constellation and open source article

Transcription

s eptem ber
20 0 8
Editorial
D ru Lavigne , Tony Bail
e tti
Ch il
d- Ce ntric Laptop to H e l
p Addre ss
SocialNe e ds
Joh n Roe se
O pe n Sou rcing SocialCh ange : Inside th e
Conste l
l
ation M ode l
Tonya Su rm an, M ark Su rm an
O pe n Sou rce , SocialInnovation and a Ne w
Econom y ofEngage m e nt
Ste ph e n H u ddart
Ke y El
e m e nts ofSocialInnovation
Al
l
yson H e w itt
SocialInnovation: Acce ss and Le ade rsh ip
Rose ann Ru nte
Adaptive Co- m anage m e ntand th e Le arning
th atLe ads to SocialInnovation
Nancy D ou b l
e day
H ow U nive rsitie s Can Enab l
e Social
Innovation
Kim M ath e son
Th e CU E Factor: Com m u nity- U nive rsity
Engage m e ntfor SocialInnovation
Edw ard Jack son
U pcom ing Eve nts
Ne w sbyte s
Contrib u te
s eptem ber 20 0 8
Editorial
D ru Lavigne and Tony Bail
e tti discu ss th e e ditorialth e m e .
Ch il
d- Ce ntric Laptop to H e l
p Addre ss SocialNe e ds
Joh n Roe se from Norte le xpl
ore s th e b e ne fits ach ie ve d th rou gh
participation w ith th e O ne Laptop Pe r Ch il
d proje ct.
PU BLISH ER :
Th e O pe n Sou rce
Bu sine ss Re sou rce is a
m onth l
y pu b l
ication of
th e Tal
e ntFirstNe tw ork .
Arch ive s are avail
ab l
e at
th e w e b site :
h ttp://w w w .osb r.ca
ED ITO R :
D ru Lavigne
dru @ osb r.ca
ISSN:
19 13- 6102
AD VISO RY BOAR D :
Tony Bail
e tti
Jam e s Bow e n
Ke vin Goh e e n
Le sl
ie H aw th orn
Ch ris H ob b s
Th om as Ku nz
Ste ve n M u e gge
D onal
d Sm ith
M ich ae lW e iss
© 2008 Tal
e ntFirst
Ne tw ork
O pe n Sou rcing SocialCh ange : Inside th e Conste l
l
ation M ode l
Tonya Su rm an from th e Ce ntre for SocialInnovation and M ark
Su rm an of th e M oz il
l
a Fou ndation e xpl
ain an innovative approach
to organiz ing col
l
ab orative e fforts in th e socialm ission se ctor.
3
5
9
O pe n Sou rce , Social Innovation and a Ne w Econom y of
Engage m e nt
Ste ph e n H u ddart of th e J. W . M cConne l
l Fam il
y Fou ndation 16
e xam ine s th e l
ink b e tw e e n ope n sou rce and socialinnovation.
Ke y El
e m e nts ofSocialInnovation
Al
l
yson H e w itt from M aR S e xpl
ains th e im portance of social
te ch nol
ogy and innovation inte rm e diarie s to ach ie ve positive 22
ou tcom e s for socialinnovation initiative s.
SocialInnovation: Acce ss and Le ade rsh ip
Rose ann Ru nte , Pre side nt and Vice - Ch ance l
l
or of Carl
e ton
U nive rsity, e xpl
ore s th e ch al
l
e nge s for socialinnovation and th e u se 25
ofinform ation te ch nol
ogy.
Adaptive Co- m anage m e ntand th e Le arning th atLe ads to Social
Innovation
Nancy D ou b l
e day from Carl
e ton U nive rsity e xpl
ains h ow adaptive
co- m anage m e nt can b e u se d to foste r proje cts th at e ffe ct farre ach ing ch ange .
28
H ow U nive rsitie s Can Enab l
e SocialInnovation
Kim M ath e son, Carl
e ton U nive rsity’s Vice - Pre side nt (Re se arch and 34
Inte rnational
), de scrib e s th e conditions th at facil
itate a u nive rsity
age nda in socialinnovation.
Th e CU E Factor: Com m u nity- U nive rsity Engage m e ntfor Social
Innovation
Edw ard Jack son of Carl
e ton U nive rsity discu sse s th e dynam ic 38
triangl
e ofcom m u nity- u nive rsity e ngage m e nt.
U pcom ing Eve nts
44
Ne w sbyte s
47
Contrib u te
48
Edito rial
SocialInnovation is th e th e m e of th e
Se pte m b e r issu e of th e O pe n Sou rce Bu sine ss Re sou rce (h ttp://w w w .O SBR .ca).
Th is issu e captu re s im portant aspe cts of
h ow ope n sou rce asse ts, proce sse s, and
val
u e s m ay b e u se d to cre ate socialand
e nvironm e ntalval
u e . Som e of th e se aspe cts are ne w and stil
lb l
u rry, oth e rs are
cl
e ar and fam il
iar. Th e pu b l
ication of th is
issu e signal
s a strong inte re stin th e u se of
ope n sou rce to su pport non- profit and
ch aritab l
e initiative s. Te ch nol
ogy com pany m anage rs, e ntre pre ne u rs, acade m ics, contrib u tors to ope n sou rce proje cts,
and staff of non profit organiz ations and
fou ndations are e ncou rage d to continu e
to u se ope n sou rce to e nab l
e socialinnovation.
If th e ove rw h e l
m ing re sponse w e re ce ive d to th is m onth 's cal
lfor su b m issions is any indication, th ose e ngage d in
ope n sou rce are al
so passionate ab ou tsocialinnovation.W e cou l
d h ave e asil
y pu b l
ish e d a 100 page issu e , b u topte d inste ad
to save som e su b m issions for u pcom ing
issu e s as th e y are al
so su ite d to th e
th e m e s of Bu il
ding Com m u nity and Enab l
ing Innovation.
Tony Bail
e tti of th e Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork
is one of th e driving force s b e h ind th e
O SBR . H e is gu e ste ditor th is m onth and I
th ink you 'l
lagre e th ath e h as done an e xce l
l
e nt job of finding au th ors from indu stry, acade m ia, and non- profits w h o
are on th e frontl
ine s of socialinnovation
in Canada.
In th is issu e , au th ors from ve ry dive rse
b ack grou nds h ave contrib u te d insigh tfu l
articl
e s th at e xam ine : i) gl
ob alproje cts
th atu se ope n sou rce to b e ne fitsocie ty;ii)
ope n sou rce - l
ik e approach e s to organiz ing th e col
l
ab orative e fforts th at l
e ad to
socialinnovation; iii) ch al
l
e nge s and e l
em e nts of socialinnovation; and iv) w ays
to al
ign u nive rsity capacity w ith th e social
innovation age nda.
Th is issu e is jam - pack e d w ith re sou rce s
and e xam pl
e s of initiative s- - e nou gh to
l
e ave you th ink ing "I h ad no ide a so
m u ch w as h appe ning in Canada". Th e y
are n'tm e antto b e e xh au stive , b u tth e insigh ts and l
e ssons l
e arne d can b e appl
ie d
to sim il
ar initiative s across th e gl
ob e .
As al
w ays, th e au th ors and oth e r re ade rs
appre ciate you r com m e nts and re fe re nce s to additonalre sou rce s. You can
se nd th e se to th e Editor or l
e ave th e m on
th e O SBR w e b site or b l
og.
Joh n R oe se is Norte l
’s Ch ie f Te ch nol
ogy
O ffice r. In th e first articl
e of th is issu e ,
Roe se de scrib e s h ow th e ope n sou rce b ase d XO l
aptop h as b e ne fite d ch il
dre n
and te ach e rs in som e of th e m ost u nde rde ve l
ope d parts of th e w orl
d and tau gh t
produ ct de ve l
ope rs e m pl
oye d by te ch nol
ogy com panie s val
u ab l
e l
e ssons.
D ru Lavigne
Editor- in- Ch ie f
dru @ osb r.ca
Tonya Su rm an is th e fou nd ing Exe cu tive
D ire ctor of th e Ce ntre for SocialInnovation and M ark Su rm an is th e Exe cu tive
D ire ctor of th e M oz il
l
a Fou ndation. Th e ir
articl
e de scrib e s an ope n sou rce - l
ik e approach to organiz ing col
l
ab orative e fforts
w h ich w as de ve l
ope d by and for th e Canadian Partne rsh ip for Ch il
dre n's H e al
th
and th e Environm e nt.
D ru Lavigne is a te ch nicalw rite r and IT
consu l
tantw h o h as b e e n active w ith ope n
sou rce com m u nitie s since th e m id - 19 9 0s.
Sh e w rite s re gu l
arl
y for O 'Re il
l
y and
D NSStu ff.com and is th e au th or of th e
b ook s BSD H ack s and Th e Be stof Fre e BSD
Basics.
3
Edito rial
Ste ph e n H u d d artis th e Vice - Pre sid e nt of
th e J.W . M cConne l
lFam il
y Fou ndation in
M ontre al
. H is articl
e first e xam ine s th e
re l
ationsh ip b e tw e e n ope n sou rce and
socialinnovation, th e n organiz e s tool
s
for socialinnovation into fou r cate gorie s,
and final
l
y ide ntifie s tw o are as w h e re
socialinnovation and ope n sou rce are
ne e de d u rge ntl
y.
Ed w ard Jack son is Associate D e an (Re se arch and Gradu ate Affairs) in th e Facul
ty of Pu b l
ic Affairs at Carl
e ton
U nive rsity. Jack son argu e s th at to cre ate
socialand e nvironm e ntalval
u e and sol
ve
socialprob l
e m s in a cost- e ffe ctive and
su stainab l
e w ay, Canadian u nive rsitie s
ne e d to al
ign th e ir capacitie s w ith th e socialinnovation age nda and e stab l
ish e ffe ctive
partne rsh ips
w ith
th e ir
com m u nitie s.
Al
l
yson H e w itt is D ire ctor, SocialEntre pre ne u rsh ip at M aR S. In h e r articl
e sh e
ide ntifie s fou r k e y e l
e m e nts of socialinnovation and argu e s th at innovation inte rm e diarie s are criticale nab l
e rs of th e
su cce ss ofsocialinnovations.
Pl
e ase e njoy th e Se pte m b e r issu e of th e
O SBR .ca and sh are you r re actions by w riting ou r e ditor atdru @ osb r.ca.
Tony Bail
e tti
R ose ann R u nte is Pre sid e nt and Vice Ch ance l
l
or of Carl
e ton U nive rsity. Sh e
u rge s sch ol
ars to cre ate a ne w h ie rarch y
of inform ation and transform th e q u e stion of acce ss from an e conom ic issu e to
one ofm oraland socialju stice .
Gu e stEditor
Tony Bail
e tti h ol
d s a facu l
ty appointm e nt
in b oth th e D e partm e nt of Syste m s and
Com pu te r Engine e ring and th e Eric Sprott
Sch oolof Bu sine ss at Carl
e ton U nive rsity,
O ttaw a, Canad a. Profe ssor Bail
e tti is th e
D ire ctor of O ntario's Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork ,
th e D ire ctor of th e Te ch nol
ogy Innovation
M anage m e nt program offe re d b y Carl
e ton
U nive rsity, and th e h ostof th e TIM Le ctu re
Se rie s.
Nancy D ou b l
e d ay is an Associate Profe ssor in th e D e partm e nt of Ge ograph y and
Environm e ntal Stu die s, Carl
e ton U nive rsity. Sh e e xam ine s th re e proje cts th at
u se d th e adaptive co- m anage m e nt approach to su pport stu de nts w ork ing in
au tonom ou s grou ps th at produ ce d social
innovations.
Kim M ath e son is Carl
e ton U nive rsity’s
Vice - Pre side nt (Re se arch and Inte rnational
). Sh e ide ntifie s five conditions th at
facil
itate a u nive rsity age nda for su cce ssfu lsocialinnovation and argu e s th at u nive rsitie s h ave to consciou sl
y conside r
strate gie s th atsu pportal
te rnative m ode l
s
for h ow discipl
ine s w ork toge th e r, h ow
th e y w ork w ith com m u nitie s, and h ow re se arch e rs are re w arde d.
4
Ch il
d- Centric L
apto p
Th e se m ode l
s su pport th e grow ing tre nd
ofH ype rconne ctivity (h ttp://w w w .h ype r
conne ctivity.com / ), e xpl
ore ne w te ch nol
ogie s, and contrib u te to ne w program m ing m ode l
s, incl
u ding ope n sou rce .
“Th is is not ju st a m atte r of giving a
l
aptop to e ach ch il
d , as if b e stow ing on
th e m som e m agicalch arm . Th e m agic l
ie s
w ith in –w ith in e ach ch il
d , w ith in e ach
scie ntist, sch ol
ar or ju stpl
ain- citiz e n- inth e - m ak ing. Th is initiative is m e ant to
b ring itforth into th e l
igh tof d ay.”
Kofi Annan,
Form e r U N Se cre tary Ge ne ral
XO is th e first com pu te r cre ate d as an
e du cationalaid for ch il
dre n in de ve l
oping cou ntrie s, w h e re cl
ose to tw o b il
l
ion
ch il
dre n are inade q u ate l
y e du cate d or re ce ive no e du cation at al
l
. As su ch , th e XO
com pu te r is de signe d to b e sim pl
e for
ch il
dre n to u se , e ve n in h arsh e nvironm e ntal conditions
and
ou tdoor
cl
assroom s. To accom m odate are as
w h e re th e avail
ab il
ity of e l
e ctricity is a
ch al
l
e nge , XO can b e sol
ar ch arge d. It
consu m e s 80 to 9 0 pe rce nt l
e ss pow e r
th an conve ntionall
aptops, is fu l
l
y w ate r
re sistant w ith a ru b b e r- se al
e d k e yb oard,
and h as a h igh - re sol
u tion scre e n th atcan
b e e asil
y re ad in dire ct su nl
igh t. Al
so, th e
XO is b ase d on a m e sh w ire l
e ss ne tw ork
th at tu rns e ach l
aptop into a rou te r th at
al
l
ow s for e asy Inte rne tacce ss.
Th e O ne Laptop Pe r Ch il
d Fou ndation
(O LPC,
h ttp://w w w .l
aptopgiving.org),
fou nde d by M IT profe ssor Nich ol
as
Ne groponte and a te am of e du cators, de ve l
ope rs and te ch nol
ogists, w as l
au nch e d
in 2005 to de sign, m anu factu re and distrib u te l
aptop com pu te rs th at are affordab l
e e nou gh to provide e ve ry ch il
d in th e
w orl
d w ith acce ss to ne w ch anne l
s of
l
e arning.
Know n as th e XO , th e l
ittl
e gre e n- andw h ite U S$188 l
aptop h as since gone on to
introdu ce com pu te r l
ite racy and se l
f- e m pow e re d l
e arning to ch il
dre n in cou ntrie s
and e nvironm e nts pre viou sl
y conside re d
inacce ssib l
e . It’s al
so an e xam pl
e of social
innovation, w h e re com panie s l
ik e Norte l
are l
e ve raging nove lapproach e s–-incl
u ding ope n sou rce softw are de ve l
opm e nt–to drive ch ange th atw il
lb e ne fitsocie ty.
O ne of th e m ost significant attrib u te s of
th e XO is th at it w as de signe d to ru n on
ope n sou rce softw are (O SS). Inde e d, th e
ope n sou rce te ch nol
ogie s in th e O LPC
l
aptop addre ss m any of th e ch al
l
e nge s
face d by th ose de pl
oying conne ctivity in
th e de ve l
oping w orl
d. Th e se incl
u de : i)
sparse te ch nol
ogy infrastru ctu re addre sse d th rou gh th e l
aptop’s w ire l
e ss
m e sh ne tw ork ing capab il
ity; ii) l
im ite d
avail
ab l
e el
e ctricity offse t by th e l
aptop’s
ul
tra l
ow - pow e r u sage ;and iii) th e l
ack of
traine d IT pe rsonne l
, a ch al
l
e nge ove rcom e by th e XO ’s sim pl
ifie d softw are and
au tom atic configu ration capab il
ity.
Com pany and O pe n Sou rce Inte raction
Norte l
, a re cogniz e d l
e ade r in com m u nications te ch nol
ogy and sol
u tions, is a
fou nding sponsor of th e O LPC initiative .
In addition to h e l
ping ch il
dre n in e m e rging nations gain acce ss to th e val
u ab l
e
l
e arning opportu nitie s te ch nol
ogy can offe r, ou r contrib u tion to O LPC and th e XO
l
aptop is h e l
ping Norte lre se arch and de ve l
opm e nt (R & D ) te am s th ink diffe re ntl
y
to addre ss ch al
l
e nge s th at m ay h ave a
b roade r appl
ication e l
se w h e re in th e indu stry. W h il
e not a Norte lprodu ct, XO is
b e ing u se d as a toolto stim u l
ate ou r R & D
te am s to conside r ne w com m u nication
m ode l
s.
Norte lh as re cogniz e d th e grow ing im portance and im pact of ope n sou rce for
m any ye ars, e m b racing O SS in m any
w ays, incl
u ding u sing ope n sou rce in se ve ralofits produ cts.
5
Ch il
d- Centric L
apto p
Norte lre ce ntl
y acq u ire d PingTe l(h ttp://
w w w .pingte l
.com /), an ope n sou rce pione e r in e nte rprise com m u nicatons. Norte l
,
PingTe land de ve l
ope rs arou nd th e w orl
d
are m e m b e rs in SIPfou ndry (h ttp://w w w .
sipfou ndry.org/), a not- for- profit w h ose
m ission is to prom ote and advance Se ssion Initiation Protocol (SIP)- re l
ate d
ope n sou rce proje cts. Norte l
's Softw are
Com m u nications Syste m 500 (SCS500) is
b ase d on ope n sou rce from SIPfou ndry,
and b l
e nds th e b e st of b oth th e ope n
sou rce fram e w ork and Norte l
's e xpe rtise
in voice , data, m u l
tim e dia and u nifie d
com m u nications.
3. Norte lh as sponsore d an e xte rnalre se arch proje ct at th e U nive rsity of Sfax in
Tu nisia to foste r th e participation of stu de nts and profe ssors in th e de ve l
opm e nt
and te sting of th e XO softw are and w ire l
e ss m e sh ne tw ork ing.
4. W e ’re col
l
ab orating w ith th e O LPC core
softw are te am to au gm e nt th e ir Bitfrost
(h ttp://w ik i.l
aptop.org/go/Bitfrost) se cu rity im pl
e m e ntation to incl
u de m ore of
th e arch ite ctu ralpie ce s e nvisione d in th e
Bitfrost se cu rity arch ite ctu re . Th is arch ite ctu re b re ak s ne w grou nd in com pu te r
se cu rity and addre sse s som e of th e k e y
conce rns e ncou nte re d w h e n de pl
oying
th e l
aptops in are as w ith ou t a tru ste d inform ation and com m u nications te ch nol
ogy (ICT) infrastru ctu re .
Norte lis one of m any contrib u tors e nh ancing th e ope n sou rce capab il
ity of th e
XO l
aptop.For e xam pl
e:
1. Norte lis a sponsor of th e O pe n802.11S
proje ct
(h ttp://w w w .ope n80211s.org),
w h ich is produ cing an ope n sou rce ve rsion of th e m e sh ne tw ork ing protocol
u se d by th e XO l
aptop. Th is ne tw ork ing
softw are w as not ope n sou rce , w h ich h as
b e e n se e n as an im pe dim e nt for th e
O LPC. By m ak ing th is softw are partof th e
ope n sou rce Linu x k e rne l
, it can b e u se d
in off- th e - sh e l
f com pu te r h ardw are to
cre ate se rve rs u se d in O LPC sch ool
b ase d de pl
oym e nts. Th e avail
ab il
ity of a
h igh - q u al
ity ope n sou rce re fe re nce im pl
e m e ntation w il
lacce l
e rate th e cre ation
and adoption of th e standard, w h ich w il
l
m ak e l
ow - cost m e sh ne tw ork ing w ide l
y
avail
ab l
e.
2. W e ’re h e l
ping O LPC anal
yz e and addre ss pe rform ance issu e s e xpe rie nce d
w ith scal
ing th e O LPC w ire l
e ss m e sh ne tw ork ing su b syste m . Norte lh as cre ate d
an O LPC ne tw ork ing l
ab in its O ttaw a,
Canada facil
ity and h as e ngage d a te am
of Norte lde ve l
ope rs to addre ss th e se issu e s. W e h ave de ve l
ope d a l
arge nu m b e r
of te st case s and are com m itte d to m ak ing th is te stb e d avail
ab l
e to oth e r ope n
sou rce de ve l
ope rs to u se w h e n w ork ing
on m e sh ne tw ork ingre l
ate d prob l
e m s.
5. O u r Le arniT initiative (h ttp://w w w .
norte l
l
e arnit.org) is partne ring w ith Cu rrik i (h ttp://w w w .cu rrik i.org), an onl
ine
e nvironm e nt cre ate d by Su n M icrosyste m s, to su pport th e de ve l
opm e nt and
fre e distrib u tion of w orl
d- cl
ass e du cationalm ate rial
s. Th is al
l
iance provide s a
fre e foru m for cre ating and sh aring onl
ine instru ctionalm ate rial
s th at inte grate
th e l
ate st digitalte ch nol
ogie s. For e xam pl
e , a te ach e r can b ring to l
ife a traditional l
e sson pl
an on th e scie nce of
w e ath e r th rou gh digitalsate l
l
ite im aging,
sh ow ing stu de nts h ow w e ath e r syste m s
inte ract gl
ob al
l
y. Th e te ach e r can th e n
u pl
oad th e l
e sson pl
an, m ak ing it avail
ab l
e to any te ach e r anyw h e re . Le arniT
al
so su pports th e O LPC com m u nity by
sponsoring and h osting u se r grou p m e e tings. Th e se grassroots e ve nts h ave b e e n
organiz e d in citie s l
ik e O ttaw a and W ash ington, D C by th ose inte re ste d in th e
ope n sou rce aspe ctofth e XO l
aptop.
O pe n Sou rce and SocialInnovation
6
Th e XO l
aptop is ju stone e xam pl
e of h ow
ope n sou rce de ve l
opm e nt is b e ing u se d
to addre ss im portant socialne e ds, su ch
as e du cation. O th e r e xam pl
e s incl
u de :
Ch il
d- Centric L
apto p
1.M IT offe rs O pe n Cou rse w are (h ttp://
ocw .m it.e du ) w ith th e m otto “U nl
ock ing
Know l
e dge , Em pow e ring M inds.” M IT
h as m ade th e cou rse m ate rial
s fre e l
y
avail
ab l
e u nde r th e te rm s of a Cre ative
Com m ons l
ice nse agre e m e nt(h ttp://cre a
tive com m ons.org).
Conside r th at O SS can h e l
p drive e conom ic and oth e r im prove m e nts. Th e re is
a w el
l
- k now n corre l
ation b e tw e e n conne ctivity and e conom ic grow th . For e xam pl
e , for e ach 1% incre ase in m ob il
e
pe ne tration, pe r- capita GD P grow s by
U S$240, and for e ach 1% incre ase in Inte rne t pe ne tration, pe r- capita GD P grow s
by U S$59 3 (h ttp://tinyu rl
.com /4gq l
l
h ). A
re ce nt articl
e in Com m u nications of th e
ACM (h ttp://portal
.acm .org/citation.cfm ?
id=1378710) m ak e s a pl
au sib l
e case for
th e corre l
ation b e tw e e n conne ctivity and
e conom ic de ve l
opm e nt. Q u oting a W orl
d
Bank official
, th e articl
e state s “(Conne ctivity) e nh ance s e m pl
oym e nt, pu sh e s
u p incom e s, incre ase s th e e m pl
oym e nt
of w om e n, cre ate s e fficie ncy in gove rnm e nt se rvice s, and re du ce s corru ption.”
W ide spre ad conne ctivity is al
so associate d w ith :
2. W orl
db ik e (h ttp://w w w .w orl
db ik e .org)
is u sing ope n sou rce m e ch anism s to im prove th e transportation and, by e xte nsion, th e incom e - ge ne rating capab il
ity of
fam il
ie s in de ve l
oping cou ntrie s.
3.Th e ope n prosth e tics proje ct(h ttp://
ope nprosth e tics.org), focu se d on produ cing u se fu linnovations in th e fie l
d of
prosth e tics, fre e l
y sh are s de signs to
spe e d u p innovations in th is indu stry.
O SS is an im portantte ch nol
ogical
, social
,
b u sine ss and e conom ic ph e nom e non
th at h as b e e n cal
l
e d by indu stry consu l
ting firm ID C “th e m ost significant al
l
- e ncom passing and l
ong- te rm tre nd th at th e
indu stry h as se e n since th e e arl
y 19 80s.”
(h ttp://w w w .idc.com /re se arch /vie w toc.
jsp?containe rId=202511). As a socialph e nom e non, ope n sou rce de ve l
opm e nt is
h igh l
y distrib u te d, w ith contrib u tions
from de ve l
ope rs arou nd th e w orl
d.
W ith ou ta b inding contractb e tw e e n l
e ade rs and de ve l
ope rs, l
arge vol
u ntary organiz ations
stil
l e m e rge
to
b u il
d
soph isticate d softw are th at m e e ts a
sh are d goal
. And e ve n th ou gh any de ve l
ope r can tak e th e cu rre nt code b ase
and cre ate an inde pe nde nt fork or code
b ranch , th is rare l
y h appe ns.
According to a Nove m b e r 2006 EU stu dy
(h ttp://e c.e u ropa.e u /e nte rprise /ict/
pol
icy/doc/2006- 11- 20- fl
ossim pact.pdf)
on th e e conom ic im pactof O SS, th e O SSre l
ate d sh are of th e e conom y cou l
d re ach
4 pe rce nt of Eu rope an GD P (gross dom e stic produ ct) by 2010. Be yond th e ob viou s b u sine ss b e ne fits, ope n sou rce
de ve l
opm e nt h as th e pote ntialto trigge r
im portantgl
ob alch ange .
1. A re du ction in th e m igration of th e
poor to conge ste d citie s, th u s im proving
th e l
ive s of b oth ru raland u rb an re side nts.
2. Im prove d agricu l
tu rale conom ics by
com m u nicating m ark e t price s and
b ridging th e gap b e tw e e n agricu l
tu rale xpe rts and l
ocalfarm e rs.
3. Im prove d ru ralh e al
th care by re du cing
b arrie rs to th e acce ss of h e al
th inform ation and ove rcom ing il
l
ite racy b arrie rs.
O pe n sou rce de ve l
opm e nt can provide
m ore capab il
ity to m ore pe opl
e ata l
ow e r
cost.
7
In its 2003 E- Com m e rce and D e ve l
opm e ntRe port(h ttp://w w w .u nctad.org/
e n/docs/e cdr2003_e n.pdf), th e U N note s
th at“th e re is no M oore ’s l
aw for softw are .
W h il
e com pu ting pow e r fal
l
s rapidl
y in
price , softw are th at can m ak e u se of th at
com pu ting pow e r b e com e s m ore com pl
icate d, som e tim e s m ore e xpe nsive and
l
e ss re l
iab l
e , and al
m ost al
w ays m ore difficu l
tto configu re and m aintain.”
Ch il
d- Centric L
apto p
Th e re port concl
u de s th at ope n sou rce
can h e l
p addre ss th is prob l
em .
U ru gu ay’s
Pre side nt pre se nte d th e
100,000th XO to a six- ye ar- ol
d stu de nt.
M any of th e ch il
dre n captu re d th e m om e nt by tu rning th e ir XO s arou nd to tak e
th e ir ow n stil
lpictu re s or vide o. In addition to b e ing u se d as an e du cation toolat
th e sch ool
, XO is al
so b e ing u se d to su pportan anti- sm ok ing sch oolinitiative .
Eric Von H ippe l
’s 2005 b ook D e m ocratiz ing Innovation (h ttp://w e b.m it.e du /
e vh ippe l
/w w w /de m oc1.h tm ) m ade th e
case th at m any com m e rcial
l
y significant
innovations are cre ate d by th e e nd u se rs
of produ cts. For e xam pl
e , itis difficu l
tfor
de signe rs in a l
ab se tting to intim ate l
y u nde rstand th e de tail
e d re q u ire m e nts of an
e du cator in th e de ve l
oping w orl
d. By re l
ying on avail
ab l
e O SS, th e se e du cators can
now contrib u te th e ir ow n e nh ance m e nts
and innovations, w h ich can b e incorporate d into ne w ve rsions ofth e produ ct.
In Se pte m b e r, at th e Kagu gu Prim ary
Sch oolin Kigal
i, th e nationalgove rnm e nt
official
l
yl
au nch e d O LPC in R w anda. Th e
ce re m ony incl
u de d m ore th an 3,000 stu de nts w h o re ce ive d th e ir XO l
aptops. Th e
sch oolw as fu l
l
y pre pare d for th e occasion. Th e e l
e ctrical infrastru ctu re h ad
b e e n e xpande d. W ire l
e ss conne ctivity via
Vsat w as instal
l
e d. Th e Edu cation M iniste r and a se nior scie nce and te ch nol
ogy
official in R w anda’s Pre side nt’s office
b oth spok e to th e gath e ring of th e ir
sh are d vision of h ow O LPC can im prove
e du cation in R w anda, as w e l
las th e cou ntry’s e conom y. Th e y al
so annou nce d th at
th e gove rnm e ntw il
lcre ate a fu nd to su pport a fu l
l XO de pl
oym e nt to al
l of
R w anda’s tw o m il
l
ion prim ary sch oolstu de nts w ith in five ye ars.
In a ve ry fu ndam e ntalw ay, th e avail
ab il
ity of O SS e m pow e rs l
e arning in a w ay no
b ook can. W al
te r Be nde r, past pre side nt
of th e O LPC initiative , cre dits th e avail
ab il
ity of th e “vie w sou rce ” b u tton on al
l
b row se rs –and th e fre e avail
ab il
ity of th e
u nde rl
ying H TM L code –as k e y to th e
w e b 's su cce ss. In th is w ay, ope n sou rce
de m onstrate s th at one of th e m ost dire ct
w ays to l
e arn is to im itate , and l
e ve rage ,
th e e fforts ofoth e rs.
O LPC and Positive SocialCh ange
Th e de ve l
oping w orl
d is not th e onl
y be ne ficiary of th e O LPC initiative . Som e
U .S. sch ooldistricts, su ch as Birm ingh am , Al
ab am a, h ave al
so e m b race d th e
XO . W h at’s m ore , th e im pact of th e O LPC
initiative e xte nds b e yond th e b e ne fits associate d w ith e du cation and conne ctivity.
XO h as al
so raise d th e b ar on e nvironm e ntalfrie ndl
ine ss. Itnotonl
y consu m e s
significantl
y l
e ss pow e r th an oth e r com m e rciall
aptops, XO contains no h az ardou s m ate rial
s.
By ge tting th e ope n sou rce - b ase d XO
l
aptop into th e h ands of ch il
dre n and
te ach e rs in som e of th e m ost u nde r- de ve l
ope d parts of th e w orl
d (incl
u ding
H aiti, M ongol
ia, R w anda, U ru gu ay and
Pe ru ), th e initiative is h e l
ping to drive
re aland su b stantive ch ange in th e m any
cou ntrie s th ath ave signe d u p to participate in th e O LPC proje ct. U ru gu ay and
R w anda are tw o e xam pl
e s of cou ntrie s
th at w e re am ong th e first to e m b race
O LPC and are now se e ing th e im pact.
In Au gu st, U ru gu ay de pl
oye d its
100,000th XO com pu te r, al
m ost al
l of
w h ich w e re Inte rne t e nab l
e d. Th e sce ne
w as th e Vil
l
a García El
e m e ntary Sch ool
ne ar M onte vide o, one of th e cou ntry’s
l
arge stprim ary sch ool
s.
8
Al
th ou gh th e XO l
aptop and th e w ork of
th e O LPC Fou ndation continu e to m ak e
inroads, th e initiative h as draw n som e criticism b oth from a te ch nol
ogy and a de pl
oym e nt pe rspe ctive . In som e case s, th e
criticism w as val
id and se rve d as fe e db ack th at h as l
e d to im prove m e nts in th e
proje ct. In oth e r case s, th e criticism
Ins ide th e Co ns tel
l
atio n M o del
w as l
e ve l
e d b ase d on a com parison w ith
com m e rciall
aptops and th e re fore conside re d l
e ss val
id b e cau se th e focu s of
O LPC is e du cational
, prim aril
y targe te d
at de ve l
oping cou ntrie s and not for
profit, and th e re fore som e trade offs in
th e l
aptop ne e de d to b e m ade . Re gardl
e ss, w ork continu e s to b ring th e l
e arning
opportu nitie s and oth e r b e ne fits associate d w ith te ch nol
ogy to ch il
dre n arou nd
th e w orl
d. For e xam pl
e , th e O LPC initiative is b e ing com pl
e m e nte d by e fforts at
M icrosoft, w h ich is w ork ing to port its XP
ope rating syste m onto th e XO h ardw are .
“In spite of cu rre nt ad s and sl
ogans, th e
w orl
d d oe sn't ch ange one pe rson at a
tim e . It ch ange s as ne tw ork s of re l
ationsh ips form am ong pe opl
e w h o d iscove r
th e y sh are a com m on cau se and vision of
w h at's possib l
e .”
M argare tW h e atl
ey
and D e b orah Fre iz e
h ttp://w w w .m argare tw h e atl
e y.com /
articl
e s/e m e rge nce .h tm l
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode lw as de ve l
ope d
by and for th e Canadian Partne rsh ip for
Ch il
dre n's H e al
th and th e Environm e nt
(CPCH E, h ttp://w w w .h e al
th ye nviron
m e ntfork ids.ca/). Th e m ode loffe rs an innovative approach to organiz ing col
l
ab orative e fforts in th e socialm ission se ctor
and sh are s variou s e l
e m e nts of th e ope n
sou rce m ode l
. Ite m ph asiz e s se l
f- organiz ing and concre te action w ith in a ne tw ork
of partne r organiz ations w ork ing on a
com m on issu e .
For th e com panie s invol
ve d, th e significance of th e ir invol
ve m e nt in th e
O LPC/XO l
aptop initiative goe s far b e yond h ardw are and softw are de ve l
opm e nt. As O LPC state s on its w e b site ,
“O LPC is not, at h e art, a te ch nol
ogy program , nor is th e XO a produ ctin any conve ntionalse nse of th e w ord. O LPC is a
non- profit organiz ation providing a
m e ans to an e nd –an e nd th at se e s ch il
dre n in e ve n th e m ost re m ote re gions of
th e gl
ob e b e ing give n th e opportu nity to
tap into th e ir ow n pote ntial
, to b e e xpose d to a w h ol
e w orl
d of ide as, and to
contrib u te to a m ore produ ctive and
sane r w orl
d com m u nity.”
Joh n Roe se is Norte l
’s Ch ie f Te ch nol
ogy O ffice r and is re sponsib l
e for l
e ad ing th e
com pany's R & D strate gy and for d ire cting
fu tu re re se arch across al
lprod u ctportfol
ios. Be fore joining Norte l
,h e h el
d th e position of CTO at Broad com Corporation,
Ente rasys Ne tw ork s, and Cab l
e tron Syste m s. Roe se sits on th e b oard s of th e O ne
Laptop Pe r Ch il
d association, ATIS and
Bl
ad e Ne tw ork Te ch nol
ogie s, and is active l
y invol
ve d in th e IEEE and IETF, as
w el
las oth e r stand ard s b od ie s. H e h as coau th ore d a nu m b e r of IEEE stand ard s and
re l
ate d d ocu m e nts. Roe se h ol
d s a Bach e l
or
of Scie nce in El
e ctricalEngine e ring (BSEE)
from th e U nive rsity of Ne w H am psh ire .
Conste l
l
ations are se l
f- organiz ing action
te am s th at ope rate w ith in th e b roade r
strate gic vision of a partne rsh ip. Th e se
conste l
l
ations are ou tw ardl
y focu se d, pl
acing th e ir atte ntion on cre ating val
u e for
th ose in th e e xte rnale nvironm e nt rath e r
th an on th e partne rsh ip itse l
f. W h il
e se riou s e ffort is inve ste d into core partne rsh ip gove rnance and m anage m e nt, m ost
of th e e ne rgy is de vote d to th e de cision
m ak ing, re sou rce s and col
l
ab orative e ffort re q u ire d to cre ate socialval
u e . Th e
conste l
l
ations drive and de fine th e partne rsh ip.
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode le m e rge d from a
de e p u nde rstanding of th e pow e r of ne tw ork s and pe e r produ ction. Le ade rsh ip
rotate s fl
u idl
y am ongst partne rs, w ith
e ach partne r h aving th e fre e dom to h e ad
u p a conste l
l
ation and to participate in
conste l
l
ations th at carry ou t activitie s
th atare ofm ore pe riph e ralinte re st.
9
l
atio n M o del
Th e Inte rne t provide d th e pl
atform , th e
partne r ne tw ork e nab l
e d th e e xpe rtise to
al
ign itse l
f, and th e goal of re du cing
ch e m icale xposu re in ch il
dre n k e pt th e
e ne rgy fl
ow ing.
Conste l
l
ation M ode l
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode lis de signe d to
b ring toge th e r m u l
tipl
e grou ps or se ctors
w ork ing tow ard a joint ou tcom e . Th e focu s is on action rath e r th an dial
ogu e .
Pu b l
ic e du cation, se rvice de l
ive ry, re se arch and oth e r tangib l
e socialch ange
activitie s are h andl
e d by sm al
l
, se l
f- organiz ing te am s cal
l
e d conste l
l
ations.
Th e se te am s are th re ade d into th e ove ral
l
partne rsh ip w h ich is h e l
d toge th e r u sing
a gove rnance and m anage m e nt fram e w ork th at b al
ance s l
e ade rsh ip am ongst
al
lparticipating partne rs. Th e aim is not
to cre ate a ne w organiz ation, b u t to ge t
th ings done in a nim b l
e , h igh im pact
m anne r.
Bu il
ding on se ve n ye ars of e xpe rie nce ,
th is articl
e provide s an ove rvie w of th e
conste l
l
ation m ode l
, discu sse s th e re su l
ts
from th e CPCH E, and ide ntifie s sim il
aritie s and diffe re nce s b e tw e e n th e conste l
l
ation and ope n sou rce m ode l
s.
Canadian Partne rsh ip for Ch il
dre n's
H e al
th and th e Environm e nt
In 2000, a sm al
lgrou p of Canadian nongove rnm e nt organiz ations (NGO s) starte d tal
k ing ab ou tch il
dre n's e nvironm e ntal h e al
th . Com ing from a varie ty of
b ack grou nds su ch as ch il
dcare , pu b l
ic
h e al
th , and e nvironm e ntal
ism , th e se
grou ps w e re incre asingl
y w orrie d ab ou t
th e risk s pose d to ch il
dre n by toxics and
oth e r e nvironm e ntalh az ards. Ye t, no one
grou p on its ow n h ad th e m andate , sk il
l
s
or re sou rce s to de alw ith th is com pl
e x issu e . Th e y re al
iz e d th e re w as onl
y one w ay
to addre ss th is grow ing issu e : w ork ing toge th e r. Th is de cision re su l
te d in th e cre ation of th e CPCH E, w ith th e aim of
w ork ing toge th e r to cre ate a h e al
th y e nvironm e ntfor ch il
dre n in Canada.
Figu re 1 (on th e ne xt page ) sh ow s th e
m ain com pone nts of th e conste l
l
ation
m ode l
. Ke y to th e su cce ss of th e m ode l
are : l
igh tw e igh t gove rnance , action focu se d te am s and th ird- party coordination. Th e se th re e e l
e m e nts m ak e it
possib l
e to re spond q u ick l
y to ne w ide as
w h il
e stil
lw ork ing on m ore protracte d issu e s and pre se rving organiz ational
au tonom y w ith in th e col
l
ab orative . Partne rs appl
y th e principl
e of e m e rge nce ,
l
iste ning for ne w opportu nitie s th at re l
ate to th e prim ary strate gic w ork of th e
grou p. Th e conste l
l
ation stru ctu re al
l
ow s
th e m to re spond q u ick l
y to th e se opportu nitie s, to onl
y e ngage w ith th e activitie s
th at m atte r to th e m , and to stay aw ay
from activitie s th at don't al
ign w ith th e ir
inte re sts.
Th e de cision to w ork toge th e r l
e d q u ick l
y
to a sl
ate of th orny q u e stions. H ow w ou l
d
th e y se tcol
l
e ctive goal
s?W ou l
d th e y h ave
to agre e on e ve ryth ing? H ow cou l
d th e y
pre se rve th e ir au tonom y and dive rsity?
W h o w ou l
d b e in ch arge ?H ow cou l
d th e y
b e st l
e ve rage e ach oth e rs' tal
e nts? Th e
grou p k ne w th e y w ante d to cre ate a fl
e xib l
e, l
igh tw e igh t and adaptab l
e partne rsh ip, not a h e avy ne w u m b re l
l
a NGO .
W ith th is in m ind, th e y de ve l
ope d th e
conste l
l
ation m ode lofpartne ring.
Conste l
l
ations are not a m onol
ith ic se t of
inte grate d proje cts, b u t rath e r l
oose l
y
cou pl
e d coordinate d initiative s. Th is
l
oose cou pl
ing is ce ntralto m aintaining
au tonom y w h il
e e nsu ring th at th e grou p
is m oving tow ards itstrate gic goal
s.
10
l
atio n M o del
Figu re 1: Th e Conste l
l
ation M ode l
Ligh tw e igh tGove rnance
of l
e ad je w e l
l
e ry and e m e rging th re ats
su ch as b iph e nol A in pl
astic b aby
b ottl
e s. Al
th ou gh organiz ations w e re trying to w ork on th e se issu e s individu al
l
y, it
w as cl
e ar th at th e y w e re com pe ting w ith
e ach oth e r for scarce re sou rce s and th at
th e ir actions w e re u ncoordinate d. Th is
re su l
te d in confu sion and l
im ite d im pact.
A conste l
l
ation- b ase d partne rsh ip is cre ate d in re sponse to a ne e d or opportu nity
th at b e gs atte ntion. Th is ne e d or opportu nity is de scrib e d as a m agne tic attractor. Its draw w il
lde te rm ine th e l
e ve lof
priority th at th e partne rs w il
lgive to th e
w ork of th e partne rsh ip. It w il
lde te rm ine
th e l
e ve lof e ne rgy and initiative tak e n, as
w el
las th e scope of w ork and th e circl
e of
partne rs w h o ch oose to join in.
For CPCH E, th e initialm agne tic attractors w e re th e ne e d to raise aw are ne ss and
m ob il
iz e action arou nd toxic e xposu re s
and ch il
dre n’s e nvironm e ntalh e al
th . In
particu l
ar, th e grou p w ante d de cisionm ak e rs, se rvice provide rs and care give rs
to u nde rstand th e pre ssing ne e d to addre ss b oth w e l
lk now n th re ats su ch as u se
11
O nce th e grou p w as form e d arou nd th e
m agne tic attractor, th e y ne e de d to
q u ick l
y form a ste w ardsh ip grou p, k now n
as a coordinating com m itte e , to se rve th e
b roade r col
l
e ctive vision. In sm al
lpartne rsh ips, th is grou p can b e com pose d of
re pre se ntative s from e ach of th e partne ring organiz ations. In l
arge r partne rsh ips
and ne tw ork s, itm ay b e m ade u p of w e l
l
tru ste d m e m b e rs of th e b roade r grou p
w h o vol
u ntaril
y ste p forw ard.
l
atio n M o del
H ow e ve r th is grou p is de fine d, its m e m b e rs actas ste w ards of th e com m u nity inte re st and th e w ork th at is b e ing
u nde rtak e n in re l
ation to th e m agne tic attractor, and not as re pre se ntative s of
th e ir organiz ation's inte re sts. Each organiz ation w il
lb e ab l
e to pu rsu e its se l
f- inte re sts th rou gh th e conste l
l
ations.
W h e n a conste l
l
ation starts u p, th e participating partne rs de fine te rm s of re fe re nce . W h at are th e ir goal
s?H ow do th e y
w ant to w ork ?Th e grou p al
so discu sse s
w h o am ongst th e m sh ou l
d provide th e
e ne rgy to pl
ay a l
e ade rsh ip rol
e , w h o h as
th e organiz ationalcapacity to b e th e financiall
e ad and w h at rol
e e ach of th e
m e m b e rs w il
lpl
ay. Rol
e s and re sponsib il
itie s are m atch e d w ith th e asse ts of e ach
grou p. Le ade rsh ip m ove s from partne r to
partne r, as doe s any pote ntialfu nding
th atm ay b e associate d w ith th e conste l
l
ation.
Th e ste w ardsh ip grou p is re sponsib l
e for
th e ove ral
lh e al
th of th e partne rsh ip and
e nsu ring th at conste l
l
ations are al
igne d
w ith th e pu rpose of th e partne rsh ip. In
CPCH E's case , th is w ork starte d w ith th e
cre ation of th re e k e y docu m e nts. Th e first
docu m e nt provide d a se t of gu iding principl
e s and de fine d th e m agne tic attractor
th at th e grou p w ou l
d focu s on. It state d:
“... al
lch il
dre n and adu l
ts h ave th e righ t
to k now ab ou t prove n and pote ntialh az ards to th e ir e nvironm e ntalh e al
th and
safe ty.” Th e se cond docu m e nt provide d
gove rnance te rm s of re fe re nce incl
u ding
a partne rsh ip agre e m e nt and fram e w ork
to gu ide h ow th e partne rs w il
lw ork toge th e r. Th e th ird docu m e nt w as a strate gic pl
an th at articu l
ate d ove rarch ing
goal
s re l
ate d to ch anging practice s of pare nts and ch il
dcare w ork e rs and sh ifting
pol
icy to prote ct ch il
dre n. Th e th re e docu m e nts provide d a fram e w ork to su pport
cl
e ar action on b e h al
fofth e partne rs.
Conste l
l
ations h ave a nu m b e r of ch aracte ristics th at m ak e th e m diffe re nt from
traditionalcom m itte e s.Th e y privil
e ge initiative tak e rs ove r position and au th ority.
M one y and re sponsib il
ity are spre ad
arou nd. W h e n th e ne e d or opportu nity
h as b e e n m e t, conste l
l
ations can b e cre ative l
y de stroye d or w ou nd dow n. As e ach
conste l
l
ation is pe rm e ab l
e - - grou ps can
l
e ave or join at w il
l–th e re is a natu ral
pre ssu re to re m ain re l
e vant. Al
so, th e y
are m e antto b e sm al
lpie ce s of a strate gic
w h ol
e , w e aving toge th e r a b igge r pictu re
ofth e partne rsh ip w ith in th e e cosyste m .
Be tw e e n 2001 and 2008, CPCH E b e gan
ove r 15 diffe re nt conste l
l
ations anch ore d
arou nd issu e s su ch as pe sticide by- l
aw s,
prom oting aw are ne ss am ongst h e al
th
and ch il
d care w ork e rs, and m onitoring
toxic su b stance s, m e rcu ry, consu m e r
produ cts, and l
e ad e xposu re s. M ore th an
h al
f of th e conste l
l
ations cre ate d h ave
b e e n ph ase d ou t b e cau se th e goal
s h ave
b e e n ach ie ve d or th e re is no l
onge r e ne rgy. Cl
e arl
y, th is approach h as al
l
ow e d
th e partne rs to gal
vaniz e q u ick l
y arou nd
a spe cific issu e and th e n to disb and w h e n
th e issu e h as b e e n addre sse d or w h e n th e
e ne rgy of th e grou p w ane s. Th is h as
h appe ne d w ith ou t disru pting th e vision
or stab il
ity ofth e ove ral
lpartne rsh ip.
Action- Focu se d W ork Te am s
Conste l
l
ations can b e form alproje cts, opportu nistic initiative s, or w ork ing grou ps
th at gu ide particu l
ar aspe cts of th e w ork
of th e partne rsh ip.W h il
e th e y are focu se d
arou nd practice and th e spe cific inte re sts
of m e m b e rs, th e y m u stal
so b e consiste nt
w ith th e ove ral
lvision and pl
an of th e
partne rsh ip. Tw o e l
e m e nts are ne e de d to
cre ate a conste l
l
ation: i)a ne e d or opportu nity;and ii) e ne rge tic l
e ade rsh ip by one
or m ore partne r.
12
l
atio n M o del
Th ird- Party Coordination
In th e conste l
l
ation m ode l
, fiscaland l
e galre sponsib il
ity m ove s arou nd in orde r
to avoid cre ating a ne w organiz ation.
Conste l
l
ations drive th e m ode l
: l
e ade rsh ip and re sou rce s for th e se conste l
l
ations are constantl
y com ing from
diffe re nt pl
ace s and going to diffe re nt organiz ations. Th e m e m b e r m anaging a
particu l
ar proje cttak e s l
e galand fiscalre sponsib il
ity for th at proje ct. Th is ‘in m otion’ m one y and pow e r m anage m e nt
e nsu re s th at active partne rs are com pe nsate d for th e ir initiative and m ak e s it
l
e ss l
ik e l
y th at th e m one y and pow e r w il
l
poolin one partne r. It is th e rol
e of th e
se cre tariat, in conce rt w ith th e ste w ardsh ip grou p and th e fu nding com m u nity,
to b al
ance th e fl
ow of l
e ade rsh ip and
m one y. Th e se cre tariat m u st h ave a com m itm e nt to b u il
ding th e capacity and invol
ve m e ntofth e l
e ss active m e m b e rs.
W h e n non- profits se t u p col
l
ab orative
proje cts, th e y typical
l
y h ou se th e se cre tariat fu nction w ith in one of th e partne rs,
u su al
l
y th e partne r w ith th e m ost capacity. H ow e ve r, pl
acing th e coordination
fu nction w ith in one of th e partne rs com pl
e te l
y and pe rm ane ntl
y al
te rs th e pow e r
dynam ic of th e grou p. W h e n one partne r
tak e s pow e r, th e oth e rs de fe r re sponsib il
ity and m any partne rs l
ose e ne rgy and
m otivation.
W ith th e conste l
l
ation m ode l
, th e se cre tariator coordination fu nction re side s ou tside of th e core partne rs. Staff are e ith e r
consu l
tants or w ork for a th ird party inte rm e diary organiz ation. Th e se pe opl
e
sh ou l
d b e fam il
iar and inte re ste d in th e
natu re of th e col
l
ab orative w ork , b u t
sh ou l
d not h ave a se at at th e tab l
e as a
conte nt provide r. Th e ir job is to su pport
th e proce ss of th e col
l
ab oration by gu iding th e pl
anning proce ss, facil
itating
m e e tings, su pporting ne w conste l
l
ations,
fu ndraising for joint proje cts, m e diating
confl
ict, h e l
ping inform ation to fl
ow , and
b u il
ding th e ove ral
lcapacity of th e grou p
to w ork tow ards th e ir de sire d ou tcom e .
O ne ch al
l
e nge w ith th e l
ack of incorporation is th e ab il
ity to am ass core fu nding
to pay for th e se cre tariat. M ost grant fu nde d organiz ations cove r th e se costs by
ch arging an ove rh e ad fe e . H ow e ve r, w ith
no grants going dire ctl
y to th e partne rsh ip as a w h ol
e , th e re is no ove rh e ad fe e
to se rve th is pu rpose . CPCH E's sol
u tion
w as to al
l
ocate a portion of th e adm inistrative fe e s from e ach grant th at th e partne rs re ce ive d to th e ru nning of th e
se cre tariat. In a case w h e re standard ove rh e ad fe e s are 15% , 10% w as re taine d by
th e l
e ad partne r and 5% al
l
ocate d to th e
ru nning of th e partne rsh ip itse l
f. Th is e nsu re d th at, ove r tim e , som e u nre stricte d
incom e is accu m u l
ate d to b e u se d at th e
discre tion of th e ste w ardsh ip grou p to
se rve th e col
l
ab oration. Initial
l
y th e se
fu nds w e re h e l
d in tru st by one of th e
partne rs. Now , th e tru stfu nd sits w ith th e
Ce ntre for SocialInnovation (h ttp://w w w .
social
innovation.ca/) in Toronto, an organiz ation th at is in th e b u sine ss of
providing th ird- party su pport se rvice s for
initiative s l
ik e CPCH E.
At th e core of th e se cre tariat is at l
e ast
one pe rson com m itte d to h e l
ping th e
grou p al
ong. Th is is not a ju nior coordinator position as a h igh l
y sk il
l
e d and discrim inating pe rson w h o e m b odie s
col
l
ab orative l
e ade rsh ip is re q u ire d. Effe ctive l
y, th is position is th e Exe cu tive
D ire ctor of th e partne rsh ip, b u tw ith a focu s on proce ss rath e r th an conte nt. Th e ir
pu rpose is to su pport th e conte nt e xpe rts
w h o are draw n from th e organiz ations
th at m ak e u p th e partne rsh ip. Th is pe rson m u st strik e a b al
ance b e tw e e n driving th e grou p proce ss forw ard w ith
nu rtu ring l
e ade rs from th e partne r organiz ations.
13
l
atio n M o del
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode lcan not w ork
w ith ou t th e Inte rne t. Tool
s l
ik e e - m ail
l
ists, track ing ch ange s in docu m e nts, and
a sh are d w e b site are criticalto facil
itating col
l
ab oration am ongstth e grou p. Col
l
ab oration h appe ns at m e e tings, onl
ine ,
and ove r th e ph one b e tw e e n m e e tings.
Th e ‘space b e tw e e n’ is e spe cial
l
y critical
in m ak ing su re th at th e grou p is fu l
l
y inform e d and e ngage d.
Se cond, CPCH E's w ork h as infl
u e nce d
ch ange s to th e Pe st ControlProdu cts Act,
th e Ch e m ical
s M anage m e nt Pl
an for
Canada, and th e M andatory Core
Gu ide l
ine s for H e al
th Prom otion in
O ntario. It h e l
pe d sh ape th e de b ate
arou nd th e ne w Canadian Environm e ntal
Prote ction Act and spark e d discu ssions
ab ou t re ope ning th e Canadian H az ardou s Produ cts Act. In April2008, th e M iniste r of H e al
th annou nce d a b an on
b isph e nolA in b aby b ottl
e s. H e articu l
ate d th at th e gove rnm e nt w ou l
d u se a
pre cau tionary approach in its re vie w of
ch e m ical
s th rou gh th e Ch e m ical
s M anage m e nt Pl
an. Th is spark e d a m ark e t
transform ation w h ich h as se e n a ne ar disappe arance of b isph e nolA in produ cts
sol
d in Canada. Ith as al
so se ta pre ce de nt
for b anning a su b stance . Th is de cision is
a dire ctre su l
tof th e w ork of CPCH E's tal
e nte d partne rs and its pow e rfu lapproach
to socialch ange . Th e b re adth of k now l
e dge and dive rse constitu e ncy re pre se nte d by CPCH E partne rs h as b e e n ce ntral
to th is su cce ss in th e re al
m ofpol
icy.
R e su l
ts and Ch al
l
e nge s
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode lh as cre ate d a re sil
ie nt e cosyste m in Canada com prising
m ore th an 1000 th ou gh t l
e ade rs and se rvice provide rs w h o w ork on ch il
dre n's e nvironm e ntal h e al
th issu e s. Th e re are
provincial col
l
ab orations on ch il
dre n's
e nvironm e ntal h e al
th e m e rging in th e
province s of Al
b e rta, Nova Scotia and
Ne w Bru nsw ick . Th e re are ne w l
ink s
am ongstindu stry, gove rnm e ntand NGO s
as a re su l
t of CPCH E's col
l
ab orative approach to pol
icy consu l
tation. Th is ne tw ork m e sh re pre se nts an im portant asse t
for addre ssing th e e nvironm e ntalth re ats
to ch il
dre n in th e com ing ye ars.
Th ird, CPCH E h as h e l
pe d im prove practice s onth e - grou nd am ongst h e al
th and
day care w ork e rs. O ve r 1500 h e al
th and
ch il
d care w ork e rs h ave atte nde d CPCH E
h e al
th prom otion w ork sh ops w h e re th e y
l
e arn ab ou t e nvironm e ntalrisk s to ch il
dre n and w ays to avoid th e se risk s. As a
re su l
t, m ore pe opl
e w ork ing in h e al
th
care are paying atte ntion to e nvironm e ntalrisk factors for ch il
dre n.
Th e re are a nu m b e r of e asy to ide ntify
ach ie ve m e nts. Partne rs: i) im pl
e m e nte d a
m ode lth e y de signe d se ve n ye ars ago; ii)
col
l
e ctive l
y raise d $3 m il
l
ion for ch il
dre n's e nvironm e ntalh e al
th w ork , and
l
e ve rage d m il
l
ions m ore of in k ind re sou rce s; and iii) produ ce d a nu m b e r of
im portant pu b l
ications on e nvironm e ntalh e al
th risk s for ch il
dre n, ranging from
re se arch on th e control of toxic su b stance s to acce ssib l
e pl
ain l
angu age
gu ide s th at h e l
p pare nts and daycare
w ork e rs k e e p ch il
dre n safe .
H arde r to m e asu re ach ie ve m e nts are al
so
e vide nt. First, appl
ication of th e m ode l
re su l
te d in an ob se rvab l
e sh ift from com pe tition to col
l
ab oration, b oth am ongst
th e partne rs and w ith in th e b roade r ch il
th space .
14
Th e partne rsh ip h as stru ggl
e d at tim e s.
Th e m ost significant ch al
l
e nge s h ave
b e e n arou nd capacity and spe e d. Bu il
ding th e capacity of al
lth e partne rs to contrib u te in a m e aningfu lw ay is e sse ntial
.
Spe ciale ffort w as ne e de d e arl
y on to e nsu re th at sm al
l
e r partne rs h ad th e ab il
ity
to pl
ay as e q u al
s in th e grou p. Th e re is
now an e l
e m e ntof grou p re adine ss to cre ate conste l
l
ations. H ow e ve r, it took a l
ot
l
onge r th an w as e xpe cte d to ge t th e
grou p to th is point.
l
atio n M o del
O pe n Sou rce Com parison
2. Th e l
ack of focu s on digitalasse ts
m e ans it is not e asy to fork a te am . Th e
righ t to fork is not onl
y m issing, it w ou l
d
b e antith e ticalto th e ne e d to coordinate
activitie s tow ards th e m agne tic attractor.
O ve r th e past fe w ye ars, w e h ave se e n an
incre asing nu m b e r of e fforts to draw th e
e xpe rie nce of ope n sou rce into ne w dom ains.W ork in are as l
ik e ope n e du cationalre sou rce s b u il
d u pon th e ope n sou rce
approach q u ite l
ite ral
l
y, e ncou raging
te ach e rs to ope nl
y l
ice nse , sh are and re m ix e du cationalconte nt. Efforts in are as
l
ik e ope n ph il
anth ropy are l
e ss l
ite ral
,
draw ing m ore on th e e th os and practice s
of ope n sou rce and l
e ss on th e ide a of
produ cing ope n digitalartifacts.
3. Th e conste l
l
ation m ode ldraw s te am s
from partne r organiz ations in an e cosyste m w h il
e th e ope n sou rce m ode ldraw s
individu al
s from anyw h e re .
Th e l
ink s b e tw e e n ope n sou rce th ink ing
and th e conste l
l
ation m ode lare not accide ntal
. A nu m b e r of pe opl
e invol
ve d in
th e e arl
y de sign of th e conste l
l
ation m ode lw e re invol
ve d in ope n sou rce proje cts.
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode l inte ntional
l
y
dre w on th e practice s of ope n sou rce
from its ince ption.
Th e conste l
l
ation m ode l fal
l
s in th is
se cond cam p, draw ing inspiration from
ope n sou rce . Som e of th e e l
e m e nts th at
th e conste l
l
ation m ode lsh are s w ith ope n
sou rce incl
u de :
Concl
u sion
1. Action te am s com e toge th e r to ach ie ve
a goal b ase d on m u tu al se l
f inte re st
w h e re th e b al
ance b e tw e e n com m u nity
and se l
fdrive s pe e r produ ction.
Th e CPCH E col
l
ab oration h appe ne d in a
h igh im pact and re l
ative l
y nim b l
e fash ion w h ich is not typicalin socialm ission
partne rsh ips. CPCH E u se d ope n sou rce l
ik e organiz ing to m ove th e m ark e tin toxics and ch e m icalsafe ty, h aving a dire cte ffe ct on pol
icy in Canada and rippl
e
e ffe cts gl
ob al
l
y. It h as al
so b u il
ta l
asting
ne tw ork of pe opl
e com m itte d to ch il
th .
2. Cl
e ar b u t l
igh tw e igh t coordination
stru ctu re s e nsu re th at individu aland organiz ational e ne rgie s al
ign tow ards
ach ie ving th e gre ate r goal
.
3. M e ritocracy is b al
ance d w ith incl
u sion
as th e b e st ide as and approach e s rise to
th e top and are stre ngth e ne d by th e e xpe rtise ofth e com m u nity.
Th e m ain diffe re nce s are :
Th e conste l
l
ation h as th e pote ntialto
h el
p organiz ations sol
ve concre te prob l
e m s w ith in th e conte xtof a rapidl
y ch anging, com pl
e x social issu e e cosyste m .
O th e r organiz ations l
ik e th e O ntario NonprofitNe tw ork (h ttp://ontariononprofit
ne tw ork .ca/), Front Line Partne rs for
You th (h ttp://w w w .social
innovation.ca/
com m u nity/m e m b e rs/frontl
ine - partne rs
- w ith - you th - ne tw ork ) and te l
e ce ntre .org
are now e xpe rim e nting w ith th e m ode l
.
1. Th e conste l
l
ation m ode lfocu se s on
prom oting socialval
u e s w h il
e th e ope n
sou rce m ode lfocu se s on digitalasse ts
th at can b e distrib u te d u nde r ope n
sou rce l
ice nse s.
Th e CPCH E conste l
l
ation e xam pl
e sh ow s
th atw e can m aintain organiz ationalinde pe nde nce and col
l
ab orate e ffe ctive l
y
w ith oth e rs. Th is is th e w ay w e ne e d to
w ork to drive socialinnovation.
4. Individu al
s and grou ps ge t in or ou t at
any tim e b ase d on th e ir ow n inte re sts
and ne e ds.
5. Le ade rsh ip and com m u nity h e al
th are
val
u e d.
15
New Eco no m y o f Engagem ent
Th is articl
e w as ad apte d from Liste ning to
th e Stars: Th e Conste l
l
ation M od e lof Col
l
ab orative SocialCh ange pu b l
ish e d in th e
first e d ition of Singapore SocialInnovation Jou rnal
.
“Th e gl
ob ale poch w e h ave now e nte re d
w il
le m b race m any form s of w isd om and
d ial
ogu e , or it w il
lnot b e . W h il
e h u m ans
m u st continu e to b u il
d on pre viou s accom pl
ish m e nts, th is ne w , gl
ob alage m u st
al
so rise to th e ch al
l
e nge of cre ating b e tte r
and m ore e ffe ctive form s of civic and sociale ngage m e nt to sol
ve prob l
e m s on a
w orl
d scal
e . It m u st cre ate syne rgie s
am ong th e l
iving [form s of] k now l
e d ge of
pe opl
e from al
lparts of th e w orl
d .”
Introdu ction to SocialAnal
ysis Syste m s
h ttp://w w w .sas2.ne t/
inde x.ph p?page =introdu ction
Tonya Su rm an is th e fou nd ing Exe cu tive
D ire ctor of th e Ce ntre for SocialInnovation. Sh e w as th e cocre ator of th e conste l
l
ation m od e lfor CPCH E as its fou nd ing
partne rsh ip d ire ctor. H e r w ork at th e
Ce ntre is focu se d on catal
yz ing col
l
ab oration and e ntre pre ne u rsh ip for socialinnovation. Pre viou sl
y sh e h as ru n a social
e nte rprise offe ring e - m ailto activists and
an e d gy onl
ine ne w s h u b for Canad ian
progre ssive s.
O pe n sou rce te ch nol
ogie s and socialinnovation h ave e m e rge d at a tim e w h e n it
is critical to adopt incl
u sive , cre ative ,
m ul
tidiscipl
inary approach e s to sol
ving
com pl
e x socialand e nvironm e ntalprob l
e m s. Th is articl
e e xam ine s th e re l
ationsh ip b e tw e e n ope n sou rce , social
innovation and e ngage m e nt. It re vie w s
fou r are as w h e re th e ir inte rpl
ay h as afforde d organiz ations w ork ing in th e
(m ainl
y Canadian) socialse ctor w ith ne w
tool
s and approach e s to m anaging
ch ange . Th e se tool
s incl
u de : i) col
l
ab oration and l
e arning pl
atform s;ii) socialne tw ork ing
program s;
iii)
re sou rce
al
l
ocation w e b site s; and iv) advocacy
tool
s.
M ark Su rm an is in th e b u sine ss of conne cting th ings: pe opl
e , id e as, e ve ryth ing. A
com m u nity te ch nol
ogy activist for al
m ost
20 ye ars, M ark h as ju stb e com e th e Exe cu tive D ire ctor of th e M oz il
l
a Fou nd ation.
Pre viou sl
y h e w as an ope n ph il
anth ropy
fe l
l
ow at th e Sh u ttl
e w orth Fou nd ation in
Cape Tow n. H e se rve s as se nior partne rsh ip ad visor to te l
e ce ntre .org, a $27 m il
l
ion program th at inve sts in grassroots
com pu ting ne tw ork s arou nd th e w orl
d.
W h e n h e h as tim e , M ark l
ik e s to w rite and
conve ne conve rsations ab ou t al
l th ings
'ope n' in h is h om e tow n of Toronto.
An e xam ination of tw o organiz ations
l
e ading socialch ange in Canada su gge sts
th at to addre ss socie ty’s l
arge r prob l
e m s,
socialinnovators m u st al
so m ak e u se of
e conom ic ince ntive s, facil
itate d or h oste d conve rsations, and partne rsh ips. Final
l
y, tw o are as w h e re innovation is
u rge ntl
y ne e de d are ide ntifie d as su stainab il
ity e du cation and th e m e ans by
w h ich w e participate in de m ocratic proce sse s and gove rnm e ntde cision- m ak ing.
R e com m e nde d R e sou rce s
Ral
ph Stace y's Agre e m e nt& Ce rtainty
M atrix
h ttp://w w w .pl
e xu sinstitu te .org/e dge
w are /arch ive /th ink /m ain_aide s3.h tm l
SocialInnovation Th ink Pie ce s
h ttp://w w w .social
innovation.ca/ide as/
th ink - pie ce s
A Ch al
l
e nge Unl
ik e O th e rs
W e are pre se nt at a tim e of tw o profou nd
and l
ink e d crise s.
16
O ne is e nvironm e ntal
, m ark e d by h u m anity’s u nsu stainab l
e u til
iz ation of e arth ’s
natu ral capital
. Th e se cond h as b e e n
te rm e d a crisis of th e h u m an spirit, e vide nt in ou r addiction to m ate rialcu l
tu re ,
and th e concom itant e rosion of a se nse
of conne ction and b e l
onging, of sh are d
val
u e s, or of pl
ace and pu rpose . O n one
side w e h ave e xtre m e w e ath e r e ve nts
l
ink e d to cl
im ate ch ange , l
ik e H u rricane
Katrina. O n th e oth e r, th e re ’s th e u ncom fortab l
e re al
iz ation th at th e val
u e s u pon
w h ich ou r socie ty ope rate s m ay b e l
e ss
th an optim alfor ou r l
ong te rm su rvival
–w itne ss th e re ce nt u nrave l
ing of th e U S
financialsyste m .
O pe n Sou rce Pl
u s SocialInnovation =
Engage m e nt
For th e pu rpose s of th is discu ssion, w e go
b e yond sou rce code and de fine ope n
sou rce as non- proprie tary de sign and de cision m ak ing and m anage m e nt proce sse s
th at
acce pt
ongoing
im prove m e nts re fl
e cting diffe re nt pe rspe ctive s, capacitie s, approach e s and prioritie s.
By e nab l
ing h oriz ontal (pe e r- to- pe e r),
ve rtical(u p- dow n and dow n- u p) and re ciprocale ngage m e nt, ope n sou rce principl
e s and m e th ods e nab l
e
l
arge
nu m b e rs of pe opl
e from diffe re nt discipl
ine s to w ork toge th e r to sol
ve th e m yriad
u ne xpe cte d prob l
e m s th at su rface in
l
arge scal
e proje cts.
Since any e conom y is a re l
ationsh ip
b e tw e e n pe opl
e and th e e arth , it is tim e
to com m it to l
e arning to l
ive l
ik e w e pl
an
on staying h e re . In pal
e ob iol
ogicalte rm s,
w e h ave e nte re d a pe riod of pu nctu ate d
e q u il
ib riu m , w h e n ou r spe cie s m u st adapt and e vol
ve spe e dil
y in l
igh t of
ch ange d circu m stance s, or e l
se fal
linto
pre cipitou s de cl
ine .W e argu e th atth e notion th at w e can l
e ave th is to gove rnm e nt, th e fre e m ark e t, scie nce and
te ch nol
ogy, or e ve n civilsocie ty is ob sol
e te . Im agining and sh aping a fu tu re th at
is e q u itab l
e , incl
u sive , su stainab l
e and
b e au tifu lh as b e com e e ve ryone ’s ch arge .
By offe ring a grow ing array of ne w tool
s
and approach e s to ou r m ost intractab l
e
prob l
e m s, ope n sou rce principl
e s and socialinnovation are introdu cing adaptive
capacity into l
arge - scal
e syste m s from
h e al
th and e du cation to agricu l
tu re and
u rb an de sign. W e are not spe ak ing of a
panace a, h ow e ve r. Th e w ork of de e pe ning ou r com m itm e nts to one anoth e r and
of cocre ating h e al
th y fu tu re s for al
lis
ge ne rational in scal
e and b u ffe te d by
cou nte rvail
ing force s. For th e innovations discu sse d in th is articl
e to h ave e ndu ring and transform ative im pact, th e y
ne e d to b e u nde rstood as pre l
im inary
ste ps in a l
arge r sh ift tow ards an ongoing
cu l
tu re or e conom y ofe ngage m e nt.
Socialinnovation, to u se France s W e stl
e y’s de finition, is "an initiative , produ ct
or proce ss th at profou ndl
y ch ange s b e l
ie fs, b asic rou tine s, re sou rce and au th ority fl
ow s of any social syste m in th e
dire ction of gre ate r re sil
ie nce . Su cce ssfu l
socialinnovations h ave du rab il
ity, im pactand scal
e ." [Editor's note : th is de finition is to appe ar on h ttp://w w w .sige ne ra
tion.ca].
An e xam pl
e from th e w orl
d of m ovie m ak ing il
l
u strate s th e sym b iotic re l
ationsh ip
b e tw e e n ope n sou rce , innovation and e ngage m e nt. In 19 9 5, Pixar re l
e ase d Toy
Story, th e w orl
d’s first com pu te r- anim ate d fe atu re fil
m . Eigh t oth e r fe atu re s
h ave fol
l
ow e d, al
lof w h ich h ave b e e n
bl
ock b u ste rs. Pixar’s approach to m ak ing
fil
m s diffe rs m ark e dl
y from oth e r stu dios,
and is ce nte re d on ge tting pe opl
e from
diffe re nt discipl
ine s, and at diffe re nt
l
e ve l
s in th e organiz ation, to tre atone anoth e r as pe e rs. Pixar’s th re e ope rating
principl
e s are :
1. Eve ryone m u st h ave th e fre e dom to
com m u nicate w ith anyone .
17
2. It m u st b e safe for e ve ryone to offe r
ide as.
1. Col
l
ab oration and l
e arning pl
atform s:
pl
atform s for l
e arning and col
l
ab oration
cre ate ce re b ralne tw ork s th at am pl
ify ou r
h u m an capacity for m anaging com pl
e xity. Linu x (ope n sou rce softw are de ve l
opm e nt) and W ik ipe dia (ope n sou rce
k now l
e dge sh aring) h arne ss th e pow e r of
m any m inds to b u il
d acce ssib l
e gl
ob alre sou rce s. Th ou sands of organiz ations u se
sim il
ar m e ans to b u il
d on- l
ine com m u nitie s of practice , e m pl
oying fe atu re rich w e b site s or program s. An e xam pl
e is
h ttp://w w w .one fish .org, a gl
ob al com m u nity offish e rie s b iol
ogists.
3. Stay cl
ose to innovations h appe ning in
th e acade m ic com m u nity.
W h il
e th e first tw o principl
e s m ay se e m
se l
f- e vide nt and h igh l
y e ngaging, th e
th ird is u ne xpe cte d and raise s q u e stions
ab ou t ope n sou rce k now l
e dge cre ation
and inte l
l
e ctu alprope rty righ ts. Today,
w h e n inve ntions b u il
d on th e w ork of
m any oth e rs, h aving to de alw ith m u l
tipl
e pate nt ow ne rs can su ppre ss innovation. For Pixar, th e re l
ationsh ips it
nu rtu re s and th e tal
e nt it attracts by
ope nl
y pu b l
ish ing its te ch nol
ogicalb re ak th rou gh s re inforce th e com pany’s com m itm e nt to
th e
principl
e
th at
"te ch nol
ogy inspire s art, and art ch al
l
e nge s th e te ch nol
ogy.” (h ttp://tinyu rl
.
com /4k g2z d).
W ith su ch tool
s, civilsocie ty organiz ations are ab l
e to m anage col
l
ab orations
th at u ntilre ce ntl
y w ou l
d h ave b e e n too
tim e consu m ing or sim pl
y u naffordab l
e.
In 2007, Com m u nity Fou ndations of
Canada u se d Sh are point(h ttp://e n.w ik i
pe dia.org/w ik i/Sh are Point) to coordinate
th e produ ction and re l
e ase of VitalSigns
(h ttp://w w w .signe svitau xcanada.ca/), a
col
l
e ction of re port cards on q u al
ity of
l
ife indicators in 11 citie s as w e l
las a nationalre portsynth e siz ing th e re su l
ts.
Som e th ing sim il
ar h appe ns w h e n ope n
sou rce tool
s are appl
ie d to th e social
sph e re : te ch nol
ogy inspire s socialinnovation, and social innovation ch al
l
e nge s
te ch nol
ogy. In addition to ge ne rating
ne w approach e s to e xisting prob l
e m s, b e ne ficialou tcom e s incl
u de transfe r to oth e r dom ains, and to ne w l
e ve l
s of scal
e . At
e ach ste p in th ose proce sse s, m ore
pe opl
e b e com e e ngage d, and w h at once
se e m e d im possib l
e or im pl
au sib l
e be com e s com m on practice . Th u s, e ngage m e nt is a m e ans of produ cing,
disse m inating and e m b e dding social
ch ange .
Su ch pl
atform s are e nvironm e ntal
l
y im portant, in th at th e y re du ce th e ne ce ssity
for face to face m e e tings, w h il
e adding
val
u e to m e e tings w h e n th e y do occu r.
Confe re nce organiz e rs are finding w e b site s l
ik e W ordpre ss (h ttp://w w w .w ord
pre ss.org) h e l
pfu lfor posting spe ak e r b iograph ie s and pre se ntation note s. Su rve y
M onk e y (h ttp://su rve ym onk e y.com ) pu ts
pow e rfu lpol
l
ing ab il
ity into th e h ands of
e ve ryone .
Innovative Tool
s for SocialInnovation
2. Socialne tw ork ing w e b site s: Face b ook
and You Tu b e , w h il
e notope n sou rce pl
atform s th e m se l
ve s, h ave b e com e e sse ntial
tool
s for socialactivists, providing l
ocal
to gl
ob alne tw ork ing and com m u nications capacity at l
ow cost. Le ading social
innovators are de ve l
oping ne w w ays to
appl
y socialne tw ork ing te ch nol
ogy to organiz e activitie s in th e re alw orl
d.
H e re are fou r cl
u ste rs or cate gorie s of
tool
s for socialinnovation th at de m onstrate conside rab l
e ove rl
ap w ith ope n
sou rce m e th odol
ogie s. Since socialinnovation th at is col
l
ab orative tak e s pl
ace u sing b oth ope n sou rce and proprie tary
pl
atform s, re fe re nce is al
so m ade to proprie tary softw are produ cts.
18
Th e Pl
an Institu te in Vancou ve r (h ttp://
w w w .pl
aninstitu te .ca), for e xam pl
e , is de ve l
oping Tyz e (h ttp://w w w .tyz e .com ),
w h ich e nab l
e s care give rs to organiz e an
onl
ine su pportne tw ork .
As th e first gl
ob al
l
y acce ssib l
e w e b pl
atform of its k ind, it b u il
ds on M oh am m e d
Yu nu s’ originalide a to e nab l
e anyone in
th e w orl
d to m ak e l
oans of as l
ittl
e as $25
to a pre - scre e ne d portfol
io of proje cts in
de ve l
oping cou ntrie s (h ttp://e n.w ik ipe d
ia.org/w ik i/M u h am m ad_Yu nu s). Inte re st
paid by b orrow e rs is u se d to finance th e
w ork of l
ocaland re gionalproje ct asse ssors. Le nde rs do not re ce ive inte re st
b e yond th e satisfaction of k now ing th at
th e y h ave h e l
pe d a m icro- e ntre pre ne u r
in th e de ve l
oping w orl
d- - and 9 9 % of
l
oans are fu l
l
y paid b ack .
Look ing for pe opl
e in Cal
gary w h o sh are
you r inte re st in m e die val tape strie s?
M e e tu p’s (h ttp://w w w .m e e tu p.com ) tag
l
ine is ‘u se th e inte rne tto ge toff th e inte rne t’ and is u se d by pe opl
e to find oth e rs
w ith sh are d inte re sts. Su ch innovations
are b u il
ding ne w social capital and
cou nte r Rob e rt Pu tnam ’s th e sis th at w e
are b e com ing a socie ty of pe opl
e ‘b ow l
ing al
one ’ (h ttp://b ow l
ingal
one .com ).
4. Advocacy tool
s: Canadians of varie d
pol
iticalstripe s ch e e re d re ce ntl
y w h en
Gre e n Party l
e ade r El
iz ab e th M ay w as adm itte d to th e national l
e ade rsh ip de b ate s. An on- l
ine pe tition h ad gath e re d
cl
ose to 100,000 nam e s in a fe w days. As a
toolfor dire ct de m ocracy, in w h ich citiz e ns are ab l
e to com m u nicate th e ir
vie w s to pol
iticians, th is is sim il
ar to
pol
l
ing, w h ich tak e s a snapsh ot of pu b l
ic
opinion at a particu l
ar m om e nt. A l
e ading form u l
ator of on- l
ine pe titions is
Avaaz (h ttp://w w w .avaaz .org), w h ich h as
h ad a disce rnib l
e im pact on a nu m b e r of
e nvironm e ntaland h u m an righ ts issu e s.
Th e ch al
l
e nge of conne cting on- l
ine
activity to socialch ange in one 's ow n
com m u nity, and arou nd th e w orl
d, is one
th atTak ing IT Gl
ob al(TiG, h ttp://w w w .
tak ingitgl
ob al
.org) is e xpl
oring. W ith a
gl
ob alpre se nce , it provide s opportu nitie s
and l
e arning ab ou t you th e ngage m e nt in
socialand e nvironm e ntalissu e s, u sing a
su ite of continu al
l
y u pdate d tool
s and
foru m s. Th e re is significant pote ntialfor
pl
atform s l
ik e th e se to b e com e incre asingl
y im portant in ou r sch ool
s. Inte re stingl
y, TiG h as fou nd th at adding an
in- pe rson com pl
e m e nt to its on- l
ine
gath e rings h as a pow e rfu lcatal
ystic e ffe ct
on e ngage m e ntand col
l
ab oration.
Th e se fou r cl
u ste rs of activity e xe m pl
ify
th e sym b iotic re l
ationsh ip b e tw e e n tool
s
for socialinnovation th at are cl
ose l
y tie d
to ope n sou rce te ch nol
ogie s. Esse ntial
l
y,
th e y m ak e e ngage m e nt e asie r by providing a su b stitu te for l
e tte r w riting, sw iftl
y
m anaging donations, or re du cing l
ogisticalb arrie rs to col
l
ab oration. Th e cost of
e ntry is not one rou s in te rm s of tim e or
financialre sou rce s, and th e tool
s consiste ntl
y fu l
fil
lth e ir prom ise .
3. R e sou rce al
l
ocators: a l
e ading Canadian innovation in th is are a, Canada
H el
ps (h ttp://w w w .canadah e l
ps.org), e nab l
e s th e pu b l
ic to m ak e on- l
ine cre dit
card donations to any one of 83,000 re giste re d ch aritie s, and re ce ive th e ir taxcre ditab l
e re ce ipt im m e diate l
y. Canada
H el
ps is a non- profit and de du cts a 3%
fe e to cove r cre dit card proce ssing
ch arge s and its ow n costs w h ich are far
be l
ow th e u su alcosts offu ndraising.
M ak ing a D iffe re nce
Kiva (h ttp://w w w .k iva.org) is ab ou t m icro- finance , notch arity.
19
Th e q u e stion arise s w h e th e r th e se innovative tool
s, and th e ir continu ou s im prove m e nt in ope n sou rce com m u nitie s, are
su fficie nt in and of th e m se l
ve s to constitu te or e nge nde r l
arge r socialsh ifts.
In e ffe ct, th is is to ask w h e th e r th e tool
s
are driving socialch ange or w h e th e r oth e r factors are invol
ve d. W e can de du ce
th e answ e r by e xam ining th e w ork of tw o
l
e ading social innovators w h ich are
grante e s of Th e J. W . M cConne l
lFam il
y
Fou ndation: th e PLAN Institu te of Vancou ve r
(h ttp://w w w .pl
aninstitu te .ca/)
and Toronto’s Fram e w ork Fou ndation
(h ttp://w w w .fram e w ork fou ndation.ca/).
PLAN Institu te ’s goalis to re du ce th e inse cu rity, isol
ation and l
one l
ine ss of
pe opl
e w h o are m arginal
iz e d by disab il
ity, according to th e principl
e th at e ve ryone h as a du ty to contrib u te . Social
innovations e xte nd to th e afore m e ntione d Tyz e program and introdu ction of
Re giste re d D isab il
ity Savings Pl
ans (R D SP) at th e fe de rall
e ve l
. PLAN is w ork ing
to cre ate pu b l
ic pol
icy and financialinstru m e nts to de l
ive r R D SP’s in e ve ry
province . Th e re su l
t w il
lb e fu ndam e ntal
and pote ntial
l
y farre ach ing ch ange s to
re sou rce fl
ow s in su pport of vu l
ne rab l
e
individu al
s and fam il
ie s. PLAN al
so h osts
a re fl
e ctive dial
ogu e on th e natu re of citiz e nsh ip and is col
l
ab orating w ith institu tionalpartne rs in th e SocialInnovation
Ge ne ration initiative (h ttp://w w w .sige n
e ration.ca), to ope n ne w space for social
innovation in Canada. In its com b ine d
u se of e conom ic instru m e nts, re fl
e ctive
dial
ogu e and col
l
ab oration am ong u nl
ik e l
y partne rs, PLAN’s w ork pre sage s th e
sh ape ofsocialinnovation to com e .
A sim il
ar m u l
tidiscipl
inary, participatory
approach is e vide nt in re se arch and
pol
icy initiative s l
ik e Su stainab l
e Prospe rity (h ttp://w w w .su stainab l
e prospe rity.ca)
w h ich is l
ink ing acade m ics in variou s
fie l
ds w ith e conom ists and l
e ade rs from
b u sine ss, gove rnm e nt and civilsocie ty to
introdu ce e col
ogical fiscal re form in
Canada.Sim il
arl
y, Cau se w ay (h ttp://
w w w .social
inve stm e nt.ca/docu m e nts/
Tim D raim in- Cau se w ay- SIO - Final
- 07052
8.ppt) is b u il
ding a m ark e tpl
ace for social
pu rpose capital
.
20
Toronto- b ase d Fram e w ork Fou ndation is
foste ring a vol
u nte e r e th ic am ong a ne w
ge ne ration of you ng profe ssional
s, u sing
a com pre h e nsive and innovative vol
u nte e r re cru iting and m anage m e nt program . Fram e w ork pu rch ase s w ork from
e m e rging artists and organiz e s pu b l
ic social e ve nts w h e re you ng pe opl
e l
e arn
ab ou t and vol
u nte e r w ith civilsocie ty organiz ations, and th e n b id on th e displ
aye d artw ork u sing th e ir pl
e dge d
vol
u nte e r h ou rs.
Fram e w ork ’s ope ration is scal
ing u p
q u ick l
y and is m anage d u sing ne w ge ne ration w e b tool
s. Its ab il
ity to e ngage ne tiz e ns in face to face social activitie s
l
e ading to com m u nity vol
u nte e ring,
w h il
e su pporting e m e rging artists, in
som e w ays paral
l
el
s PLAN’s w ork , inasm u ch as it invol
ve s ince ntive s, ne w conve rsations, and an u nu su al m ix of
partne rs. A fu rth e r paral
l
e lis appare nt in
Fram e w ork ’s de ve l
opm e nt of an on- l
ine
Civic Footprintcal
cu l
ator th ate nab l
e s individu al
s to track th e ir com m u nity invol
ve m e nt th e w ay th e y w ou l
d th e ir ne t
w orth . Lik e Tyz e , it re fl
e cts th e principl
e
h igh l
igh te d e arl
ie r, th at te ch nol
ogy ch al
l
e nge s socialinnovation and vice ve rsa,
w ith a m e asu rab l
e e ngage m e ntdivide nd.
Conside re d toge th e r, PLAN and Fram e w ork e m pl
oy strate gie s in w h ich ope n
sou rce and socialinnovation incre asingl
y
ove rl
ap, w ith re su l
ts th at are ge ne rative
for th e ir re spe ctive dom ains.
An Unm e tNe e d
Th e re are tw o are as w h e re ope n sou rce
and socialinnovation are ne e de d rath e r
u rge ntl
y.
O ne is in e du cation for su stainab il
ity. If
w e are to m e e t ou r ob l
igations to th e
com ing ge ne ration, to e q u ip th e m to pl
ay
an active rol
e in cocre ating th e w orl
d
th e y w ant, w e ne e d to e ngage you ng
pe opl
e now , u sing th e w e b tool
s w ith
w h ich th e y are fam il
iar, and appl
ying
th e m to a m u ch b roade r range of im aginative action l
e arning opportu nitie s. Th e
M cConne l
lFou ndation’s Gre e n Stre e t initiative (h ttp://w w w .gre e n- stre e t.ca/), original
l
y a W e b 1.0 pl
atform for te ach e rs to
acce ss e du cation program s from Canadian e nvironm e ntalorganiz ations, is cu rre ntl
y b e ing adapte d to th is pu rpose ,
e m pl
oying am ong oth e r m e ans, cl
ose r
al
ignm e nt b e tw e e n e nvironm e ntal and
arts e du cation.
In and of th e m se l
ve s h ow e ve r, su ch tool
s
and proce sse s m ay notb e su fficie ntto e ffe ct syste m ic ch ange . It is w h e n w e add
e conom ic ince ntive s, socialproce ss tool
s
for pu b l
ic de l
ib e ration and de cision m ak ing, and ne w col
l
ab orations th at a ne w
e conom y of e ngage m e nt b e com e s possib l
e . An e spe cial
l
y im portant e l
e m e nt in
th is fru itfu le q u ation is th e ne e d to continu ou sl
y l
ink ch ange e fforts to w ork in
e du cation and re se arch .
If w e are to m e e t th e e nvironm e ntaland
socialch al
l
e nge s m e ntione d in th e ope ning paragraph s of th is pape r, w e can
h ardl
y afford not to pu rsu e th is w ork vigorou sl
y and im aginative l
y.
A se cond and e ve n m ore fu ndam e ntal
pl
ace to dire ct su ch e fforts is tow ards ou r
practice of de m ocracy. Th ou gh tfu lcom m e ntators on pol
itics as cu rre ntl
y practice d in Canada h ave pointe d ou tth atth e
m e ans e xist for m ore e ffe ctive pu b l
ic e ngage m e ntin pu b l
ic proce ss. Le nih an e tal
(h ttp://w w w .ppforu m .ca/e n/crossing
b ou ndarie sgove rnance program /)
h ave
de m onstrate d th at ne w form s of e ngage m e nt in gove rnm e nt de cision m ak ing
w ou l
d ge ne rate b e tte r de cisions and addre ss pu b l
ic sce pticism ab ou t gove rnm e nts ge ne ral
l
y. In pl
ace of opinion
pol
l
ing and consu l
tation proce sse s th at
are prone to b e com ing com pe titive proce sse s, th e y propose de l
ib e rative dial
ogu e l
e ading to inform action de cisions.
Ste ph e n H u d d art is th e Vice Pre sid e nt of
Th e J. W . M cConne l
lFam il
y Fou nd ation in
M ontre al
. Th e Fou nd ation’s m ission is to
‘e ngage Canad ians in b u il
d ing a socie ty
th atis incl
u sive , su stainab l
e and re sil
ie nt’.
Prior to joining th e Fou nd ation, h e ow ne d
and ope rate d a jaz z café in Vancou ve r,
h el
d a varie ty of e xe cu tive positions w ith
th e British Col
u m b ia Socie ty for th e Pre ve ntion of Cru e l
ty to Anim al
s (BC SPCA),
and h e ad e d th e Trou b ad ou r Institu te .
Ste ph e n h ol
d s a M aste rs of M anage m e nt
d e gre e from M cGil
lU nive rsity.
Th e Gove rnm e nt of Ne w Bru nsw ick appe ars re ady to adoptth is approach
(h ttp://tinyu rl
.com /4h v7m o). SocialAnal
ysis Syste m s, m e ntione d in th e ope ning
q u ote , offe rs an ope n sou rce tool
k it for
m anaging col
l
ab oration am ong dive rse
stak e h ol
de rs.Tre e h ou se (h ttp://tre e
h ou se grou p.org/), a non- profit pu b l
ic
proce ss conve nor in Toronto, h as a su ite
of tool
s de signe d to e l
icit ‘gre at ide as
from m inds th atdon’tth ink al
ik e ’.
R e com m e nde d R e sou rce
Tow ard a Ne w Consciou sne ss
h ttp://w w w .e nvironm e nt.yal
e .e du /
ne w consciou sne ss
Concl
u sions
Th e sym b iotic re l
ationsh ip b e tw e e n ope n
sou rce m e th odol
ogie s and socialinnovation is contrib u ting to a re ne w alof civic
e ngage m e nt.
21
Key El
em ents Of
S o cialInnov
atio n
"Final
l
y, socialinnovation at scal
e com e s
from syste m s th at give th e pu b l
ic tool
s to
innovate for th e m se l
ve s. Brok e ring th is
transition is w h at m any innovation inte rm e d iarie s in socialinnovation are passionate l
y com m itte d to."
M atth e w H orne
h ttp://w w w .innovation- u nit.co.u k /
im age s/storie s/h one st_ b rok e rs_final
.pdf
An e xam pl
e of socialte ch nol
ogy in action
w as se e n in Ju ne 2008 w ith a h ands- on,
w e b 2.0 inte nsive training se ssion h e l
d at
th e M aR S D iscove ry D istrict for th ose e ngage d in socialch ange (h ttp://w w w .
m arsdd.com /social
te ch training/
proce e dings.h tm l
).Th is SocialTe ch Training (STT), co- h oste d w ith Com m u nicopia (h ttp://w w w .com m u nicopia.ne t/),
w as an opportu nity for 60 re pre se ntative s
from a m ix of organiz ations to e xpl
ore
th e u se of socialte ch nol
ogy to incre ase
th e e ffe ctive ne ss and e fficie ncy of social
initiative s. R ick e n Pate l
, fou nde r and Exe cu tive D ire ctor of Avaaz .org, a gl
ob alonl
ine advocacy grou p de signe d to “cl
ose
th e gap b e tw e e n th e w orl
d w e h ave and
th e w orl
d w e w ant”, su gge ste d th atw e are
facing a crisis th at pre se nts an opportu nity for ch ange . Pate lse e s th e crisis as a
de m ocracy de ficit and th e opportu nity as
a ne w approach to e l
icit de m ocratic e ngage m e nt. H e argu e s th at th e u se of socialte ch nol
ogy w il
lal
l
ow individu al
s to
m ak e a diffe re nce .
Th is articl
e de scrib e s fou r k e y e l
e m e nts
of socialinnovation: i) socialte ch nol
ogy;
ii) innovation inte rm e diarie s; iii) pe opl
e
w h o drive innovation; and iv) ope nne ss.
By tak ing e xpe rie nce s from socialte ch nol
ogy and e xam ining th e im pact of "ope n
e ve ryth ing", th is articl
e posits th e val
ue
of innovation inte rm e diarie s as critical
e nab l
e rs of su cce ss in th e e m e rge nt fie l
d
ofsocialinnovation.
SocialTe ch nol
ogy
Th e SocialInnovation Ge ne ration (SiG,
h ttp://w w w .sige ne ration.ca/) program ,
l
au nch e d in Ju ne 2007 to spu r socialinnovation in Canada, re pre se nts a partne rsh ip b e tw e e n th e M cConne l
lFou ndation,
M aR S D iscove ry D istrict, th e U nive rsity
ofW ate rl
oo and th e BC- b ase d PLAN Institu te for Caring Citiz e nsh ip. It de fine s socialinnovation as an initiative , produ ct
or proce ss th at profou ndl
y ch ange s b e l
ie fs, b asic rou tine s, re sou rce s and au th e ntic fl
ow s of any socialsyste m in th e
dire ction ofgre ate r re sil
ie nce .
Com pl
e x socialissu e s l
ik e pove rty and
e nvironm e ntal de gradation are by no
m e ans ne w , b u t th e gl
ob alconte xt in
w h ich th e y arise ce rtainl
y is. Th e transfe r
of k now l
e dge , inform ation and ne w s is incre asing rapidl
y e ve ry ye ar. W ith so m any
com pe ting socialconce rns, h ow can au die nce s b e re ach e d and m ob il
iz e d th rou gh
th e h az e of m e ssage s and m ark e ting?
W h at is ab u ndantl
y cl
e ar is th at th e prove rb ial b al
ance ne e ds tipping and no
singl
e se ctor h as al
lth e answ e rs. Give n
m ou nting pre ssu re s su ch as an aging
popu l
ation, an u nde r- re sou rce d vol
u ntary se ctor, and ou r cu rre nt gl
ob ale conom ic situ ation, th e case for social
te ch nol
ogy is com pe l
l
ing.
Socialte ch nol
ogy (h ttp://com m ons.ca/
ide as/social
_ te ch /) e nab l
e s th ose m ost
im pacte d by prob l
e m s to col
l
ab orate
w ith th ose m otivate d to provide e ffe ctive
and e fficie nt te ch nol
ogy sol
u tions.
Ach ie ving any socialm ission re q u ire s re gul
ar com m u nication, w h ich can b e m ade
possib l
e th rou gh socialte ch nol
ogy.
22
O pe n sou rce approach e s h ave tau gh t u s
th at su cce ss can b e fou nd in th e cre ation
of space for e ngaging in col
l
e ctive e fforts. Enab l
ing pe opl
e to ge t invol
ve d on
th e ir ow n te rm s is a radicalide a, one th at
h ol
ds th e se e ds ofsocialinnovation.
Key El
em ents Of
S o cialInnov
atio n
In socialte ch nol
ogy, th e su m is gre ate r
th an its parts, and as in m ost fie l
ds, th e
te am is criticalto su cce ss. Th e ch al
l
e nge
in th e offl
ine w orl
d is m ak ing organiz ations m ore fl
at, so th atth e su m is notju st
th ose de cisions m ade by u ppe r m anage m e nt. In th e onl
ine w orl
d, socialte ch nol
ogy can offe r site s th at are rich w ith
onl
ine vide o, ph oto, sou nd and graph ic
capacitie s to se am l
e ssl
y pre se nt com pl
ex
storie s in a w ay th atw ork s for a varie ty of
constitu e nts.
Avaaz .org h as attaine d l
e gitim acy as an
innovation inte rm e diary. Th e te ch nol
ogy
conce pt is sim pl
e : b u il
d a m ail
ing l
ist
w h e re su b scrib e rs re ce ive al
e rts "to u rge nt gl
ob alissu e s and opportu nitie s to
ach ie ve ch ange ." M e m b e rs are advise d
on w h at action to tak e , w h ich pe tition to
sign, and h ow m u ch m one y ne e ds to b e
raise d. M e m b e rs are pol
l
e d re gu l
arl
y to
de te rm ine w h ich issu e s sh ou l
d b e tack l
e d. Su pporte rs gu ide th e param e te rs of
th e cam paigns w h ich are ab l
e to go
w h e re m ost cou l
d not du e to stak e h ol
de r
infl
u e nce s. Re sponse is ove rw h e l
m ing
and passionate , and th e approach h as
prove n e xtre m e l
y su cce ssfu l
, w ith ove r
3.2 m il
l
ion cu rre ntsu b scrib e rs.
Innovation Inte rm e diarie s
An innovation inte rm e diary is an individu al or organiz ation re sponsib l
e for
m ob il
iz ing re sou rce s to ach ie ve an ou tcom e . Ph il
ip Sm ith , th e "Sim pl
ifie r of
Te ch nol
ogy" at Com m u nity Bandw idth
(h ttp://w w w .com m u nityb andw idth .ca),
offe re d th e fol
l
ow ing ob se rvation du ring
STT: “Atth e core of m ostsu cce ssfu lsocial
te ch nol
ogy initiative s (are ) innovation inte rm e diarie s. Th e se are th e fol
k s th at are
in th e tre nch e s e ve ry day l
iving and
b re ath ing e ve ryth ing th at is w h at w e u nde rstand to b e im portantsocialte ch nol
ogie s — e - m ailcam paigns, W e b se rvice s,
m ob il
e appl
ications, onl
ine fu ndraising,
socialne tw ork s, e tc. — and sh aring th e ir
e xpe rie nce s ou t to innovative organiz ations. Th e se are th e circu it ride rs, th e
non- profit te ch nol
ogy assistance provide rs and im pl
e m e nte rs, th e civic data
l
ib e rtarians, and th e progre ssive softw are
de ve l
opm e nt
provide rs
and
de ve l
ope rs…w e de spe rate l
y ne e d som e of
th e se conce pts e xpl
ore d in th e Canadian
conte xt. Inte rm e diarie s are th e sh e ph e rds th at can al
te r th e cou rse of th is fam il
iar story.”
It is cl
e ar, as postu l
ate d in H one st
Brok e rs (h ttp://w w w .innovation- u nit.co.
u k /im age s/storie s/h one st_b rok e rs_final
.
pdf), th at “innovation inte rm e diarie s are
e m e rging in re sponse to a se t of b arrie rs
th atinh ib itth e re l
ationsh ips b e tw e e n diffe re ntorganiz ations.”
In addition to socialte ch nol
ogy, w e ne e d
inte rm e diarie s w h o u nde rstand and e m b race ope n sou rce th ink ing to b ring
ab ou t e ffe ctive socialch ange . Pate lde scrib e s th e innovation inte rm e diary rol
e
as se rvant l
e ade rsh ip: w ork ing w ith th e
pe opl
e one se e k s to m ob il
iz e to b e st re fl
e ct th e ir ne e ds and passions as e ngage d
citiz e ns.
Pe opl
e D riving SocialInnovation
23
As in m any oth e r e m e rge ntm ove m e nts, a
face on a socialinnovation m ove m e nt is
im portant. H ow e ve r, socialinnovators adm it th at su cce ss re q u ire s a te am of
pe opl
e w ith a sh are d vision. Significant
ch ange com e s th rou gh col
l
e ctive action.
W h o are th e pe opl
e w h o drive socialinnovation? According to Avaaz .org, th e y
are age d 15- 85 and com e from al
lb ack grou nds. You th s are e ne rge tic, se e k care e rs th at provide m ore th an ju st stab l
e
incom e , are w il
l
ing to try ne w approach e s, and are e q u ippe d w ith th e digitaltool
s to m ak e a diffe re nce . Th e y are
al
so su pporte d by e xpe rie nce d pe opl
e
(h ttp://re se arch w ork s.carl
e ton.ca/2008_
M ay/240.h tm ) w h o “w ou l
d l
ik e to th ink
th e tool
s w e h ave h e l
pe d de ve l
op w il
l
m ak e l
ife e asie r for th e pe opl
e w h o w ant
to initiate and grow socie talch ange ”.
Key El
em ents Of
S o cialInnov
atio n
Th is is a ne w ge ne ration of socialcitiz e ns: gl
ob alcitiz e ns first, Canadian citiz e ns se cond. Th e y are th e pe e r- to- pe e r
ge ne ration. Th e se citiz e ns de m and an
ope n sou rce approach to socialinnovation and a ne w e conom y b ase d on "w ith ”
inste ad of “for”. Th e grou ndsw e l
lis ve ry
m u ch pre se ntand active , itju stl
ook s diffe re nt. Inste ad of tak ing to th e stre e ts, a
w h ol
e ne w ge ne ration is tak ing it onl
ine ,
and th e re fore , tak ing itgl
ob al
.
Socialinnovation is ab ou t com m u nitie s,
and action- orie nte d te am s of pe opl
e who
l
e ad. Join u s, to tak e th e b e st of social
te ch nol
ogy, innovation inte rm e diarie s,
pe opl
e , and ope nne ss to ch ange ou r socie ty for th e b e tte r.
Al
l
yson H e w itt is D ire ctor, SocialEntre pre ne u rsh ip at M aR S. Sh e e stab l
ish e d th e
socialinnovation program th at incl
udes
Social
Innovation
Ge ne ration
(SiG@ M aR S). Th is program provid e s socialinnovators and e ntre pre ne u rs acce ss
to re sou rce s to tu rn th e ir id e as into positive ou tcom e s for socie ty. Al
l
yson w as th e
Exe cu tive D ire ctor of Safe Kid s Canad a
and an ad vocate in pre ve nting inju rie s to
ch il
d re n. Prior to th at, Al
l
yson w as th e Exe cu tive D ire ctor of Com m u nity Inform ation Toronto, an age ncy th at m atch e s
pe opl
e w ith se rvice s. In th is capacity, sh e
h el
pe d l
e ad th e d e ve l
opm e nt of 211,
provid ing th re e - d igit and onl
ine acce ss to
social se rvice , com m u nity and gove rnm e nt inform ation. For th is w ork sh e w as
aw ard e d th e H R D C- sponsore d H e ad of th e
Pu b l
ic Se rvice Aw ard and se ve raloth e r
aw ard s for m e ritoriou s pu b l
ic se rvice . Sh e
h as a BA in Crim inol
ogy and Law , a d ipl
om a in Pu b l
ic Affairs and ce rtification in
Vol
u ntary Se ctor M anage m e nt and Le ad ing Ch ange .
O pe n Eve ryth ing
Th e re is a gl
ob alm ove m e nt to “ope n
e ve ryth ing”. Le ad by som e gre at Canadian and U K th ink e rs, O pe n Eve ryth ing
(h ttp://ope ne ve ryth ing.ne t/) is h ol
ding a
se rie s of m e e tings b ase d on th e b e l
ie f
th at “O pe n is ch anging th e gam e . And,
w h il
e W ik ipe dia and ope n sou rce softw are offe r gre at e xam pl
e s of w h at is h appe ning, w e
k now
th at ope nne ss,
col
l
ab oration and participation are
spre ading w e l
lb e yond th e re al
m of te ch nol
ogy. At th e core , it is ab ou t val
u e s.
O pe n Eve ryth ing gath e rs pe opl
e w h o are
ch arting th is traje ctory.”
Can w e m ove to ope n e ve ryth ing? Can
you l
e tgo of you r h ard drive fil
ing syste m
and poste ve ryth ing onl
ine l
ik e Kris Kru g,
of Raincity Stu dios (h ttp://w w w .raincitystu dios.com /), al
l
ow ing h im to acce ss
al
lof h is data from anyw h e re in th e
w orl
d?M ayb e not, b u titis w orth k e e ping
tab s on trail
bl
az e rs l
ik e Kris, or b e tte r
stil
l
, to join th e ir discu ssion and e ngage
w ith th e m to critical
l
y asse ss if ope nne ss
is in facte nab l
ing socialinnovation.
W e - th ink
h ttp://w w w .w e th ink th e b ook .ne t
Concl
u sions
Syste m s transform ation is b e ing b rou gh t
on by de m ands from donors and you th
w h o u nde rstand th at th e re h as to b e a
b e tte r w ay forw ard. Com pl
e xity of th e issu e s w e face and m ou nting e conom ic
pre ssu re s signify th at th e tim e is righ t for
disru ptive innovations to fl
ou rish .
Com m u nity Inte rm e diarie s Re se arch
Proje ct
h ttp://w w w .u nb.ca/cirp/
24
acces s and L
eaders h ip
In th e 19 80s, a fre q u e nt de b ate at
U NESCO ce ntre d on th e h ave /h ave - not
cou ntrie s’ acce ss to inform ation te ch nol
ogy (IT). Re pre se ntative s of African and
Latin Am e rican nations ru e d inve stm e nt
in IT as th e y im agine d b e ing l
e fte ve n fu rth e r b e h ind and e xcl
u de d from inte l
l
e ctu al de b ate . Th e y argu e d th at in ru ral
l
ocations w h e re th e re w as no e l
e ctricity,
one cou l
d h ardl
y ru n a com pu te r. In vil
l
age s w h e re pe opl
e did not h ave m one y
for sh e l
te r, food and cl
oth ing, h ow cou l
d
anyone e ve n dre am of sh aring e m ailaccou nts?Ye t, today th e u se of IT circl
e s th e
gl
ob e . In th e de se rt, yu rts prom ine ntl
y
fe atu re sate l
l
ite dish e s and side w al
k
dw e l
l
e rs in Sh angh ai h ave l
aptops e ve n if
th e y h ave no pl
u m b ing. A fou ndation in
India is w ork ing to provide com pu te r acce ss to e ve ry vil
l
age .
“Th e e m pire s of th e fu tu re are th e e m pire s
of th e m ind .”
W inston Ch u rch il
l
We l
ive in an age w h e re th e rapid pace of
te ch nol
ogicalinnovation and th e ab il
ity
to disse m inate k now l
e dge far e xce e d ou r
capacity to e nsu re th atal
lm e m b e rs of socie ty re ce ive th e ir b e ne fits. Th e ch al
l
e nge s in providing acce ss to te ch nol
ogy
h ave b e e n l
arge l
y sol
ve d in th is gl
ob al
l
y
conne cte d w orl
d. H ow to b e st u se th at
te ch nol
ogy to incre ase socialval
u e and
al
l
e viate l
ack of e du cation, pove rty, and
oth e r socie talprob l
e m s is an ongoing
q u e stion w ith no e asy answ e rs.
Th is articl
e e xpl
ore s th e ch al
l
e nge s for socialinnovation and th e u se of inform ation te ch nol
ogy. Th e se ch al
l
e nge s are : i)
acce ss to te ch nol
ogy; ii) acce ss to l
e arning;iii) th e u se of te ch nol
ogy in te ach ing
and re se arch ; and iv) th e e stab l
ish m e nt
ofa fram e w ork ofk now l
e dge .
Th e ch al
l
e nge today is not so m u ch acce ss to te rm inal
s and te ch nol
ogy as to
conte nt. If th e w orl
d’s popu l
ation stil
lincl
u de s h u ndre ds of th ou sands of il
l
ite rate s, th e n w e h ave onl
y provide d partial
acce ss. Lik e Gu te nb e rg, w e can produ ce
te xts, b u t if th e y cannot b e re ad, w il
lth e y
m ak e a diffe re nce ?Can w e e m pl
oy te ch nol
ogy to te ach pe opl
e re ading sk il
l
s?
Can w e m ak e pe opl
e l
ite rate in m ath e m atics? Ju st as ch il
dre n’s b ook s w e re de ve l
ope d to te ach re ading, w ou l
d it b e
possib l
e to e m pl
oy IT for b asic k now l
e dge and sk il
l
s transfe r?Fu rth e r, can w e
provide acce ss to k now l
e dge in non- te xtu alform ats su ch as stre am ing voice and
vide o? Cou l
d th is b e done gl
ob al
l
y, in
e ve ry l
angu age ?Cou l
d w e e q u al
iz e b asic
opportu nity arou nd th e w orl
d?
Acce ss to Te ch nol
ogy and Inform ation
Gu te nb e rg’s inve ntion of m ovab l
e type
rank s as one of th e m ost significant te ch nol
ogicalch ange s in h istory, m ak ing th e
printe d page acce ssib l
e to al
l
. Ye t, in th e
15th ce ntu ry th is re vol
u tion w as not
b roadl
y e xpe rie nce d. M ak ing pape r and
printing b ook s w as a l
ab oriou s proce ss
re stricting th e nu m b e rs produ ce d. H ow
m any pe opl
e cou l
d afford b ook s and, if
th e y cou l
d, h ow m any cou l
d re ad?None th e l
e ss, th is innovation ope ne d th e door
to m ass com m u nication.
Today a sim il
ar re vol
u tion is occu rring.
Le ss th an 40 ye ars ago, stu de nts w e re produ cing th e se s on type w rite rs and 20
ye ars ago stu de nts cou l
d not afford individu alcom pu te rs and w ork e d at rath e r
l
arge , ch u nk y m ach ine s in th e b ase m e nt
of th e l
ib rary. Today, th e m ajority of stu de nts arrive at u nive rsity arm e d w ith
l
aptops, de sk tops, and te xt m e ssaging
de vice s.
W e e xpe rie nce ine q u al
ity at h om e as
w el
l
. Im agine th e w ork s of art, th e gre at
scie ntific inve ntions, th e b ril
l
iant and inspiring th ou gh ts and te xts w e are m issing
today b e cau se e ntire se gm e nts of ou r
popu l
ation in North Am e rica h ave l
im ite d e du cation.
25
acces s and L
eaders h ip
Today th e y m igh t h ave acce ss to a com pu te r, b u t w e al
so ne e d to provide l
e arning pack age s in attractive , u sab l
e
form ats. If w e dre am of possib il
itie s for
th e h u m an race , w e m u st incl
u de e ve ryone . O nl
y th rou gh incl
u sivity w il
lth e pote ntialofh u m ank ind b e re al
iz e d.
Ne arl
y 20 ye ars ago, Arth u r Corde l
lpropose d a byte tax w h ich cou l
d b e u se d to
fu nd gl
ob alinitiative s incl
u ding th e sh aring of te ch nol
ogy, te ch nicaltraining and
sk il
lde ve l
opm e nt, and b asic inform ation
on issu e s su ch as nu trition and h e al
th
care (h ttp://l
ib rary2.u sask .ca/gic/v2n4/
corde l
l
/corde l
l
.h tm l
). Today l
e ade rs l
ik e
Bil
lGate s h ave se t u p fou ndations th at
h ave th e capacity to ove rcom e th e financialob stacl
e s to th is e sse ntiale ffort and
to provide th e re q u ire d e du cation. W h e n
th e firstb ook s w e re printe d, th e door w as
ope ne d a b it to th e l
igh ts of k now l
e dge
and inform ation. Today th e door to gl
ob alk now l
e dge is re ady to sw ing w ide ope n
w ith th e te ch nol
ogy avail
ab l
e . Itis ou r re sponsib il
ity to b e su re th e re is som e th ing
b e h ind th e door and w e m u st b e gin w ith
th e b asics.
Th e Ch al
l
e nge ofD iscove ry and R e ne w al
W h il
e b asic training and e du cation m u st
b e a w orl
dw ide goal
, w e m u st al
so de dicate ou r m inds to th e pu rsu itof ne w k now l
e dge .W e ye arn for th e e xcite m e ntof ne w
discove rie s, of w orl
ds b e yond ou r k e n in
space and tim e , of tiny particl
e s w h ich
h ave incre dib l
e pow e r and are capab l
e of
ch anging ou r l
ive s, of w ays to u nde rstand
e ach oth e r and to e nsu re ou r pl
ane t w il
l
stil
lsu pport th e l
ife of ou r grandch il
dre n.
To fu l
fil
lth e se de sire s, w e m u st u se te ch nol
ogy to its b e st advantage . W e m u st
com b ine th e b e st scie ntific and cre ative
m inds in e ve ry fie l
d, ch al
l
e nging th e m to
h arne ss th e pote ntialof th e tool
s w e now
posse ss, to de ve l
op ne w one s and to e m pl
oy th e m not onl
y for te ach ing and th e
disse m ination of inform ation b u t for th e
acq u isition ofk now l
e dge .
26
If w rite rs did not continu al
l
y cre ate ne w
b ook s, arch ite cts ne w de signs, m u sicians
ne w sym ph onie s, scie ntists ne w form u l
as
and e ngine e rs ne w te ch nol
ogie s, th e re
w ou l
d b e no ne e d for printing pre sse s or
IT. Th e ch al
l
e nge today is notto continu e
sim pl
y cre ating ne w m aste rpie ce s b u t to
u se IT to cre ate m aste rpie ce s of a h igh e r
orde r.
W isdom is th e inte rpre tation of inform ation te ste d ove r tim e th rou gh e xpe rie nce
and ch e ck e d against a syste m of e th ical
val
u e s. Today w e h ave th e m e ans to b ring
toge th e r inte rdiscipl
inary te am s of
pe opl
e com b ining a b road spe ctru m of
k now l
e dge and te l
e scoping ye ars of data
col
l
e ction into m e re m e ch anical m om e nts. W e can advance k now l
e dge and
sol
ve prob l
e m s m ore q u ick l
y and m ore e ffe ctive l
y th an e ve r b e fore .
Th is attractive option is inde e d a ch al
l
e nge . H ow do w e su rm ou ntth e sil
os cre ate d th rou gh ou r h igh l
y spe cial
iz e d
e du cations in se tfie l
ds?H ow do w e b ring
toge th e r pe opl
e w h o w ork in diffe re nt
acade m ic u nits and h ow do w e find
grants to su pport th e ir w ork w h e n granting age ncie s th e m se l
ve s ope rate in a
stru ctu re d fash ion w h ich ofte n te nds to
re pl
icate th e pre se nt rath e r th an e ncou rage innovative e fforts? H ow do w e trave rse inte rnational b orde rs and sh are
inform ation w ith col
l
e agu e s?H ow do w e
ove rcom e th e prote ctionism of pate nts
and copyrigh ts w h il
e pre se rving th e ow ne rsh ip ofinte l
l
e ctu alprope rty?
Re asons for prote cting ow ne rsh ip of inte l
l
e ctu alprope rty incl
u de w e al
th , pow e r,
and pe e r re cognition. H aving an ide a
doe s not se rve an individu alsch ol
ar, u nl
e ss itis sh are d. If itis sh are d, w il
lanyone
l
ose ? In th e capital
ist m ode l
, th e first
com pany to de ve l
op th e ide a and th e
com pany produ cing and m ark e ting it
m ost e ffe ctive l
y w il
l profit and sh are
profits w ith th e inve ntor.
acces s and L
eaders h ip
If th e ide a is stol
e n or if prope rty righ ts
are not re spe cte d in th e gl
ob alm ark e t,
th e n w e al
ll
ose b e cau se th e m otivation
for som e sch ol
ars w il
lfl
ag and innovation
w il
lsl
ow .
U nfortu nate l
y, m ost of th e pe opl
e cou l
d
not re ad. Eve n w orse , th e inform ation
containe d on th e se gre at pil
l
ars w as not
organiz e d and one
m igh t spe nd
conside rab l
e
tim e
l
ocating
th e
appropriate b its of advice . W h il
e th e
se arch e ngine s of today assist som e w h at
in navigating th e incre dib l
e am ou nts of
inform ation avail
ab l
e on th e Inte rne t, it
can stil
lb e an e norm ou s task to find
re l
e vantand h igh q u al
ity inform ation.
Th e inte l
l
e ctu alsh aring m ode lh as facul
ty m e m b e rs offe ring th e ir discove rie s
to th e w orl
d fre e l
y. W il
lsch ol
ars b e any
l
e ss m otivate d to do re se arch if th e y th ink
th e y m igh t not strik e it rich ?O ne m igh t
first ask h ow m any re se arch e rs h ave b e com e tru l
y w e al
th y and from w h ich discove rie s. W h y w ou l
d w e w ant to h ide
inform ation w h ich m igh tse rve ou r fe l
l
ow
citiz e ns of th e w orl
d?W h y w ou l
d w e not
w ant to w ork w ith te am s arou nd th e
w orl
d to se e th ose discove rie s occu r in
th is l
ife tim e rath e r th an risk notcom pl
e ting th e w ork ou rse l
ve s? H ow m any au th ors w ou l
d pre fe r to w rite a b ook w h ich
is ne ve r pu b l
ish e d to one w h ich is pu b l
ish e d and w h ich inspire s l
ive l
y de b ate ?
It is com m onl
y acce pte d th at k now l
e dge
is pow e r. If so, th e organiz ation of
k now l
e dge and th e advance m e nt of th e
se m antic w e b w il
le q u ate to m e ga- pow e r.
Te am s of com pu te r scie ntists and
l
ib rarians are now l
ink ing l
ib rarie s by th e
Inte rne t and re pl
icating th e re fe re nce s
from th e card catal
og. [Editor's note : Th is
se e m s to b e a ne w ite ration of Vanne var
Bu sh 's
"As
We
M ay
Th ink "
(h ttp://e n.w ik ipe dia.org/w ik i/As_W e _
M ay_Th ink ).] An incre dib l
e opportu nity
l
ie s b e fore u s to u nde rtak e a m assive
proje ct w h ich w ou l
d invol
ve te am s of
sch ol
ars from e ve ry u nive rsity arou nd
th e w orl
d.
Th e ne gative answ e r to al
lof th e se q u e stions com e s from th e sou rce of fu nding
su pport for re se arch . Th is de te rm ine s
ow ne rsh ip and de m ands a proprie tary
syste m . If w e h ad inte rnationalfou ndations su pporting re se arch to b e sh are d
gl
ob al
l
y, w e m igh t ach ie ve conside rab l
e
progre ss. If th e U nite d Nations took on a
ne w rol
e , th at of su pporting th e e xpansion of k now l
e dge and th e sh aring of inform ation, pe rh aps w e m igh t ch ange th e
cu rre nt paradigm and m ak e significant
progre ss in im proving ou r h u m an condition.
W e now h ave th e opportu nity to cre ate a
ne w , inte r- discipl
inary h ie rarch y of
k now l
e dge w h ich w il
l fram e th e w ay
pe opl
e th ink and pe rce ive prob l
e m s for
ge ne rations to com e . W e h ave b e fore u s
th e te ch nol
ogy and th e m e ans to do w h at
m any com panie s are cu rre ntl
y vying to
accom pl
ish . If sch ol
ars from arou nd th e
w orl
d u nde rtak e th e cre ation of a ne w
h ie rarch y of inform ation, th e y w ou l
d
m ak e a tru l
y pow e rfu lcontrib u tion to th e
w orl
d.
Estab l
ish ing a H ie rarch y ofK now l
e dge
Ce ntu rie s b e fore Gu te nb e rg, a Ch ine se
Em pe ror de cide d to m ak e inform ation
avail
ab l
e to al
lh is su b je cts. H e cre ate d
e norm ou s stone ste l
ae on w h ich w e re
e tch e d al
lth e k now l
e dge posse sse d at
th at tim e . Th e Ch ine se pe opl
e cou l
d visit
th is fore st of stone and ru b th e pe rtine nt
se ctions w ith rice pape r, tak ing h om e th e
de sire d pe arl
s ofw isdom .
Th is is th e b igge st and m ost e xciting
ch al
l
e nge w e face today. If w e give th e
pe opl
e of th e w orl
d not onl
y th e m e ans
to acce ss inform ation b u t e xciting path s
of e ntry into its se cre ts, w e can ch ange
th e w orl
d.
27
adaptive co - m anagem ent
“Th e oth e r d rive r of innovation is aw are ne ss of a gap b e tw e e n w h at th e re is and
w h at th e re ou gh t to b e , b e tw e e n w h at
pe opl
e ne e d and w h at th e y are offe re d b y
gove rnm e nts, private firm s and NGO s –a
gap w h ich is constantl
y w id e ne d b y th e
e m e rge nce of ne w te ch nol
ogie s and ne w
scie ntific k now l
e d ge .”
Ge offM u l
gan, e tal
h ttp://w w w .you ngfou ndation.org/
fil
e s/im age s/SI- sp.pdf
Th is cou l
d b e th e ne xtm ajor te ch nol
ogicalre vol
u tion, transform ing th e q u e stion
of acce ss from an e conom ic issu e to one
of m oraland socialju stice . W e are capab l
e of conve rting inform ation to k now l
e dge and k now l
e dge to w isdom . Th is is
inde e d an e xciting prospe ct and a w orth w h il
e ch al
l
e nge .
Le arning and social innovation are
l
ink e d. Adaptive co- m anage m e nt offe rs
strate gie s th at e m pow e r l
e arne rs to tak e
re sponsib il
ity, col
l
ab orate and cre ate . To
im prove ou r u nde rstanding of h ow social
innovation is nu rtu re d, w e e xam ine th re e
proje cts th at u se d th e adaptive co- m anage m e nt approach to su pport l
e arne rs
w ork ing in au tonom ou s grou ps to cre ate
socialgoods and fil
lpe rce ive d gaps. Th e
stu de nt proje cts l
e d to th e fol
l
ow ing socialinnovations: i) an organic food m ark e t se rving stu de nts; ii) an ope n sou rce
approach to de sign in a fie l
d w h e re proprie tary approach e s are m ore com m on;
and iii) a m ode lth at e xte nds th e im pact
of w h at first ye ar u nive rsity stu de nts
l
e arn w e l
lb e yond th e cl
assroom .
D r. Rose ann O 'Re il
l
y Ru nte is Pre sid e nt
and Vice - Ch ance l
l
or of Carl
e ton U nive rsity. Sh e is th e au th or of nu m e rou s
sch ol
arl
y w ork s in th e fie l
d s of Fre nch and
com parative l
ite ratu re . Sh e h as w ritte n e xte nsive l
y on e conom ic and cu l
tu rald e ve l
opm e nt, h igh e r e d u cation and th e
im portance of re se arch . In ad d ition, sh e is
a cre ative w rite r and h as re ce ive d a priz e
in poe try from th e Acad ém ie française . D r.
Ru nte h as b e e n aw ard e d th e O rd e r of
Canad a and th e Fre nch O rd e r of M e rit
and is a Fe l
l
ow of th e RoyalSocie ty of
Canad a.
Adaptive Co- M anage m e nt
Socialinnovation e m b race s ch ange as opportu nity and proce e ds by re fl
e xive and
cre ative proce sse s. It al
so b e ne fits from
socialand cu l
tu raldive rsity. If w e strive
for e q u itab l
e , ju st and e col
ogical
l
y viab l
e
visions of ou r col
l
e ctive fu tu re , socialinnovation as a paradigm offe rs re alh ope .
O u r b igge stch al
l
e nge is to figu re ou th ow
to su pportand m ak e ith appe n.
Adaptive co- m anage m e nt is a paradigm
of gove rnance , l
e arning and m anage m e nt th at b u il
ds u pon th e principl
e s of
adaptive m anage m e nt(h ttp://e n.w ik i
pe dia.org/w ik i/Adaptive _m anage m e nt).
28
In th e conte xt of socialinnovation, th e
adaptive co- m anage r rol
e is ab ou t m idw ife ry. Th e adaptive co- m anage r gu ide s,
su pports, and e ncou rage s th e proce ss of
e m e rge nce into th e w orl
d of som e th ing
ne w , w h e th e r itis an ide a, a m anage m e nt
arrange m e nt, a de cision or any oth e r e ntity. Th e adaptive co- m anage r rol
e e nab l
e s th e proce ss of th e actors e ngage d in
e nge nde ring.Th e rol
e m ay invol
ve u nde rtak ing a w ide range of activitie s from th e
re l
ative l
y passive to th e cl
e arl
y active .
Lik e a practicing m idw ife , th e adaptive
co- m anage r rol
e provide s a safe e nvironm e ntfor innovation to e m e rge th atm igh t
not su rvive u naide d. H ow e ve r, th is rol
e
doe s not pre - de te rm ine th e conte nt or
th e natu re ofth ate m e rge ntform .
Th e Re sil
iance Al
l
iance (h ttp://w w w .
re sal
l
iance .org/2448.ph p) e xpl
ains th at
th e "Nove l
ty of adaptive co- m anage m e nt
com e s from com b ining th e ite rative
l
e arning dim e nsion of adaptive m anage m e nt and th e l
ink age dim e nsion of col
l
ab orative m anage m e nt in w h ich righ ts
and re sponsib il
itie s are jointl
y sh are d.
Com pl
e m e ntaritie s am ong conce pts of
col
l
ab oration and adaptive m anage m e nt
e ncou rage an approach to gove rnance
th at e ncom passe s com pl
e xity and crossscal
e l
ink age s, and th e proce ss of dynam ic l
e arning. Adaptive co- m anage m e nt
th u s offe rs conside rab l
e appe alin l
igh tof
th e com pl
e x syste m s vie w . In th is re gard,
adaptive co- m anage m e nt h as b e e n de scrib e d as an e m e rge nt and se l
f- organiz ing proce ss facil
itate d by ru l
e s and
ince ntive s of h igh e r l
e ve l
s, w ith th e pote ntialto foste r m ore rob u stsocial
- e col
ogicalsyste m s." Adaptive co- m anage m e nt
assu m e s th atch ange is an inh e re ntprope rty of syste m s, w h e th e r th e syste m b e ing
conside re d is social
, cu l
tu ral
, e col
ogical
or a h yb rid.
Fre q u e ntl
y, th e e xisting re gu l
atory and
adm inistrative approach e s to sol
ving confl
icts invol
ve s partie s w ith dive rse inte re sts, righ ts, pow e rs, conce rns and
age ndas. Th e m e ch anism s avail
ab l
e are
ofte n inade q u ate and inappropriate for
th e se crossscal
e situ ations. In orde r to
b ridge socialand cu l
tu raldivide s, fl
e xib l
e , ne gotiate d, m u l
ti- party strate gie s
are ne e de d. Adaptive co- m anage m e nt
can cre ate innovative ou tcom e s u nde r
ch anging conditions b e cau se it spans an
organisationalcontinu u m ru nning from
h igh l
y form al
, ru l
e - rich , goal
- orie nte d
gove rning b e h aviou rs to inform al
, proce ss- focu se d, visioning cre ating b e h aviou rs. Ne e ds for socialinnovation spe ak
l
ou dl
y w h e re ch ange is vie w e d as b oth ine vitab l
e and de sirab l
e.
W h e n re fe rring to crossscal
e l
ink age s,
scal
e is u se d in th e se nse provide d by
M argare tW h e atl
e y and D e b orah Frie z e in
"Life cycl
e of Em e rge nce : U sing Em e rge nce to Tak e Social Innovations to
Scal
e " (h ttp://w w w .m argare tw h e atl
e y.
com /articl
e s/e m e rge nce .h tm l
): "As ne tw ork s grow and transform into active ,
w ork ing com m u nitie s of practice , w e discove r h ow Life tru l
y ch ange s, w h ich is
th rou gh e m e rge nce . W h e n se parate , l
ocal
e fforts conne ct w ith e ach oth e r as ne tw ork s, th e n stre ngth e n as com m u nitie s
of practice , su dde nl
y and su rprisingl
y a
ne w syste m e m e rge s at a gre ate r l
e ve lof
scal
e . Th is syste m of infl
u e nce posse sse s
q u al
itie s and capacitie s th at w e re u nk now n in th e individu al
s. Itisn’tth atth e y
w e re h idde n;th e y sim pl
y don’t e xist u ntil
th e syste m e m e rge s."
Farm e rs’ M ark e t
Post- se condary stu de nts ofte n aspire to
m ak e a diffe re nce th at transce nds th e
cl
assroom , tou ch ing and ch anging ou r
w orl
d. Adaptive co- m anage m e nt is u se d
to u nde rstand l
ink s b e tw e e n l
e arning
and socialinnovation in th e fol
l
ow ing
th re e stu de ntproje cts.
29
“Th e proje ct is an e xpl
oration carrie d ou t
to ch al
l
e nge m y arch ite ctu ral m aste r’s
th e sis, w h ich de al
s w ith th e ope n sou rce
ph e nom e non and w ays in w h ich it cou l
d
inform today's arch ite ctu ralpractice . You
are invite d to partak e in th is inve stigation
and e xpl
ore ne w w ays of e xch anging
ide as, de signing, discu ssing, b u il
ding,
and transform ing th e arch ite ctu ralz e itge istal
toge th e r."
In th e first proje ct, a te am of stu de nts
form e d arou nd a b road se t of inte re sts in
food in re sponse to a cl
ass grou p assignm e nt. Grou p conse nsu s as to topic and
active participation by al
lin th e te am w as
re q u ire d. W ith in tw o m onth s, th e stu de nts h ad de ve l
ope d and pu b l
ical
l
y
pre se nte d a strate gy for cre ating a Carl
e ton Farm e rs’ M ark e t in orde r to e nh ance stu de nt acce ss to organic foods.
Th is incl
u de d form ing a stu de ntcl
u b, se tting u p an e m aill
ist, inviting produ ce rs
to participate , offe ring ch oice s to stu de nts, and ne gotiating w ith u nive rsity adm inistrators to m e e t th e ir goal
s w h il
e
re spe cting e xisting u nive rsity contracts
and pu b l
ic h e al
th re gu l
ations. Th e grou p
b e cam e au tonom ou s, ope rate d as a form alCarl
e ton stu de nt association cl
u b, and
continu e d to de ve l
op th e ir ide as th rou gh
th e fol
l
ow ing w inte r and su m m e r.
Th is is a stu de ntde fine d proje ct th at appl
ie s th e ope n sou rce approach to th e
fie l
d of arch ite ctu ralde sign. As b oth a
proce ss and produ ct of ope n sou rce de ve l
opm e nt, th is proje ct l
e nds su pport to
an argu m e nt for vie w ing ope n sou rce
conce ptu al
l
y and concre te l
y as a sou rce
of socialinnovation in l
e arning e nvironm e nts. It il
l
u strate s th at ope n sou rce is a
pow e rfu lforce capab l
e of cre ating social
innovation in fie l
ds oth e r th an th e softw are de ve l
opm e ntdom ain.
Th is e xam pl
e il
l
u strate s one of th e driving force s of socialinnovation: stu de nts
ide ntifie d u n- m e t and e m e rging ne e ds
and th e n sou gh tne w arrange m e nts to addre ss th e m . Th e y cre ate d a ne w m ark e t
and e xpl
oite d ne w opportu nitie s in th e
proce ss. Pote ntialfor continu ing social
e ntre pre ne u rsh ip appe ars to b e h igh .
Bre ak ing th e Ice Sym posiu m
In th e th ird e xam pl
e , first ye ar u nive rsity
stu de nts organiz e d th e Bre ak ing th e Ice
Sym posiu m h e l
d Fe b ru ary 29 , 2007 as a
cl
ass assignm e nt(h ttp://w w w .now .carl
e ton.ca/2007- 3/1555.h tm ). Th is Sym posiu m invol
ve d 29 stu de nts, one te ach ing assistant, one instru ctor, one co- instru ctor,
and th e O ffice of th e Assistant D e an for
First Ye ar. Participants agre e d to th re e
th e m e s (Inte rnationalPol
ar Ye ar, Biodive rsity, and Su stainab il
ity), ide ntifie d
task s, and de ve l
ope d w ork ing grou ps
arou nd al
laspe cts of th e Sym posiu m .
Th e O ffice of th e AssistantD e an provide d
som e staff su pport, and itw as agre e d th at
th e u nde rgradu ate te ach ing assistant
w ou l
d b e th e l
ink b e tw e e n th e stu de nt
grou ps and th e staff su pport. Th e instru ctor adopte d a m e ntoring and facil
itative rol
e , offe ring su gge stions w h e n
ask e d, b u t onl
y inte rve ning if spe cifical
l
y
re q u e ste d to do so.
Th e Carl
e ton Farm e rs’ M ark e t can b e
th ou gh t of as a socialinnovation th at h as
b e ne fite d from appl
ication of strate gie s
of adaptive co- m anage m e nt in th e
cl
assroom ,
incl
u ding
e nh ance d
au tonom y,
crossscal
e
inte raction,
sh are d re sponsib il
ity, incl
u sion of dive rse
inte re sts and a fl
e xib l
e l
e arning orie ntation. Col
l
ate ralb e ne fits are possib l
e . In
th is instance , th e pl
e asu re of e ating organic food h ad socialju stice as a col
l
ate ralb e ne fit.
O pe n Sou rce Arch ite ctu ralD e sign
Edw ard G. Sol
odu k h in positions h is arch ite ctu re proje ct(h ttp://arch 1k .w ik idot.
com ) in th e w orl
d ofope n sou rce :
30
Th is stance cre ate d a space for l
e arning
anal
ogou s to th e space cre ate d by th e
ope n sou rce arch ite ctu re w ik i: l
e arne rs
w e re fre e to contrib u te , to sh are re sou rce s and to find ne e de d re sou rce s.
Fre e dom cam e w ith re sponsib il
ity to contrib u te to th e Sym posiu m and u l
tim ate l
y
to th e proce ss of e val
u ation as a w h ol
e.
Each stu de nt pre pare d a pre se ntation
and su b - grou ps organise d donations of
organic food and drink , e xh ib its, l
ogistics, donations and spe ak e rs. D u ring th e
proce ss b u il
ding to th e Sym posiu m , th e
stu de nts stru ggl
e d, de b ate d, e ngage d
and sol
ve d prob l
e m s. Col
l
e ctive l
y th e y
m e ntore d e ach oth e r and l
e arne d ab ou t
e ach oth e r’s conce rns. Th e y b e cam e organise rs, h osts, m anage rs, and l
e ade rs.
M ost im portantl
y, th e y continu e d to pu rsu e l
e arning th at b e gan in cl
ass w e l
lb e yond th e b ou ndarie s ofth e cam pu s.
In Janu ary 2008, form e r m e m b e rs of th e
cl
ass participate d in a pane lat th e W om e n’s H e al
th M atte rs Foru m in Toronto.
For m ost, itw as th e se cond pu b l
ic spe ak ing e ngage m e nt of th e ir acade m ic care e rs. Since th e n, one of th e pre se nte rs
h as b e com e a spe ak e r on a north e rn tou rism voyage . A se cond participant w h o
raise d th e issu e of sove re ignty and th e e nvironm e ntal im pacts of sh ipping h as
b e e n e m pl
oye d as a re su l
tand se e s fu tu re
opportu nitie s h e re . Th e se individu al
s are
e xpe rie ncing a th ird ite ration of th e ir
ide as.
Le ssons Le arne d
Le ssons l
e arne d ab ou t cre ating conditions su pportive of su cce ssfu lsocialinnovation draw n from th e se e xpe rie nce s
incl
u de : i) e ngaging th e l
e arne rs in ide ntifying th e gaps th atm atte r to th e m as w e l
l
as th e re sponse s; ii) providing u nstru ctu re d opportu nitie s, fe w ru l
e s and m axim u m fre e dom for th e l
e arne rs and th e ir
proce sse s; iii) de m onstrating active appre ciation for dive rsity and initiative ;and
31
iv) stru ctu ring form at and m aintaining
cl
e ar and incl
u sive com m u nication
strate gie s.
If w e w ish to su pportsocialinnovation in
al
e arning conte xt, w e m u st b e pre pare d
to e nab l
e l
e arning as a socialactivity.
Th is m e ans w e m u ststru ctu re l
e arning as
a socialproce ss, al
l
ow tim e in cl
ass for sociall
e arning proce sse s, e ncou rage ope n
e nde d q u e stions and su pport fru stration
and fail
u re .
Le arne rs ow n th e l
e arning proce sse s th at
l
e ad to socialinnovation. Th e y ne e d to
de fine prob l
e m s as w e l
las de ve l
op sol
utions. As an instru ctor, re spe ct diffe re nce ,
prom ote tol
e rance , k e e p an ope n m ind,
and stay ou t of th e w ay of socialinnovation as m u ch as possib l
e . Afte r al
l
, social
innovation is ab ou tou tcom e s th atare diffe re nt from ou r past. As Einste in said:
"W e can't sol
ve prob l
e m s by u sing th e
sam e k ind of th ink ing w e u se d w h e n w e
cre ate d th e m ."
D iscu ssion
W h e n a gap l
ik e th at de scrib e d in th e introdu ctory q u ote by M u l
gan e tal
. is ide ntifie d, ch oice is possib l
e . If ch ange is th e
goal
, an im portant strate gy is to re l
inq u ish au th oritarian controland adopt a
col
l
ab orative al
te rnative . For instru ctors
in l
e arning e nvironm e nts, th is m ay m e an
a sh iftfrom proce ss gove rnor to cocre ator, e nab l
e r, or m idw ife . Narrow ou tcom e
b ase d approach e s can b e b roade ne d to
accom m odate com m itm e nt to proce sse s
of de ve l
opm e ntal ch ange . Inve stm e nts
can b e m ade in l
e arning and se l
f- dire cte d
l
e arne rs. Tru st is nu rtu re d. Pow e r and re sponsib il
ity are sh are d.
For produ ct de ve l
ope rs, adaptive com anage m e nt m ay m e an a sh ift from traditional su ppl
ie r- drive n de ve l
opm e nt
m ode l
s to cocre ation w ith cu stom e rs, inte rm e diarie s, com pl
e m e ntors and su ppl
ie rs.
H is re fl
e xive and cre ative re sponse is to
l
e ve rage th e opportu nity for pu b l
ic
de sign by adopting ope n sou rce as a m ode lfor h is arch ite ctu ralde sign proje ct.
Produ ct de ve l
ope rs e nab l
e ch ange , b u t
do not controlit. Strong tru st re l
ationsh ips are b u il
t, pow e r is sh are d and re sponsib il
ity for su itab l
e ou tcom e s is
sh are d.
El
e m e nts of socialinnovation are al
so
e vide nt in th e Bre ak ing th e Ice Sym posiu m . Th e l
e arne rs w e re give n m inim al
ru l
e s, al
l
ow ing participants to de fine
th e ir contrib u tions. Au tonom y dom inate d th e pow e r b al
ance as th e participants took ow ne rsh ip. H aving th e
fre e dom to cal
lon th e ir pe rsonalne tw ork s e m pow e re d th e m as individu al
s
and dive rsifie d th e sou rce s of k now l
e dge
avail
ab l
e.
W h e th e r adaptive co- m anage m e nt occu rs in cl
assroom s, sm al
lcom m u nitie s,
or produ ct de ve l
opm e nt organiz ations,
th e b asic e l
e m e nts are th e sam e : w il
l
ingne ss to sh are pow e r and re sponsib il
ity,
tak e risk s, and b u il
d strong tru stre l
ationsh ips. Tru st is not u ninform e d, naive or
bl
ind. Tru st re cognise s th at al
lstak e h ol
de rs are cocre ators of th e ir ow n col
l
e ctive
fu tu re . Th e w ay ah e ad can b e ch arte d
w ith aw are ne ss and inte ntion inform e d
by b roade r conside rations, or it can b e
l
e ftto ch ance .
Th e th re e proje cts sh are som e k e y e l
em e nts th at contrib u te to socialinnovation. Al
l th re e are l
e arne r- de fine d,
ide ntify u nm e t ne e ds and are constraine d by m inim alru l
e s. Al
lassu m e
th at ch ange is b oth possib l
e and de sirab l
e . Al
lare incl
u sive of dive rsity. In th e
case of th e m ark e t and th e sym posiu m
proje cts, th e dive rsity of th e fou nding
grou ps th e m se l
ve s e nsu re s de b ate . In th e
arch ite ctu re de sign proje ct, ope n sou rce
positions itas a re ce ptor ope n to m any dive rse inte ractions. Al
lth re e proje cts re pre se nt ope n syste m s continge nt u pon
e ngage m e nt w ith a w ide r w orl
d for su cce ss. In al
lth re e , u niq u e configu rations
of pe opl
e , ide as, re sou rce s and ou tcom e s
e xist.Th e proce sse s invol
ve d h ave th e pote ntial for m u l
tipl
e ite rations and for
val
u ab l
e contrib u tions at m ore th an one
scal
e.
Th e e stab l
ish m e nt of an organic food
m ark e t se rving stu de nts, th e u se of an
ope n sou rce arch ite ctu ralde sign proce ss
and a m ode lfor first- ye ar stu de nt l
e arning th at conve ys b oth th e l
e arne rs and
th e ir k now l
e dge
w el
l b e yond th e
cl
assroom are inte re sting socialinnovations th atre su l
te d from adaptive co- m anage m e ntstrate gie s. Al
lproje cts m e tsom e
of th e k e y adaptive co- m anage m e nt crite ria. For e xam pl
e , participants in th e
Carl
e ton Farm e rs’ M ark e t de fine d th e issu e s and sh are d re sponsib il
ity for de cisions
and
actions. Th e
social
innovation re su l
te d from k e y factors: a
w il
l
ingne ss to w ork for ch ange , th e col
l
ab oration of a l
arge and dive rse grou p of
stu de nts, and a m u l
ti- m odalapproach to
ge ne rating and sh aring k now l
e dge .
Th e arch ite ctu re proje ct is an e xam pl
e of
socialinnovation across scal
e s. First, in
th e l
arge r conte xt, itis an initiative to col
l
ab orative l
y re - de sign an al
te rnative to
th e W h ite H ou se . Se cond, at th e l
e ve lof
th e individu al
, it is a gradu ate proje ct by
Edw ard Sol
odu k h in w h o e m b race d th is
diffe re ntform of arch ite ctu re re pre se nte d
in th e l
arge r conte xt, and acte d au tonom ou sl
y.
Th e re are al
so k e y diffe re nce s. Th e participants in th e farm e rs’ m ark e t proje ct
w e re fou rth ye ar u nive rsity stu de nts,
w h il
e th e sym posiu m participants w e re
in first ye ar and th u s l
e ss fam il
iar w ith
th e re sou rce s and opportu nitie s offe re d
by th e u nive rsity.
32
Nancy D ou b l
e d ay is an Associate Profe ssor in th e D e partm e nt of Ge ograph y and
Environm e ntal Stu d ie s, Carl
e ton U nive rsity. Sh e h as b e e n active l
y invol
ve d in
social and e nvironm e ntal ju stice , from
l
ocalto inte rnationall
e ve l
s. Sh e h as stu d ie d th e Canad ian Constitu tion, th e tak ing
of w ate r from th e Tay R ive r, Arctic contam inants and Inu it h e al
th , and inte rnational conve ntions
on
e nvironm e ntal
conse rvation, b iol
ogicald ive rsity and e nvironm e ntalprote ction. Cu rre ntl
y sh e is
inve stigating th e inte gration of e col
ogical
social
- cu l
tu ralch ange , as a b asis for transform ative l
ife - l
ong l
e arning, su stainab l
e
l
ive l
ih ood s and re ne w alof ou r re l
ationsh ips to e ach oth e r and to th e Earth . Sh e
h as b e e n invol
ve d w ith Arctic and inte rnationale nvironm e ntalissu e s for m ore th an
25 ye ars. Nancy D ou b l
e d ay w as aw ard e d
a B.Sc. (H onou rs) b y Brock U nive rsity, a
B.Ed . b y th e U nive rsity of Toronto, a L.L.B.
b y O sgood e H al
lLaw Sch ool
, York U nive rsity, an M .E.S. b y York U nive rsity, and
Ph .D . from Q u e e n's U nive rsity. Sh e is a
M e m b e r, Bar of O ntario.
Conse nsu s m ay b e m ore difficu l
t to
ach ie ve in th e m ark e tand sym posiu m e xam pl
e s w h il
e sol
itary individu al
s m ay
h ave fe w e r re sou rce s to draw u pon as in
th e ope n sou rce arch ite ctu re e xam pl
e.
Participants in th e m ark e t and sym posiu m e xam pl
e s w e re draw n m ainl
y from
e nvironm e ntalstu die s, w h il
e th e arch ite ctu re proje ct ow e d its inspiration in
partto com pu te r scie nce .
Concl
u sions
Adaptive co- m anage m e nt is a paradigm
for ne gotiate d, m u l
ti- party m anage m e nt
th at can b e u se d to inspire th e l
e arning
th at l
e ads to socialinnovation. It can e nab l
e innovative l
e arning ou tcom e s in th e
face of ch anging conditions and su pport
a range of l
e arning activitie s. Th e ope rating pre m ise e m b e dde d in th e de sign of
l
e arning activitie s for socialinnovation is
th at ch ange is possib l
e and can b e nu rtu re d in a l
e arning e nvironm e nt.
From th e pe rspe ctive of instru ctors inte re ste d in appl
ying adaptive co- m anage m e nt to l
e arning, th e re is e vide nce th at
th e appl
ication of m inim alru l
e s cou pl
ed
w ith sh are d re sponsib il
ity for de cisionm ak ing and e m ph asis on col
l
ab orative
l
e arning h ave th e pote ntialto nu rtu re socialinnovation in th e form of e ntre pre ne u rsh ip in a w orl
d incre asingl
y affe cte d
by ope n sou rce asse ts and proce sse s.
Adaptive Co- M anage m e nt:
Col
l
ab oration, Le arning, and M u l
tiLe ve lGove rnance
h ttp://w w w .u b cpre ss.ca/se arch /titl
e_
b ook .asp?Book ID =5204
By l
e arning to ope rate across a range of
scal
e s and to sh are k now l
e dge and re sponsib il
ity, participants in an adaptive
co- m anage m e nt fram e w ork col
l
ab orate
to cre ate a com m ons for l
e arning th at in
tu rn h as th e pote ntialto cre ate spinoffs.
Each participant l
e arns to de alw ith u nce rtainty and h as th e opportu nity to acq u ire th e capacity to m e ntor, to l
e ad, and
pe rh aps, to m idw ife th e proce ss of social
innovation. D e ve l
oping adaptive co- m anage m e nt capab il
ity is tim e l
y as a ne w
w orl
d is w aiting to b e b orn.
A Grou p Is Its O w n W orstEne m y
h ttp://w w w .sh irk y.com /w ritings/grou p_
e ne m y.h tm l
Re sil
ie nce for Su stainab l
e D e ve l
opm e nt:
Bu il
ding Adaptive Capacity in a W orl
d of
Transform ations
h ttp://w w w .sou .gov.se /m vb /pdf/
re sil
ie ns.pdf
33
Univers ities and
S o cialInnov
atio n
1. An institu tionalstrate gic pol
icy com m itm e ntto socialinnovation.
"Al
lth at is val
u ab l
e in h u m an socie ty d e pe nd s u pon th e opportu nity for d e ve l
opm e ntaccord e d th e ind ivid u al
."
Al
b e rtEinste in
2. An incl
u sive , institu tional
iz e d proce ss
for m ob il
iz ing al
lfacu l
tie s and discipl
ine s
to advance socialinnovation.
Th is articl
e de scrib e s k e y conditions th at
e nab l
e a su cce ssfu lu nive rsity age nda for
socialinnovation. Inte gralto th is su cce ss
is an ove rarch ing institu tionalcom m itm e nt to th e val
u e of socialinnovation so
th at it pe rvade s th e u nive rsity’s activitie s,
ranging from th e active e ncou rage m e nt
of col
l
ab oration across th e discipl
ine s to
pol
icie s re garding inte l
l
e ctu alprope rty. It
is su gge ste d th at it is im portant th at socialinnovation activitie s transce nd discipl
inary b ou ndarie s and socialse ctors.
Final
l
y, facil
itating ope n acce ss to inform ation and re sou rce s m ay b e fou ndational
to ach ie ving re l
e vant and su stainab l
e
sol
u tions.
3. A rob u st and dive rsifie d approach to
com m u nity e ngage m e nt.
4. A u nive rsity- w ide com m itm e nt to e m pl
oying fre e l
ice nsing and ope n- sou rce
softw are (F/LO SS) val
u e s and strate gie s
to th e re se arch and innovation- transfe r
proce ss.
5. M ob il
iz ation of inte rnaland e xte rnal
re sou rce s to su pportsocialinnovation.
Al
th ou gh th e re u ndou b te dl
y e xistnu m e rou s oth e r factors th at contrib u te to su cce ssfu lsocialinnovation, ou r e xpe rie nce
su gge sts th at th e se e l
e m e nts are re l
e vant
to m ob il
iz ing individu al
s to w ork col
l
ab orative l
y across th e institu tion. Socialinnovation re q u ire s a com m itm e nt to th e
re sol
u tion of socialprob l
e m s, m ost of
w h ich invol
ve a com pl
e x w e b of inte ractions th at pre se nt nu m e rou s points of inte rve ntion. H ow e ve r, th e se inte rve ntions
m igh t al
so h ave u ninte nde d conse q u e nce s;som e good, som e b ad. Th is is
w h e re th e com b ine d e fforts of m u l
tipl
e
discipl
ine s m igh t m ore e ffe ctive l
y introdu ce sol
u tions w ith m anage ab l
e , if not
fore se e ab l
e, l
ong- te rm ou tcom e s. Final
l
y,
al
th ou gh u nive rsitie s typical
l
y ope rate on
a not- for- profit b asis, th e intrinsic m otivation of re se arch e rs com m itte d to social
innovation ne e ds to b e ack now l
e dge d as
val
u ab l
e , and su pporte d in a m anne r th at
e nsu re s th at th e ir com m itm e nt is not
stifl
e d by institu tional proce sse s th at
w ork againstth e m .
Five Conditions to Su cce ssfu lSocial
Innovation
Socialinnovation se e k s to provide su stainab l
e sol
u tions th at b e ne fit its re cipie nts, rath e r th an its cre ators.
U nive rsitie s are rich in re sou rce s th atcan
b e m ob il
iz e d to contrib u te to sol
u tions to
socialprob l
e m s. Re se arch e rs h ave th e e xpe rtise th at provide s th e m w ith : i) th e ore tical fram e w ork s th at gu ide
th e
de ve l
opm e ntofsol
u tions and ide ntify pote ntialpoth ol
e s in th e im pl
e m e ntation
proce ss;and ii) th e te ch nicalsk il
l
s to col
l
e ct and e val
u ate e m piricaldata addre ssing th e viab il
ity of th e innovation and
m e asu re its im pacts. M ore ove r, u nive rsitie s can transm it inform ation across se ctors, th rou gh stu de nt training and
partne rsh ips w ith fu nding age ncie s,
private inve stors, pu b l
ic pol
icy re gu l
ators, and th e com m u nitie s th e m se l
ve s.
As su gge ste d by Jack son (th is issu e ), th e re
are five conditions th at facil
itate a su cce ssfu lsocialinnovation age nda e m anating from a u nive rsity:
Strate gic Pol
icy Com m itm e nt
U nive rsitie s are gove rne d by traditions
su ch as acade m ic fre e dom .
34
Univers ities and
S o cialInnov
atio n
Institu tional
iz e d Proce ss
Th e se traditions e nab l
e discipl
inary
ch e ck s and b al
ance s th at e nsu re th at re se arch e rs conform to norm ative l
ine s of
inq u iry and paradigm atic approach e s.
Th e se norm s are e nforce d th rou gh th e
pe e r re vie w syste m th at is fu ndam e ntal
to pu b l
ication, fu nding su cce ss, and te nu re and prom otion de cisions.
Variou s u nive rsitie s h ave e stab l
ish e d re se arch ce ntre s focu se d on socialinnovation. M ost b u il
d on spe cific discipl
inary
roots, su ch as SocialW ork or Bu sine ss.
At oth e r u nive rsitie s, stand- al
one institu te s or ce ntre s h ave e vol
ve d th at pre su m ab l
y facil
itate col
l
ab oration across
discipl
inary b ou ndarie s, and foste r m ore
com pre h e nsive ou tre ach to th e socialse ctor. H ow e ve r, th e se institu te s th e m se l
ve s
can ru n th e dange r of b e com ing isol
ate d
sil
os u nl
e ss th e ir activitie s are intricate l
y
w ove n into th e fab ric and activitie s of th e
variou s contrib u ting u nits and th e com m u nity th at b e ne fits from th e ir w ork .
Su ch incl
u sive ne ss re q u ire s a com b ination of grassroots e fforts w ith in discipl
ine s com m itte d to socialinnovation and
consciou s ou tre ach initiative s on th e part
of th e socialinnovation l
e ade rs of th e institu tion.
It is w ide l
y re cogniz e d, h ow e ve r, th at th e
discipl
inary pe e r- b ase d re vie w syste m
im pe de s inte rdiscipl
inary re se arch , as
w el
las k now l
e dge transfe r ou tside th e
traditionalrou te s ofpate nts and l
ice nce s.
Conform ing to a discipl
inary m ainstre am
can b e a straigh tjack e t to re alinnovation.
As th e re is gre ate r re cognition th at th e
prob l
e m s facing socie ty today cannot b e
sol
ve d th rou gh re strictive discipl
inary
ch anne l
s, th e re is an incre asing e ffort to
ove rcom e th e se inte l
l
e ctu alb ou ndarie s
and to e ncou rage cross- se ctor partne rsh ips. U nfortu nate l
y, m any of ou r acade m ic jou rnal
s are not onl
y orie nte d to
discipl
inary au die nce s (and are re vie w e d
accordingl
y), b u t are ofte n spe cial
iz e d to
spe cific fie l
ds w ith in a discipl
ine .
Incl
u sive ne ss and ou tre ach initiative s
ne e d to b e b u ttre sse d by institu tional
su pport th at ack now l
e dge s th e strate gic
val
u e of prom oting social innovation
th rou gh th e syne rgistic e fforts of variou s
discipl
inary pe rspe ctive s and e xpe rtise .
Institu tions can do th is by strate gical
l
y
com m itting to th e re sol
u tion of spe cific
socialissu e s, su ch as e nvironm e ntalsu stainab il
ity or socialine q u itie s in a gl
ob al
e conom y. Th e prioritiz ation of su ch
pre ssing and farre ach ing issu e s provide s
a ral
l
ying point to e stab l
ish dial
ogu e
across discipl
ine s, cre ate s a b asis for partne rsh ips b e tw e e n u nive rsitie s and e xte rnal organiz ations, and attracts th e
atte ntion and inte re st of stu de nts w h o
continu e to h ol
d b e fore th e m th e ide alof
ge ne rating socialch ange to cre ate a b e tte r w orl
d.
Granting age ncie s, l
ik e u nive rsitie s, are
pu b l
icl
y accou ntab l
e , and so e fforts are
b e ing m ade to ide ntify opportu nitie s and
proce sse s th at m igh t su pport re se arch
th at b re ak s from discipl
inary traditions.
U nive rsitie s can pl
ay a cru cialrol
e in prom oting su ch a paradigm sh ift by m ak ing
a consciou s com m itm e nt to prom ote innovative activitie s, facil
itate l
ink s w ith
th e com m u nity, e ncou rage inte rdiscipl
inary initiative s, and re w ard re se arch e rs for
e ngaging in activitie s th at transce nd traditionale xpe ctations.
If u nive rsitie s are to tru l
y tak e re sponsib il
ity for contrib u ting to innovative sol
utions to socialprob l
e m s, th e y ne e d to
tak e th e l
e ad in re vising inte rnalproce sse s and re w ard syste m s to prom ote
su ch cu l
tu ralsh ifts w ith in th e acade m ic
sph e re .
35
Univers ities and
S o cialInnov
atio n
Approach to Com m u nity Engage m e nt
Com m itm e ntto O pe n Sou rce
Ju st as social
l
y innovative sol
u tions re fl
e ctth e syne rgie s am ong discipl
inary approach e s to addre ss pre ssing social
issu e s, th e ir su stainab il
ity com e s from
th e inte rnal
iz ation of th e val
u e of social
innovation across contrib u ting se ctors
and u ptak e organiz ations. Th is can h appe n at m any l
e ve l
s. U nive rsitie s are particu l
arl
y w el
l pl
ace d to e nge nde r a
com m itm e nt to socialinnovation in ou r
ne xt ge ne ration by inte grating innovative
th ink ing, a com m itm e nt to th e com m u nity, and e xpe rie ntiall
e arning am ong
th e stu de nt b ody. Th e u nive rsity th at e m b race s socialinnovation as a strate gic priority, th at e nsu re s th at its profe ssoriate
e xpe rie nce s re w ard for e ngaging in social
innovation th rou gh th e ir ow n re se arch
and ou tre ach , and facil
itate s th e capacity
to inte grate su ch e xpe rie nce s for stu de nts in and ou tof th e cl
assroom w il
lfigu re l
arge l
y in contrib u ting to th e
innovative sol
u tions to th e issu e s of
today and tom orrow .
In th e past, u nive rsity innovation h as
b e e n associate d w ith te ch nol
ogy transfe r,
and th e cre ation of pate nts and l
ice nse s
w ith in a cl
ose d syste m . Incre asingl
y, organiz ations are re cogniz ing th e val
u e of
ope n syste m s th at e ncou rage contrib u tions from e xpe rt u se rs and b e ne factors
of ne w te ch nol
ogie s. U nive rsitie s com m itte d to socialinnovation can contrib u te to th is proce ss by e stab l
ish ing an
innovation transfe r proce ss th at prom ote s th e de ve l
opm e nt of ide as at initial
stage s, incl
u ding col
l
ab oration am ong
stu de nts, facu l
ty, and pote ntialindu stry
partne rs. Su pporting innovative ide as,
and foste ring ope n sou rce acce ss and de ve l
opm e nt, re su l
ts in te ch nol
ogy th at
b e stsu its th e e nd u se r, and provide s a rob u stpl
atform for fu rth e r de ve l
opm e nt.
O pe n sou rce softw are (O SS) for e du cation pu rpose s w as ide ntifie d as b e ing of
particu l
ar inte re st to U NESCO for u se in
de ve l
oping cou ntrie s. It is e q u al
l
y re l
e vant to disadvantage d se gm e nts of ou r
ow n socie ty. O SS can b e u se d for providing e du cation (incl
u ding th e de ve l
opm e nt of non- traditional e du cational
tool
s) to disadvantage d grou ps, de m ocratiz ing socialch ange th rou gh citiz e n
jou rnal
ism and social advocacy, and
providing tool
s for e ffe ctive organiz ation
and gove rnance to not- for- profit organiz ations. Th e se e fforts are typical
l
y initiate d
by vol
u nte e r e du cators, stu de nts, and re se arch e rs. Th e y m ay b e financial
l
y
b ack e d by inve stors, incl
u ding innovation transfe r office s, b u t are ofte n ab l
e to
ge ne rate re ve nu e s by providing additionalse rvice s re l
ate d to th e softw are .
M any com m u nity grou ps are intim idate d
by th e ivory tow e r of th e u nive rsity, and
oth e rs sim pl
y vie w th e u nive rsity as disconne cte d from re al
ity. Th e gre ate r th e
u nive rsity’s capacity to cre ate conne ctions w ith l
ocalcom m u nitie s, profit and
not- for- profit organiz ations, and pu b l
ic
institu tions, th e gre ate r its ab il
ity to m ak e
a diffe re nce .
Conne ctions to l
ocalcom m u nitie s can b e
ach ie ve d th rou gh stu de nt pl
ace m e nts,
pu b l
ic tal
k s, carrying ou t joint proje cts to
addre ss socialissu e s, and by pu l
l
ing com m u nity l
e ade rs into u nive rsity de cisionm ak ing proce sse s. Th e ou tre ach e fforts of
th e u nive rsity are l
ik e l
y to b e re ciprocate d w ith ope n com m u nication and dial
ogu e w ith com m u nitie s th at re cogniz e
th e m se l
ve s as e q u alpartne rs and b e ne factors of th is proce ss, w h ich in tu rn e xpands on th e opportu nitie s avail
ab l
e to
stu de nts and re se arch e rs al
ik e .
36
U nive rsitie s h ave th e tal
e nt to de ve l
op
ope n sou rce te ch nol
ogie s. By e stab l
ish ing an approach to inte l
l
e ctu alprope rty
th at facil
itate s ope n innovation, th e y can
m ak e a conside rab l
e contrib u tion to m axim iz ing th e e xte ntto w h ich e ffe ctive sol
utions are de ve l
ope d and distrib u te d.
Univers ities and
S o cialInnov
atio n
M ob il
iz ation ofR e sou rce s
Concl
u sion
Criticalto th e su cce ss of any innovative
sol
u tion is th e pol
iticalw il
lto su pport
ne w approach e s, th e h u m an re sou rce s to
provide th e tim e and com m itm e nt to de ve l
oping and im pl
e m e nting a sol
u tion,
and th e w il
lof th e private and pu b l
ic se ctors to provide th e tangib l
e re sou rce s ne ce ssary to do so. H ow e ve r, th e
su stainab il
ity of social
l
y innovative sol
utions de pe nds on th e ir capacity to re du ce
re sou rce re q u ire m e nts and to de m onstrate coste ffe ctive ne ss to th e pu b l
ic se ctor and profit gains to th e private .
U nive rsitie s h ave a u niq u e rol
e to pl
ay by
providing th e re sou rce s th at re fl
e ct an institu tionalcom m itm e nt to socialinnovation, by facil
itating th e ab il
ity of
re se arch e rs to acq u ire e xte rnalfu nding
for re l
e vant proje cts, by e nab l
ing ou tre ach e fforts and partne rsh ips w ith th e
com m u nity, and by m axim iz ing opportu nitie s for stu de nts to b e e ngage d in th e
proce ss from th e de ve l
opm e nt of th e
ide as to th e im pl
e m e ntation and e val
uation of th e sol
u tions. Th is re pre se nts a
h u ge com m itm e nt of h u m an and financialre sou rce s.
U nive rsitie s ofte n ope rate in a m anne r
th at is re l
ative l
y rigid in proce sse s, stru ctu re s, and re w ard syste m s. U nive rsitie s
h ave to consciou sl
y conside r strate gie s
th at su pport al
te rnative m ode l
s for h ow
discipl
ine s w ork toge th e r, h ow th e y w ork
w ith com m u nitie s, and w h at th e ir re se arch e rs are re w arde d for produ cing. Al
th ou gh th e appe tite of re se arch e rs and
stu de nts for cross- discipl
inary com m u nication to find innovative sol
u tions to
socialprob l
e m s is conside rab l
e , nu m e rou s institu tionaland discipl
inary practice s pre se nt ob stacl
e s to acting on th e se
inte re sts. Em b racing socialinnovation re q u ire s visib l
e su pport at al
ll
e ve l
s of th e
institu tion in orde r to instigate a cu l
tu ral
sh ift su pportive of socialinnovation. Th e
five factors pre se nte d in th is articl
e
provide a fram e w ork for u nive rsitie s to
e val
u ate ope rations, prioritiz e e fforts,
and gu ide a cou rse of action. U nive rsitie s
are rich w ith re sou rce s to contrib u te to
innovative sol
u tions to pre ssing social
prob l
e m s; it is incu m b e nt u pon th e m to
e nsu re th at th e y are a part of th e sol
ution, and notth e prob l
em .
To th e e xte nt th at socialinnovation is intrinsic to th e val
u e s and ob je ctive s of a
u nive rsity, th e re sou rce s to su pport th e
ne ce ssary infrastru ctu re can b e m ob il
iz e d w ith re l
ative e ase . Th e se incl
u de coop office s th at ide ntify appropriate opportu nitie s for pl
ace m e nts, re se arch office s th at pro- active l
y m atch fu nding
opportu nitie s to re se arch initiative s, and
h u m an and financialsu pport for ou tre ach activitie s th at raise aw are ne ss
am ong variou s pote ntial stak e h ol
de rs
and inve stors. Th e com m itm e nt to
providing th e institu tionalsu pport th at
e nab l
e s com m u nity e ngage m e nt w il
line vitab l
y pay off to a u nive rsity as ite stab l
ish e s a re pu tation for su cce ss in th e
dom ains in w h ich it h as strate gical
l
y
com m itte d itse l
fto m ak ing a diffe re nce .
37
Kim M ath e son is Carl
e ton U nive rsity’s cu rre ntVice - Pre sid e nt(Re se arch and Inte rnational
). Sh e joine d th e D e partm e nt of
Psych ol
ogy at Carl
e ton U nive rsity as a
SSH RC Canad a Re se arch Fe l
l
ow , and w as
prom ote d to Fu l
lProfe ssor in 2003. Sh e re ce ive d h e r Ph .D . from th e U nive rsity ofW ate rl
oo and is a Carl
e ton al
u m na. As Ch air
of th e D e partm e nt of Psych ol
ogy from
19 9 7 u ntil 2003, sh e pre sid e d ove r th e
l
arge st acad e m ic u nit at th e U nive rsity.
Sh e is cu rre ntl
y a m e m b e r of th e Board s
for th e Su d b u ry Nu trino O b se rvatory Institu te , th e H igh Pe rform ance Com pu ting
Virtu alLab oratorie s, and th e Inte rne t Se cu rity and Safe ty Ne tw ork . Sh e is on th e
Ad visory Board to th e SocialInte ractions,
Id e ntity, and W e l
l
- b e ing Pane lof th e Canad ian Institu te for Ad vance d Re se arch .
CUE Facto r
If socialinnovations are to m ak e a re al
diffe re nce , Canadian u nive rsitie s m u st
ste p forw ard in a m ajor w ay. Th is articl
e
se ts ou t a dynam ic m ode lfor CU E and
provide s e xam pl
e s ofcre ative l
ocalinitiative s.
"Engage m e nt –in w h ich institu tions and
com m u nitie s form l
asting re l
ationsh ips
th at infl
u e nce , sh ape , and prom ote su cce ss in b oth sph e re s –is rare . M ore fre q u e ntl
y, th e re is e vid e nce of u nil
ate ral
ou tre ach , rath e r th an partne rsh ip b ase d
on m u tu alb e ne fit, m u tu alre spe ct, and
m u tu alaccou ntab il
ity."
W .K.Ke l
l
ogg Fou ndation
h ttp://w w w .w k k f.org/pu b s/
You th Ed/Pu b 665.pdf
SocialInnovation M atte rs
Canada’s ne e d for rob u st, cre ative and re l
e vant socialinnovation isn’t a pu re l
y acade m ic m atte r. Vol
atil
e com m odity price s
in th e l
igh tning- fast gl
ob ale conom y, th e
vapou riz ation of te ns of th ou sands of
m anu factu ring job s, u rb an h om e l
e ssne ss, stagnant ru ral re gions, an aging
w ork force , Ab original pove rty, cl
im ate
ch ange , and pol
l
u tion are onl
y som e of
th e ch al
l
e nge s w e face in ou r cou ntry.
W h il
e th e se ch al
l
e nge s are not u niq u e to
Canada, Canada's l
ow popu l
ation de nsity
adds to th e difficu l
ty in providing e ffe ctive sol
u tions. U nive rsitie s can pl
ay an im portant rol
e w h e n th e y e ngage w ith th e ir
l
ocalcom m u nitie s.
Th e Association of U nive rsitie s and Col
l
e ge s of Canada (h ttp://w w w .au cc.ca) inform s u s th at ou r u nive rsitie s produ ce
one - th ird of th e rou gh l
y $10 b il
l
ion in re se arch and de ve l
opm e nt ge ne rate d in
Canada. O u r postse condary institu tions
h ou se som e of Canada’s m osttal
e nte d inve ntors and anal
ysts as w e l
las som e of
th e b e st l
ab oratorie s and th ink - tank s.
Th e fu l
l val
u e of th is innovation is
ach ie ve d w h e n a u nive rsity is ab l
e to su cce ssfu l
l
y e ngage w ith th e l
ocalge ograph ic com m u nity in w h ich it is b ase d,
incl
u ding spe cific com m u nitie s of inte re stth atre side in th e l
ocal
ity.
W h at e xactl
y is socialinnovation? Th e
J.W . M cConne l
lFam il
y Fou ndation
(h ttp://w w w .m cconne l
l
fou ndation.ca),
Canada’s l
arge st private fou ndation,
de fine s socialinnovation as: “Innovative
approach e s to addre ssing Canada’s social
and e conom ic ch al
l
e nge s –in w ays th at
are re l
ate d and su stainab l
e .” Th e Stanford SocialInnovation Ce nte r
(h ttp://w w w .gsb.stanford.e du /csi/) re fe rs
to it as: “Th e cre ation of socialand e nvironm e ntalval
u e . Ne w ide as th at sol
ve socialprob l
e m s.”
Su ch m e aningfu land continu ou s com m u nity- u nive rsity e ngage m e nt (CU E) at
th e l
ocall
e ve lis a cru cialpre - condition
b e fore a u nive rsity can su cce ssfu l
l
y e xe cu te partne rsh ips w ith ope n sou rce
com m u nitie s, w h ich by th e ir natu re are
dispe rse d across th e gl
ob e , to cre ate socialval
u e . By e ffe ctive l
y e ngaging b oth
th e l
ocaland ope n sou rce com m u nitie s,
Canadian u nive rsitie s can pl
ay a pivotal
rol
e in socialinnovation th at addre sse s
ch al
l
e nge s in ou r ow n cou ntry as w e l
las
ove rse as. Accordingl
y, u nive rsitie s across
Canada sh ou l
d incre ase th e ir CU E factors
by de e pe ning and b roade ning th e ir
te ach ing, re se arch and vol
u nte e ring activitie s w ith th e e xte rnalconstitu e ncie s th at
h ave th e gre ate st ne e d for su stainab l
e
sol
u tions to th e ch al
l
e nge s th e y face
e ve ry day.
M any advocate s of socialinnovation, l
ik e
th e M aR s Ce ntre in Toronto (h ttp://w w w .
m arsdd.com /) and O ntario’s Tal
e nt First
Ne tw ork (TFN, h ttp://w w w .tal
e ntfirstne t
w ork .org), e m ph asiz e th e appl
ication of
ne w te ch nol
ogy, or ne w u se s of e xisting
te ch nol
ogy, to sol
ve socialprob l
e m s.
38
CUE Facto r
•b iote ch nol
ogy innovations for faste rgrow ing u rb an- agricu l
tu re produ ce
O th e rs, su ch as France s W e stl
e y and h e r
col
l
e agu e s at th e U nive rsity of W ate rl
oo
(h ttp://sig.u w ate rl
oo.ca), h igh l
igh tinnovative organiz ationaland pol
icy proce sse s,
practice s, partne rsh ips and re sou rce
fl
ow s. Al
lof th e se e l
e m e nts, of cou rse , are
im portant.
•conve rsion ofsingl
e au tom ob il
e te ch nol
ogie s into m ass- transitcom pone nts
•de sign ofsocial
- finance produ cts and
tool
s to finance th e b e ta- te sting th e n
scal
ing u p socialinnovations
SocialSol
u tions Th rou gh O pe n Sou rce
W h il
e som e ope n sou rce proje cts e xist to
addre ss
th e se
ne e ds,
de ve l
oping
appl
ications for socialinnovation is an
e m e rging softw are fie l
d w h e re th e ne e ds
far ou tw e igh th e avail
ab l
e softw are . Th is
provide s inte re sting opportu nitie s for
u nive rsitie s to e ngage th e ir l
ocalcom m u nity in th e e stab l
ish m e nt and cocre ation ofnich e ope n sou rce proje cts.
Th e l
ist of possib l
e socialinnovations
th at m e e t u rge nt ne e ds se e m s e ndl
e ss.
Som e e xam pl
e s incl
u de :
•softw are to im prove th e accou nting,
fu ndraising, m anage m e ntand on- l
ine
se rvice de l
ive ry ofnon- profits w ork ing
on th e front- l
ine s ofsocialch ange
•te l
e com m u nications innovations for
l
ow - costconne ctivity and col
l
ab oration
in th e socialse ctor and to acce ss m ark e t
data and b u sine ss opportu nitie s for sociale nte rprise s th ate m pl
oy m arginal
iz e d citiz e ns and offe r re asonab l
e - cost
produ cts and se rvice s
•gre e n e ne rgy te ch nol
ogie s, incl
u ding
w ind tu rb ine s, ph otovol
taics and sm al
l
h ydro syste m s
•w ate r and air- pu rification te ch nol
ogie s
•gre e n constru ction de sign and m ate rial
s for affordab l
e h ou sing and socialinfrastru ctu re su ch as h e al
th ce ntre s, se niors facil
itie s, daycare ce ntre s and h ospice s
•l
ow - costprosth e tics and oth e r aids for
pe rsons w ith ph ysicaldisab il
itie s
•m e dicaland h e al
th - care appl
ications of
nano- se nsors
•GPS- drive n l
andm ine cl
e arance te ch nol
ogie s
•b iote ch nol
ogy innovations for faste rgrow ing u rb an- agricu l
tu re produ ce
39
In h is 2008 U nive rsity of Re gina Ph D disse rtation “Th e Rol
e of Fre e Know l
e dge at
U nive rsitie s and its Pote ntialIm pact on
th e Su stainab il
ity of th e Prairie Re gion",
Roge r Pe try fou nd th at a fre e /l
ib re ope n
sou rce softw are (F/LO SS) approach to re se arch on su stainab l
e de ve l
opm e nt is
com patib l
e w ith th e val
u e s and care e r
prioritie s of u nive rsity- b ase d re se arch e rs.
Pe try concl
u de s th at a F/LO SS orie ntation is b e tte r al
igne d w ith th e m otive s of
acade m ic re se arch e rs th an is a pu re l
y
com m e rcialapproach . In ge ne ral
, u nive rsity re se arch e rs te nd to b e com m itte d
to fre e dom of inq u iry, advancing k now l
e dge in th e ir fie l
ds, u sing th e ir re se arch
to contrib u te to positive socialand e nvironm e ntalch ange , and col
l
ab orating w ith
th e ir pe e rs. Th e se findings h ave strate gic
and pol
icy im pl
ications for u nive rsitie s
and gove rnm e nts, b oth of w h ich h ave assu m e d th at th e conve ntionalinte l
l
e ctu al
prope rty righ ts (IPR ) approach is th e corre ctm ode l
. In contrast, th e Pe try stu dy indicate s th at fre e l
ice nsing, ope n sou rce
and copy l
e ft constitu te an al
te rnative in
th e u nive rsity. W h il
e fu rth e r re se arch is
ne e de d, it is cl
e ar th at b oth th e IPR and
F/LO SS m ode l
s provide val
u e in socialinnovation proje cts.
CUE Facto r
4. A u nive rsity- w ide com m itm e nt to e m pl
oying F/LO SS strate gie s to th e re se arch
and th e innovation- transfe r proce ss.
Pre - Conditions for Su cce ssfu lAl
ignm e nt
O u r ongoing w ork at Carl
e ton U nive rsity,
toge th e r w ith e xpe rie nce e l
se w h e re , su gge sts th at th e re are five pre - conditions
for u nive rsitie s to b e ab l
e to al
ign th e ir
capab il
itie s fu l
l
y w ith a socialinnovation
focu s:
5. M ob il
iz ation of significantinte rnaland
e xte rnalre sou rce s for fu nding th e de sign,
te sting and re pl
ication of social
- pu rpose
te ch nol
ogie s, produ cts and se rvice s.
Carl
e ton U nive rsity is w ork ing h ard to
pu t th e se pre - conditions in pl
ace , and is
m ak ing good progre ss. O th e r postse condary institu tions are tak ing or conside ring sim il
ar ste ps.
1. A h igh - l
e ve lstrate gic pol
icy com m itm e nt to socialinnovation by th e institu tion as a w h ol
e.
2. An incl
u sive , institu tional
iz e d proce ss
for m ob il
iz ing facu l
tie s and discipl
ine s,
individu al
l
y and col
l
e ctive l
y, to advance
socialinnovation.
Com m u nity- Unive rsity Engage m e nt
M ode l
As se e n in Figu re 1, CU E can b e vie w e d as
a dynam ic triangl
e w ith th re e inte ractive
sph e re s ofactivity:
3. A rob u st, dive rsifie d, and e ffe ctive l
y coordinate d approach to com m u nity e ngage m e nt th rou gh se riou s l
e arning, fie l
d
practica, co- ope rative pl
ace m e nts, com m u nity- b ase d re se arch , continu ing e du cation and vol
u nte e ring.
1. com m u nity- b ase d e xpe rie ntiall
e arning
2. com m u nity- b ase d re se arch
3. com m u nity- b ase d continu ing e du cation
Figu re 1: Th e D ynam ic Triangl
e ofCU E
40
CUE Facto r
Inside th e triangl
e are oth e r e l
e m e nts,
su ch as vol
u nte e rism , acce ss to facil
itie s
and capitalm ob il
iz ation. Th e gre ate r th e
dynam ism and de pth of e ngage m e nt
w ith in and am ong th e sph e re s, th e m ore
su b stantial and e ffe ctive is th e CU E
factor.
Expe rie ntial l
e arning re fe rs to a w ide
range of practice s. Com m u nity- b ase d se rvice l
e arning (CSL) in u nde rgradu ate and
gradu ate program s is grow ing across th e
cou ntry, prope l
l
e d by com pe tition for stu de nts and th e u se of e ngage m e nt m e th ods to b ol
ste r stu de nt re te ntion and
su cce ss. Th e Canadian Al
l
iance for Com m u nity Se rvice Le arning (h ttp://w w w .
com m u nityse rvice l
e arning.ca)
stre sse s
th e im portance of ach ie ving m u tu alou tcom e s th rou gh CSLth atb e ne fitb oth e du cationaland com m u nity organiz ations.
Incl
u de d in th e u m b re l
l
a conce pt of
e xpe rie ntial l
e arning are fie l
d- b ase d
practicu m s, ofte n ru n by profe ssional
sch ool
s, paid co- ope rative pl
ace m e nts in
com m u nity- b ase d and pu b l
ic age ncie s,
and non- cre dit co- cu rricu l
ar activitie s
su ch as stu dy tou rs, confe re nce s and
l
ocalproje cts. Th is w ide range of form s
and m odal
itie s of e xpe rie ntiall
e arning
ob l
ige s u nive rsitie s to find ne w and
b e tte r w ays of coordinating w ith a
dive rse se t of e xte rnal com m u nity
partne rs in l
ocalage ncie s and indu stry.
In th e sph e re of com m u nity- b ase d
re se arch (CBR ), a w ide range of form s of
activity e xist. W ork ing w ith individu al
facu l
ty m e m b e rs, or u nde r th e au spice s
of u nive rsity- b ase d re se arch ce ntre s,
stu de nts carry ou t q u al
itative and
q u antitative data col
l
e ction and anal
ysis
on issu e s of conce rn to com m u nity
organiz ations,
gove rnm e nts
and
com panie s. Som e tim e s stu de nts and
facu l
ty m e m b e rs are part of inte grate d
re se arch te am s th at incl
u de com m u nity
m e m b e rs
and
non- acade m ic
profe ssional
s.
41
A ne w Pan- Canadian Coal
ition on Com m u nity- Base d Re se arch (h ttp://cu e xpo
2008.w ordpre ss.com /2008/05/09 /l
au nch ofth e - pan- canadian- coal
ition- on- com
m u nity- b ase d- re se arch /) l
e d by Victoria,
Q u e b e c- at- M ontre al and Carl
e ton u nive rsitie s h as b e e n se t u p to advance fu rth e r th e th e ory, practice and im pact of
CBR . Su ch action- orie nte d re se arch m ay
al
so b e u nde rtak e n in m u l
tipl
e site s
across a city, su ch as Carl
e ton’s e m e rging
w ork w ith th e U nive rsity of O ttaw a on th e
City of O ttaw a’s No Com m u nity Le ft Be h ind (h ttp://w w w .nocom m u nityl
e ftb e
h ind.ca/m ain_e .h tm ) strate gy, aim e d at
re du cing crim e and im proving se rvice s
and l
ive l
ih oods on a ne igh b ou rh ood- byne igh b ou rh ood b asis. O th e r l
ocal e xam pl
e s ofCBR incl
u de :
1. Carl
e ton U nive rsity’s Innovation Transfe r O ffice w ork ing w ith Vol
u nte e r O ttaw a
(h ttp://w w w .vol
u nte e rottaw a.ca/), a l
ocal grou p of non- profits, is appl
ying
F/LO SS innovations to cre ate l
ow - cost
te l
e com m u nications sol
u tions to re du ce
th e l
ong- distance ph one b il
l
s of th e se
h igh l
y conne cte d organiz ations.
2. Carl
e ton U nive rsity’s Innovation Transfe r O ffice , th e Com m u nity Fou ndation of
O ttaw a (h ttp://w w w .com m u nityfou nda
tionottaw a.ca/), Vol
u nte e r O ttaw a, and
th e Ce ntre for Vol
u ntary Se ctor Re se arch
and D e ve l
opm e nt(CVSR D , h ttp://w w w .
cvsrd.org) col
l
ab orate to ru n th e annu al
SocialInnovation Ch al
l
e nge (h ttp://w w w .
carl
e ton.ca/sic/) th at se e k s th e b e st stu de ntide as to h e l
p ch aritie s addre ss social
and e nvironm e ntal ne e ds. Proposal
s
com e from individu al
s and te am s in al
l
facu l
tie s and discipl
ine s, and th e top
ide as re ce ive advice and se e d m one y for
b e ta te sting and im pl
e m e ntation.
Th e th ird sph e re in th e triangl
e , b u il
ding
com m u nity- b ase d continu ing e du cation
program s on th e b asis of social
- se ctor
ne e ds, is anoth e r im portanttask .
CUE Facto r
Th is pastsu m m e r, Bl
ack Affinity
(h ttp://pam oram a.carl
e ton.ca/2008- 01/
102.h tm ) ran a pil
otm u sic and re cre ation
program on cam pu s for l
ow - incom e ch il
dre n age s 10- 14. Cal
l
e d R ise and Fl
ow , th e
cam p attracte d 30 participants, m ost
from th e Ru sse l
lH e igh ts ne igh b ou rh ood
of O ttaw a, an are a th at face s m any social
ch al
l
e nge s. A l
ocalcom m u nity organiz ation is now tal
k ing w ith Bl
ack Affinity
ab ou t offe ring a ve rsion of R ise and Fl
ow
as an afte r- sch oolprogram in th e com m u nity.
Th e Carl
e ton Ce ntre for Com m u nity Innovation (h ttp://w w w .carl
e ton.ca/ccci/)
organiz e d a sym posiu m on program - re l
ate d inve stm e nts th rou gh e q u ity inve stm e nts, l
oans and grants in th ird- se ctor
proje cts for l
e ade rs in th e fou ndation, finance , pol
icy and re se arch com m u nitie s.
Anoth e r e xam pl
e il
l
u strate s th e pote ntial
for conve rting continu ing e du cation into
a de gre e - program stre am th at is inh e re ntl
y e ngage d w ith th e com m u nity. For
m any ye ars, th e CVSR D h as u nde rtak e n
jointaction- re se arch , pol
icy anal
ysis, ne tw ork ing and coach ing w ith th e vol
u ntary
se ctor in O ttaw a and across Canada.
Th rou gh an array of m e e tings, sym posia,
ne tw ork s and proje cts, th e Ce ntre offe re d
tool
s and inform ation th at inform al
l
y
e du cate d l
e ade rs and m anage rs in th e
se ctor. Tw o ye ars ago, CVSR D joine d
force s w ith Carl
e ton’s Sch oolof Pu b l
ic
Pol
icy and Adm inistration to offe r a ne w ,
gradu ate - l
e ve lcou rse on non- profit gove rnance and m anage m e nt. It h as b e e n
ove r- su b scrib e d, draw ing stu de nts from
th e se ctor as w e l
las th e u nive rsity’s fu l
l
tim e stu de ntb ody.
Rob u st vol
u nte e rism is e vide nt at th e
h igh e st l
e ve lof m ost Canadian u nive rsitie s. Th e Boards of Gove rnors of ou r postse condary institu tions are popu l
ate d by
accom pl
ish e d l
e ade rs from th e b u sine ss,
gove rnm e nt and non- profit se ctors— al
l
se rving on a vol
u ntary b asis. Com m u nity
vol
u nte e rs, th e re fore , pl
ay k e y rol
e s in
th e gove rnance ofou r u nive rsitie s.
R e w ards and Ince ntive s: to prom ote
CU E in th e m ost com pre h e nsive m anne r
possib l
e , u nive rsitie s m u st al
ign th e ir re w ards and ince ntive s w ith th is ob je ctive .
Te nu re and prom otion pol
icie s m u st re cogniz e th e val
u e of com m u nity- e ngage d
sch ol
arsh ip (h ttp://de pts.w ash ington.e du
/ccph /sch ol
arsh ip.h tm l
), e ith e r th rou gh
se parate prom otion track s for com m u nity- orie nte d facu l
ty or th rou gh a
m ore th orou gh inte gration of crite ria th at
val
u e CU E in te ach ing and re se arch into
th e u nive rsity’s ove ral
lpol
icie s and practice s. A te am at Carl
e ton U nive rsity from
SocialW ork , Pol
iticalScie nce and Pu b l
ic
Pol
icy anim ate d a discu ssion on th is topic at th e 2008 Com m u nity- U nive rsity Exposition (h ttp://w w w .cu e xpo08.ca/). Th e
Cam pu s- Com m u nity Partne rsh ips for
H e al
th ne tw ork in th e U nite d State s h as
produ ce d a tool
k it(h ttp://de pts.w ash ing
ton.e du /ccph /tool
k it.h tm l
) to assistcom m u nity- e ngage d sch ol
ars in m ak ing th e ir
case for prom otion.
O th e r El
e m e nts
Th e re are se ve raloth e r e l
e m e nts inside
th e CU E triangl
e . W e offe r se ve ralil
l
u strative e xam pl
e s for th e se e l
e m e nts.
Vol
u nte e rism : facu l
ty m e m b e rs, u nive rsity staff and stu de nt associations are
ofte n active as vol
u nte e rs and in raising
fu nds to m e e t socialand e nvironm e ntal
ne e ds. At m any u nive rsitie s, th e annu al
U nite d W ay cam paign m ob il
iz e s a l
arge
se gm e nt of th e u nive rsity com m u nity.
Stu de nt grou ps l
ik e Engine e rs W ith ou t
Borde rs
(h ttp://w w w .e w b.ca/)
raise
fu nds and se nd vol
u nte e rs for ove rse as
com m u nity proje cts to im prove w ate r
su ppl
ie s and oth e r infrastru ctu re . U nive rsitie s can al
so offe r th e com m u nity acce ss to facil
itie s.
42
CUE Facto r
R e sou rce M ob il
iz ation: priority sh ou l
d
b e pl
ace d on m ob il
iz ing u nive rsity fu nds
for e xpe rie ntiall
e arning and com m u nityb ase d re se arch in th e fie l
d of socialinnovation. Sm al
lch al
l
e nge grants or l
oans can
b e pow e rfu lcatal
ysts. Large capitalpool
s
m anage d by th e institu tion sh ou l
d al
so
b e tappe d to advance social
- pu rpose proje cts. U nive rsity e ndow m e nts and pe nsion fu nds can u til
iz e program - re l
ate d
inve stm e nts across a nu m b e r of asse t
cl
asse s incl
u ding: cl
e an te ch nol
ogy,
gre e n e ne rgy, l
ow - cost h e al
th - care , m asstransit, gre e n constru ction, affordab l
e
h ou sing and re ale state proje cts for day
care , se niors’ care and h ospice s. Su ch
capitalm ob il
iz ation re q u ire s e du cation
of u nive rsity e xe cu tive s, b oards of gove rnors and tru ste e s. Th e re are re sou rce m ob il
iz ation ch al
l
e nge s and opportu nitie s in th e com m u nity. M ost non- profits
are ch ronical
l
y u nde r- fu nde d. Edu cation
and re se arch b u dge ts sh ou l
d b u il
d in
re asonab l
e h onoraria for com m u nity- organiz ation staff tim e and e xpe nse s de vote d to pl
anning, m onitoring and
su pe rvision. W h e re possib l
e , u nive rsitie s
sh ou l
d e stab l
ish sh are d de cision- m ak ing
m ode l
s w ith com m u nity organiz ations
ove r th e strate gy, pol
icy and b u dge ting of
jointe du cation and re se arch initiative s.
Co- ordination: a u nive rsity’s CU E factor
can onl
y b e m axim iz e d w h e n th e re are
appropriate and e ffe ctive m e ch anism s to
coordinate CU E at al
ll
e ve l
s. In th e U S, a
nu m b e r of u nive rsitie s h ave cre ate d
ce ntre s th at b ring toge th e r stu de nt- affairs staff and se rvice s w ith acade m ic
staff and program s. O fte n su ch ce ntre s
train and su pport facu l
ty, and l
iaise w ith
stu de nts and com m u nity organiz ations,
in th e de l
ive ry ofl
arge - scal
e se rvice l
e arning invol
ving b oth u nde rgradu ate s and
gradu ate s. Som e tim e s th e se ce ntre s
provide sch ol
arsh ips for l
ow - incom e stu de nts, fe l
l
ow sh ips for com m u nity activists, start- u p grants for CBR initiative s, as
w el
las trave land se cu rity su pportfor stu de nts.
43
In Canada, a varie ty of coordination m odel
s h ave e m e rge d at individu alu nive rsitie s. St. Francis Xavie r U nive rsity ru ns a
l
arge - scal
e se rvice l
e arning program for
u nde rgradu ate s. Tre nt U nive rsity ope rate s a ce ntre th at is dire cte d by a com m u nity b oard and e ngage s in b oth
e du cation and re se arch in tw o m u nicipal
re gions su rrou nding th e cam pu s. Th e
U nive rsity of Victoria h as se t u p a u nive rsity- w ide O ffice for Com m u nity- Base d
Re se arch
(h ttp://w w w .u vic.ca/ocb r/),
w h ose advisory b oard is l
e d by a m ajority
of com m u nity re pre se ntative s. In th e past
ye ar, th e sam e u nive rsity h as institu te d a
se nior- l
e ve l com m itte e of D e ans and
Vice - Pre side nts to coordinate th e e fforts
of th e u nive rsity in civic e ngage m e nt. At
Carl
e ton, w e are de ve l
oping a coordination m ode lb ase d on th e rich e xpe rie nce s
of nu m e rou s re se arch ce ntre s and institu te s w ith active , and som e tim e s l
ongstanding, com m u nity partne rsh ips. W e
al
so b e ne fit from th e w ork of th e Com m u nity- Base d Re se arch Ne tw ork of O ttaw a (h ttp://w w w .spcottaw a.on.ca/CBR
NO _w e b site /h om e _cb rno.h tm ), a joint
cre ation of facu l
ty and social
- se rvice
age ncy l
e ade rs. At th e u nive rsity- w ide
l
e ve l
, ou r Vice - Pre side nt (VP) Re se arch
h as catal
yz e d a nu m b e r of cross- facu l
ty
proce sse s, incl
u ding an initiative on Environm e nt and H e al
th . Both th e VP Re se arch and th e Provost h ave su pporte d a
pan- u nive rsity com m itte e , th e Initiative
for Com m u nity- U nive rsity Engage m e nt
(ICU E), w h ich is docu m e nting Carl
e ton’s
contrib u tions to its su rrou nding com m u nity and re com m e nding w ays of e xpanding and stre ngth e ning ou r CU E
factor. Final
l
y, th e VP Re se arch ch airs th e
Carl
e ton SocialInnovation Advisory Com m itte e , com prising com m u nity and u nive rsity l
e ade rs active in variou s form s of
socialinnovation, w ith ope n sou rce a
ce ntralconce pt in th e com m itte e ’s de l
ib e rations. Bu il
ding on al
lth e se com pone nts, an ove ral
lcoordination stru ctu re for
CU E for socialinnovation sh ou l
d e m e rge
atCarl
e ton in th e ne xttw o ye ars.
Upco m ing Events
Concl
u sion
O ctob e r 1- 2
Th e CU E factor is cru cialto th e grow th
and im pact of social innovation in
Canada, and to ou r contrib u tions in th is
fie l
d inte rnational
l
y. Th rou gh e ffe ctive
partne rsh ips w ith citiz e ns and organiz ations se e k ing to addre ss com pl
e x and u rge nt social ch al
l
e nge s,
Canadian
u nive rsitie s can cre ate socialand e nvironm e ntalval
u e and sol
ve socialprob l
em s
in a cost- e ffe ctive and su stainab l
e w ay. In
orde r to do so, u nive rsitie s m u st com m it
to fu l
l
y al
igning th e ir capacitie s w ith th e
socialinnovation age nda.
PST2008
Ed w ard Jack son is Associate D e an (Re se arch and Grad u ate Affairs) in th e Facul
ty of Pu b l
ic Affairs at Carl
e ton
U nive rsity in O ttaw a, w h e re h e te ach e s
pu b l
ic pol
icy and inte rnationalaffairs. H e
ch airs Carl
e ton’s Initiative for Com m u nity- U nive rsity Engage m e nt, and is a
m e m b e r of th e Carl
e ton SocialInnovation
Ad visory Com m itte e . H e is al
so a m e m b e r
of th e ste e ring com m itte e s of th e Cau se w ay Initiative on SocialFinance , th e Canad ian Al
l
iance for Com m u nity- Se rvice
Le arning and th e Pan- Canad ian Coal
ition for Com m u nity- Base d Re se arch .
h ttp://w w w .u nb.ca/pstne t/pst2008/
Fre de ricton, NB
Th e annu alPrivacy, Se cu rity and Tru stre se arch confe re nce is u niq u e in its b road
approach incl
u ding e xam ining th e issu e s
from b oth th e re se arch and practice pe rspe ctive s, e ncou raging m u l
tidiscipl
inary
re se arch , and foste ring col
l
ab oration
b e tw e e n acade m e , th e private se ctor and
gove rnm e nt.Th e th e m e for PST2008 is
“privacy, se cu rity and tru st- e nab l
ing innovation”.
O ctob e r 1- 4
Acce ss 2008!
H am il
ton, O N
Acce ss is Canada’s pre m ie r l
ib rary te ch nol
ogy confe re nce th atfocu se s on issu e s
re l
ating to te ch nol
ogy pl
anning, de ve l
opm e nt, ch al
l
e nge s and sol
u tions. H ack fe st
is a day l
ong e ve nt, tak ing pl
ace prior to
th e re gu l
ar confe re nce program on W e dne sday, O ctob e r 1st, 2008 atH am il
ton
Pu b l
ic Lib rary.
Cre ating a Su pportive Environm e ntfor
Com m u nity- U nive rsity Engage m e nt
h ttp://tinyu rl
.com /4xre k g
h ttp://acce ss2008.b l
og.l
ib.m cm aste r.ca
Acce l
e rating ou r Im pact: Ph il
anth ropy,
Innovation and SocialCh ange
h ttp://tinyu rl
.com /4tjh h r
Carl
e ton U nive rsity SocialInnovation
Initiative
h ttp://tinyu rl
.com /4gnk jv
Tide s Canada
h ttp://w w w .tide scanada.org
44
upco m ing events
O ctob e r 7- 8
O ctob e r 21- 23
Se cTor
Corporate W e b 2.0 & SocialM e dia
Toronto, O N
Toronto, O N
Se cTor b rings th e w orl
d's b righ te st (and
dark e st) m inds toge th e r to ide ntify, discu ss, disse ct and de b ate th e l
ate st digital
th re ats facing corporations today. U niq u e
to ce ntralCanada, Se cTor provide s an u nm atch e d opportu nity for IT Profe ssional
s
to col
l
ab orate w ith th e ir pe e rs and l
e arn
from th e ir m e ntors.
Le arn th e l
ate st te ch nol
ogy and com m u nication strate gie s and h ow th e y can
drive pe rform ance and im prove you r b ottom l
ine . Confe re nce topics incl
u de h ow
to drive b u sine ss by b u il
ding socialcom m u nitie s and h ow to de sign and im pl
em e nt w ik is to e nab l
e e m pl
oye e sh aring
and e nh ance de partm e ntfu nctional
ity.
h ttp://w w w .se ctor.ca/de fau l
t.h tm
h ttp://w w w .infone x.ca/843/
ove rvie w .sh tm l
O ctob e r 7- 9
O ctob e r 23- 24
O ttaw a Ve ntu re & Te ch nol
ogy Su m m it
FSO SS 08
O ttaw a, O N
Toronto, O N
As th e re gion's pre m ie r risk capitale ve nt,
it provide s an opportu nity for se l
e cte d
com panie s to pre se nt dire ctl
y to a l
arge
au die nce of l
ocaland fore ign inve stors.
Th is ye ar participation is ope n to b oth
e arl
y and m id- stage com panie s.
h ttp://w w w .ottaw avts.com /2008/
O pe n sou rce , ope n conte nt, and ope n
form ats are ch anging th e w ay w e w ork ,
pl
ay, and l
e arn. From softw are to th e w e b
to te l
e vision and th e m e dia, th e ope n
sou rce m ove m e nt is spre ading. Com e se e
and h e ar th e fu tu re in pe rson from som e
of th e m ost im portant th ink e rs in ope n
te ch nol
ogie s.
O ctob e r 9 - 10
h ttp://fsoss.se ne cac.on.ca/2008/
CLLAP 2008
Qu e b e c City, QC
O ctob e r 25
Th e confe re nce on fre e softw are and pu b l
ic adm inistrations offe rs th e opportu nity
to to m e e t adm inistrators w h o h ave
al
re ady adopte d ope n sou rce , to ob tain
answ e rs to you r q u e stions, and to discove r convincing e xpe rim e nts w h ich h ave
tak e n pl
ace in Q u e b e c, th e re m ainde r of
Canada or ab road.
O ntario Linu x Fe st
h ttp://w w w .cl
l
ap.q c.ca/cl
l
ap- 2008/
accu e il
/
h ttp://onl
inu x.ca/
Toronto, O N
Final
l
y a grass roots confe re nce for Linu x
and O pe n Sou rce righ t h e re in O ntario.
Th e O ntario Linu x Fe st is a confe re nce
for al
lth ings Linu x and O pe n Sou rce .
45
upco m ing events
O ctob e r 27- 31
Nove m b e r 3- D e ce m b e r 8
ACM Inte rnationalConfe re nce on M u l
tim e dia
Ecl
ipse Training
O ttaw a, O N
Vancou ve r, BC
Th e Ecl
ipse Fou ndation, in partne rsh ip
w ith Ecl
ipse m e m b e rs, is offe ring a se rie s
of training cl
asse s. Th is is you r opportu nity to l
e arn Ecl
ipse te ch niq u e s, tips and
trick s from e xpe rts. Th e instru ctor- l
ed
training cou rse s w il
lfe atu re cl
asse s on
Ecl
ipse Basic RCP, Ecl
ipse Advance d RCP,
Eq u inox O SGi and Ecl
ipse M ode l
ing.
Cou rse s are avail
ab l
e at citie s across th e
gl
ob e , w ith te am m e m b e rs from O ttaw a's
Code 9 (h ttp://code 9 .com ) pre se nting in
O ttaw a, Au stin and Portl
and.
ACM M u l
tim e dia 2008 cove rs al
laspe cts
of m u l
tim e dia com pu ting: from u nde rl
ying te ch nol
ogie s to appl
ications, th e ory
to practice , and se rve rs to ne tw ork s to
de vice s. Th e te ch nicalprogram w il
lconsistof pl
e nary se ssions and tal
k s w ith topics of inte re st in:(a) M u l
tim e dia conte nt
anal
ysis, proce ssing, and re trie val
; (b )
Mul
tim e dia ne tw ork ing and syste m s su pport; (c) M u l
tim e dia tool
s, e nd- syste m s,
and appl
ications; and (d) H u m ance nte re d m u l
tim e dia.
h ttp://w w w .e cl
ipse .org/com m u nity/
training/2008fal
l
.ph p
h ttp://w w w .m crl
ab.u ottaw a.ca/
acm m m 2008/
advertis ers
De l
ive ring fl
e xibl
e , re us abl
e s oftw are in a tim e l
y fas h ion is incre as ingl
y
ch al
l
e nging. Bus ine s s agil
ity de m ands s oftw are agil
ity. Code 9 and its
com m itm e nt to h igh l
y com pone ntiz e d s oftw are s ys te m s th rough th e
us e of Ecl
ips e , Eq uinox and O SGi h e l
p you tam e th e s e ch al
l
e nge s .
Th e Code 9 te am l
e ads th e proje cts and w rote th e book s on th e s e k e y
Ecl
ips e te ch nol
ogie s . Vis it us at h ttp://code 9 .com and de l
ive r s oftw are
agil
ity in your organiz ation.
Le arn m ore about Ecl
ips e RCP and Eq uinox O SGi by atte nding a
training s e s s ion th is fal
l
:
h ttp://e cl
ips e .org/com m unity/training/2008fal
l
.ph p
46
New s bytes
O pe n Sou rce BI in Canada Ce l
e b rate s its
1stBirth day
O pe n Sou rce ToolD e ve l
ope d by Carl
e ton Unive rsity Inte rns W ins Linu xW orl
d Produ ctExce l
l
e nce Aw ard
Au gu st8,Toronto, O N
Se pte m b e r 1, O ttaw a, O N
It's b e e n one ye ar since SQ LPow e r Grou p
ope n sou rce d its Bu sine ss Inte l
l
ige nce
tool
s, and th e com pany is al
re ady poise d
to b e a w orl
d- w ide l
e ade r in th e fie l
d. In
Ju l
y of 2007, SQ LPow e r ju m pe d into th e
O pe n Sou rce fray and pu b l
ish e d th e
sou rce code of th e ir ve ry popu l
ar D ata
M ode l
ing and D ata Profil
ing tool
, th e
Pow e r*Arch ite ct, m ak ing th e m first- tom ark e t w ith a cross- pl
atform , O pe n
Sou rce data m ode l
ing tooland th e first
Canadian O pe n Sou rce BI com pany. Since
th e n, ove r 100,000 u se rs from arou nd th e
gl
ob e h ave dow nl
oade d th is w ide l
y u se d
D ata M ode l
ing tool
.
O ntario's Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork (TFN) and
Carl
e ton U nive rsity are pl
e ase d to annou nce th at Ingre s CAFE (Consol
idate d
Appl
ication Fou ndation for Ecl
ipse ) w on
th is ye ar's Linu xW orl
d Produ ct Exce l
l
e nce Aw ard in th e Be st Appl
ication D e ve l
opm e nt Toolcate gory. Linu xW orl
d is
one of th e m ost com pre h e nsive m ark e tpl
ace s for ope n sou rce produ cts and se rvice s in th e w orl
d. Carl
e ton U nive rsity
stu de nts de ve l
ope d th e aw ard w inning
produ ct w h il
e w ork ing as inte rns for th e
Ingre s Corporation in O ttaw a.
h ttp://w w w .sprott.carl
e ton.ca/ne w s/
2008/l
inu x.h tm l
h ttp://w w w .sq l
pow e r.ca/page /
ne w s- os- 1ye ar
FACILConte sts Gove rnm e nt Practice s in
th e Su pe rior Cou rt
Au gu st28, M ontre al
, QC
FACIL, a non- profitassociation w h ich prom ote s th e col
l
e ctive appropriation of Fre e
Softw are , conte sts th e Q u e b e c gove rnm e nt pu rch asing m e th ods for softw are
u se d w ith in pu b l
ic adm inistrations. FACIL
h as fil
e d a m otion b e fore th e Q u e b e c Su pe rior Cou rt in orde r to b ring an e nd to
m e th ods w h ich th e association b e l
ie ve s
are not th e b e st inte re st of th e Q u e b e c
gove rnm e nt, b u t m ore im portantl
y, not in
accordance w ith th e re gu l
ation for su ppl
y
contracts, constru ction contracts and se rvice contracts of gove rnm e nt de partm e nts and pu b l
ic b odie s.
h ttp://facil
.q c.ca/e n/m e dia/20080828facil
- conte sts- th e - q u e b e c- gove rnm e ntpu rch asing- m e th ods- for- softw are
47
Co ntribute
Th e goalof th e O pe n Sou rce Bu sine ss Re sou rce is to provide q u al
ity and insigh tfu l
conte nt re garding th e issu e s re l
e vant to
th e de ve l
opm e nt and com m e rcial
iz ation
of ope n sou rce asse ts.W e b e l
ie ve th e b e st
w ay to ach ie ve th is goalis th rou gh th e
contrib u tions and fe e db ack from e xpe rts
w ith in th e b u sine ss and ope n sou rce
com m u nitie s.
If you r answ e r is "ye s" to any of th e se
q u e stions, you r topic is prob ab l
y of inte re stto O SBR re ade rs.
O SBR re ade rs are l
ook ing for practical
ide as th e y can appl
y w ith in th e ir ow n organiz ations. Th e y al
so appre ciate a th orou gh e xpl
oration of th e issu e s and
e m e rging tre nds su rrou nding th e b u sine ss of ope n sou rce . If you are conside ring contrib u ting an articl
e , startby ask ing
you rse l
f:
2. Know you r ce ntralth e m e and stick to it.
1.D oe s m y re se arch or e xpe rie nce
provide any ne w insigh ts or pe rspe ctive s?
Th e se gu ide l
ine s sh ou l
d assistin th e proce ss of transl
ating you r e xpe rtise into a
focu se d articl
e w h ich adds to th e k now l
e dgab l
e re sou rce s avail
ab l
e th rou gh th e
O SBR .
W h e n w riting you r articl
e , k e e p th e fol
l
ow ing points in m ind:
1.Th orou gh l
y e xam ine th e topic;don't
l
e ave th e re ade r w ish ing for m ore .
3. D e m onstrate you r de pth ofu nde rstanding for th e topic, and th atyou
h ave conside re d its b e ne fits, possib l
e
ou tcom e s, and appl
icab il
ity.
4.W rite in th ird- pe rson form alstyl
e.
2.D o I ofte n find m yse l
fh aving to
e xpl
ain th is topic w h e n I m e e tpe opl
e
as th e y are u naw are ofits re l
e vance ?
3.D o I b e l
ie ve th atI cou l
d h ave save d
m yse l
ftim e , m one y, and fru stration if
som e one h ad e xpl
aine d to m e th e
issu e s su rrou nding th is topic?
U pcom ing EditorialTh e m e s
4.Am I constantl
y corre cting m isconce ptions re garding th is topic?
5.Am I conside re d to b e an e xpe rtin th is
fie l
d?For e xam pl
e , do I pre se ntm y
re se arch or e xpe rie nce atconfe re nce s?
48
O ctob e r 2008
Bu il
ding Com m u nity
Nove m b e r 2008
H e al
th and Life Scie nce s
D e ce m b e r 2008
Enab l
ing Innovation
Janu ary 2009
Ente rprise Participation
Fe b ru ary 2009 :
Com m e rcial
isation
M arch 2009 :
Ge ospatial
April2009 :
O pe n APIs
Co ntribute
Form atting Gu ide l
ine s:
Al
lcontrib u tions are to b e su b m itte d in
.txtor .rtf form atand m atch th e fol
l
ow ing
l
e ngth gu ide l
ine s. Form atting sh ou l
d be
l
im ite d to b ol
de d and ital
iciz e d te xt.
Form atting is optionaland m ay b e e dite d
to m atch th e re st of th e pu b l
ication. Incl
u de you r e m ailaddre ss and daytim e
ph one nu m b e r sh ou l
d th e e ditor ne e d to
contact you re garding you r su b m ission.
Indicate if you r su b m ission h as b e e n pre viou sl
y pu b l
ish e d e l
se w h e re .
Copyrigh t:
You re tain copyrigh t to you r w ork and
grant th e Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork pe rm ission to pu b l
ish you r su b m ission u nde r a
Cre ative Com m ons l
ice nse . Th e Tal
e nt
First Ne tw ork ow ns th e copyrigh t to th e
col
l
e ction of w ork s com prising e ach e dition of th e O SBR . Al
l conte nt on th e
O SBR and Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork w e b site s
is u nde r th e Cre ative Com m ons
attrib u tion (h ttp://cre ative com m ons.org/
l
ice nse s/by/3.0/) l
ice nse w h ich al
l
ow s for
com m e rcialand non- com m e rcialre distrib u tion as w e l
las m odifications of th e
w ork as l
ong as th e copyrigh th ol
de r is attrib u te d.
Articl
e s: D o not su b m it articl
e s sh orte r
th an 1500 w ords or l
onge r th an 3000
w ords. If th is is you r firstarticl
e , incl
u de a
50- 75 w ord b iograph y introdu cing you rse l
f. Articl
e s sh ou l
d b e gin w ith a th ou gh tprovok ing q u otation th at m atch e s th e
spirit of th e articl
e . Re se arch th e sou rce
of you r q u otation in orde r to provide
prope r attrib u tion.
Inte rvie w s: Inte rvie w s te nd to b e
b e tw e e n 1- 2 page s l
ong or 500- 1000
w ords. Incl
u de a 50- 75 w ord b iograph y
for b oth th e inte rvie w e r and e ach of th e
inte rvie w e e (s).
Ne w sbyte s: Ne w sbyte s sh ou l
d b e sh ort
and pith y- - providing e nou gh inform ation to gain th e re ade r's inte re stas w e l
las
a re fe re nce to additional inform ation
su ch as a pre ss re l
e ase or w e b site . 100300 w ords is u su al
l
y su fficie nt.
Th e O SBR is se arch ing for th e righ t
sponsors. W e offe r a targe te d re ade rsh ip
and h ard- to- ge t conte nt th at is re l
e vant
to com panie s, ope n sou rce fou ndations
and e du cational institu tions. You can
b e com e a gol
d sponsor (one ye ar
su pport) or a th e m e sponsor (one issu e
su pport). You can al
so pl
ace 1/4, 1/2 or
fu l
lpage ads.
Eve nts: Eve nts sh ou l
d incl
u de th e date ,
l
ocation, a sh ort de scription, and th e
U R L for fu rth e r inform ation. D u e to th e
m onth l
y pu b l
ication sch e du l
e , e ve nts
sh ou l
d b e se nt at l
e ast 6- 8 w e e k s in advance .
For pricing de tail
s, contact th e Editor
dru @ osb r.ca).
Qu e stions and Fe e db ack : Th e se can
range anyw h e re b e tw e e n a one se nte nce
q u e stion u p to a 500 w ord l
e tte r to th e e ditor styl
e of fe e db ack . Incl
u de a se nte nce
or tw o introdu cing you rse l
f.
49
Is s ue S po ns o r
A uniq ue M as te r's de gre e for e xpe rie nce d e ngine e rs .
h ttp://w w w .carl
e ton.ca/tim
50
Go l
d S po ns o rs
Th e Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork program is fu nde d in part by th e
Gove rnm e ntofO ntario.
Th e Te ch nol
ogy Innovation M anage m e nt (TIM ) program is a m aste r's
program for e xpe rie nce d e ngine e rs. It is offe re d by Carl
e ton U nive rsity's D e partm e nt of Syste m s and Com pu te r Engine e ring. Th e TIM
program offe rs b oth a th e sis b ase d de gre e (M .A.Sc.) and a proje ctb ase d
de gre e (M .Eng.). Th e M .Eng is offe re d re al
- tim e w orl
dw ide . To appl
y,
pl
e ase go to: h ttp://w w w .carl
e ton.ca/tim /su b /appl
y.h tm l
.
51

constellation and open source article

Transcription

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