.

The Innovation Framework in OSED

Creating The Right Space To Foster A Spirit Of Innovation

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Walking Area

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr

Dr. Thomas J Allen, Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow, Howard W. Johnson Professor of Management, Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management, talks about his seminal research documenting  the value of companies and people working in close proximity to nurture innovation.

Tom Allen's work formulated the idea of the "Allen Curve" - a simple understanding that the closer people and companies are located the more cross-fertilization of ideas, network building, talent exchange, and enterprise results.

His research supports the success stories of the Youngstown Business Incubator, Youngstown, Ohio and the Charleston Digital Corridor, Charleston, South Carolina. Regions that prioritize investment in Quality, Connected Places - will be cool destinations where people, creativity and companies thrive! 

Creating the right space to foster a spirit of innovation from I-Open on Vimeo.

You can view or download Dr. Allen's interview transcription at I-Open on Scribd below: 

Thomas Allen 03-19-09 Interview


Learn from 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/

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?

Energy Efficiency Enterprise in Collaborative Innovation Networks

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Basket Abstract

Image © Alice Merkel on Flickr

James Flock, energy entrepreneur, Cleveland, Ohio, describes his enterprise solution - the socialization of energy - focused on personalized Energy Services (like the emerging personalized health care industry) in networked economies.

As an RF engineer, Jim's work experience is deeply rooted in MRI, Antennae and Radio Frequencies. He's applied his expert level skills to understand how communities can fine tune resonance to create signal and optimize energy delivery to only where it is needed.

Jim has thought through how value-based brands with services defined by community can lead to energy efficiency techniques. Understanding how corporations and homeowners prefer to experience energy as members of dynamic community systems, personalized energy delivery can be optimized and precise, efficient techniques developed. Ultimately, brands play a pivotal role in the embodiment of a service provider's energy efficient community culture.

In this in-depth and expansive interview, Jim describes project investment, construction methodology, and deliverables. In addition, Jim shares personal philosophies on information sharing, habits of collaboration, advice for youth working on the web, the value of sharing in networks for the purpose of "giving ahead", and how his enterprise will positively affect education, economic and workforce development, and sustainable communities 50 years from now.

Energy Efficiency Enterprise in Collaborative Networks from I-Open on Vimeo.

You can connect with Jim at his blog Global Definition and on LinkedIn.

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 

Citizens Academy - a set on Flickr

Images © Alice Merkel on Flickr

Images describe Citizens Academy, a leading charter school in Cleveland, Ohio. I-Open visited Perry White, Founder and Executive Director, Citizens Academy in June 2010 to learn more about his life long work connecting children, learning and justice.

Since 1999, Perry has led a transformative model of charter school education, now a top-performing urban school in the state of Ohio with a national reputation for successful students.

You can learn more in the introductory interview, Connecting Children, Learning and Justice with Perry White at I-Open on Vimeo www.vimeo.com/18102918 

Reference Links
Learn from the wisdom of civic leaders across I-Open communities:
Copyright 2010 Betsey Merkel and I-Open. Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works. Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) 4415 Euclid Ave Suite 301 Cleveland, Ohio 44103 USA

 

Featured Workshop COINs 2010 Blog: Basics of Social Network Analysis: Network Analysis 101

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This is an interactive workshop for social network newbies to the field of Social Network Analysis including a brief history, the basic vocabulary, professional associations, software tools, example studies across multiple disciplines, and cutting edge developments and trends.

Instructor: Prof. Ken Riopelle, Wayne State University, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

SIGN ME UP for this workshop!

Stay connected to the COINs Conference Community:

The COINs 2010 conference, Oct. 7–9, 2010, is presented by I-Open and the COINs Collaborative, an initiative of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Wayne State University College of Engineering's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Collective Intelligence. The collaborative builds open knowledge networks to advance the emerging science of collaboration for research and industry competitive advantage. Hosted by SCAD. For more information about the COINs 2010 conference, visit http://www.coins2010.com

How to Share Your I-Open Interview Information

I-Open interviews gather information through the lens of the Innovation Framework, a heuristic map for thinking and doing in Open Source Economic Development.

This document offers starting points to share your interview information with your networks.

You can learn more about industry innovation by listening to I-Open interviews and conversations and reading transcriptions on Scribd.


 


Designers Accord 2009: An Important Conversation Exploring the Future of Design in Open Systems

Note to readers:  I-Open mistakenly posted the Designers Accord 2009 document as a shareable piece of information. Apologies to our Design colleagues! The document has been removed.

We've asked the authors to supply us with a shareable version we can post here. The Accord unquestionably offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs working in Open Source Economic Development.
You're encouraged to continue to follow along and learn about the related efforts in the design industry at the October Design Ethos conference hosted at SCAD. Thanks for your patience. - Betsey Merkel, I-Open.

Back to the original post:

I-Open is co-sponsor of the COINs2010 conference Oct 7-9 hosted at SCAD in Savannah, GA. The conference will collaborate with the concurrent Design Ethos Conference also hosted at SCAD during the same time frame. SCAD Professors Scott Bolyston, Graphic Design, and Christine Miller, Design Management - hosts of each conference - are developing ways for the two gatherings to intersect, learn, and explore collaboration opportunities.

The Designers Accord document posted here offers an important snapshot of the global educational design community's desire to pursue discovery of the role of design at the intersections of social, economic, environment, and cultural issues today.

Links to learn more:

More about this important 2009 conversation and this resulting report:

The Designers Accord Final Comments document was submitted as a report to the editorial committee of the 2009 Designers Accord Global Summit 2009.

On October 23 and 24, 2009, the Designers Accord convened 100 individuals from some of the world’s most distinguished academic and professional institutions, for two days of highly participatory discussion, planning, and action around the topic of design education and sustainability.

This group of thought-leaders, design educators, and experts discussed, challenged, and conceived of a new path for undergraduate and graduate design programs to integrate sustainability. We tackled topics ranging from creating curricula and writing grants, to communicating to trustees and motivating students. These topics were culled from pre-Summit meetings and brainstorm sessions.

The format of the Summit was structured to enable this group to create a collective point of view about best practices and methods for integrating sustainability into design programs all over the world. We are currently synthesizing the outputs from the Summit. We plan to publish the output online and in printed form. The medium and format will be determined by the content.

You can learn more at this link:
http://www.designersaccord.org/initiatives/summit/

I-Open on Strategy-Nets: industry collaboration with an enterprise footprint

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 I-Open first announced its partnership with Near-Time.com May 14, 2007. Over the following three years, I-Open focused on applying the Near-Time tool set to early applications of face-to-face and online network and community development in Open Source Economic Development initiatives in many states.

Ed Morrison, Co-Founder and past Director of I-Open, led initiatives across the country while Northeast Ohio Co- Founders and Directors Betsey Merkel, Dennis Coughlin, and Susan Altshuler - along with the expertise of regional leaders - co-led initiatives in Northeast Ohio.

Article: "I-Open Selects Near-Time to Help Drive Community through Web Integration" 

I-Open's value as an industry partner with technology companies works in a couple of ways:

First, I-Open collaborates with technology and creative companies to build the place based open, neutral spaces for new conversations to take place, engaging business leaders focused on shared interests. Over time, conversations increase opportunities for innovative, collaborative local partnerships.

That's where a second stage of partnership comes in: in this case, the application of a Web 2.0 platform to sustain conversations and amplify community building, complete with a tool set to advance project work.

Online destinations offer a landing place for people to continue their conversations once they've gone back to the office. If a project is started, Web 2.0 tools enable work to continue from any place, independent of traditional meetings.

Midtown Brews and the Women's Enterprise Network are two Northeast Ohio based I-Open business collaborations that advance regional-to-global industry networks. Both are tested, successful models of integrating technology at the intersections of face-to-face and online network building. I-Open Civic Forums turbo charge activity and with the help of social media, local transparency is improved and global issues generally not addressed openly, are.

Collaborations between technology companies and network organizations like I-Open are invaluable because they advance cycles of industry improvement in social process and tool building. I-Open applications are unique because they focus on building enterprise under the mantra of open source ideology across social, economic, and environmental sectors.

Today, the Near-Time tool set has assumed a new application and brand: Strategy-Nets, an enterprise company founded by Ed Morrison that combines what was learned in those early applications to advancing strategic network building for economic development across regions.

By continuing to launch industry collaborations between technology companies and I-Open process, innovations capable of sparking technology and social process advances emerge. The added bonus is a footprint of trusted networks, evolving mindsets, collaborative behaviors, and plenty of competitive enterprise opportunities for any technology innovator prepared to grasp them.

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/