In 2007, the Institute for the Future forecast on lightweight infrastructure introduced a set of characteristics common in the design of emerging technical systems. When we look for lightweight innovation, we are more concerned with the characteristics of organizations and processes of innovation than the physical objects and networks of infrastructure.

Opening up R&D organizations to outside ideas has become a powerful weapon in the strategic arsenal of research managers. As Henry Chesbrough writes, “[O]pen innovation is a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology.”  This strategy has been associated with notable commercial successes, such as Procter & Gamble’s SpinBrush, sourced not from internal R&D but rather a group of inventors in Cleveland.

Designing with Empathy

Join Jerry Michalski in conversation with Vinay Gupta to discus the hexayurt, an innovative design for lightweight shelter, and possibly the future of disaster relief.

At a mixer for The Hive at 55, a new coworking space launched recently by the Downtown Alliance here in Manhattan, I accidentally met one of the employees of a new startup called ShopKeep. Founded by ex-PWC technology consultant turned wine store-entrepreneur Jason Richelson, the project grew out of the retail entrepreneur's frustration with available point of sale and retail customer management systems.