The Humanities Gaming Institute: A Model for Lightweight Innovation in Highly Traditional Organizations?
IFTF colleague Sean Ness recently drew my attention to an interesting lightweight innovation event being held this summer at the University of South Carolina, the Humanities Gaming Institute. During three weeks in June, a group of 20 fellows selected in a competitive selection process with work with three gamedesign experts to prototype new online games that can be used to conduct research and teach the humanities.
- Anthony Townsend's blog
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Spaces of Lightweight Innovation: What Can Companies Learn From Coworking?
Last night, I had the opportunity to participate in an informal workshop on "What Can Companies Learn From Coworking?" held at New Work City, one of the biggest and oldest coworking spaces in Manhattan. The workshop was organized by Shift, a workplace consultancy loosely based out of Austin, Texas but with team members around the world. Shift is led by Drew Jones, one of the authors of the first book on coworking, published last year, titled "I'm Outta Here".
- Anthony Townsend's blog
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How new models for building the Web will reshape R&D
Just a few years ago, launching an Internet startup typically entailed making the rounds on Sand Hill Road, pitching venture capitalists an idea and a business plan illustrated by a handful of slides. Today, PowerPoint decks are replaced by working prototypes and the business plans by waiting lists for beta test accounts. Even the venture capitalists are being replaced by angels and self-financed entrepreneurs, as the cost of bringing a web application to market falls below $100,000.
- Anthony Townsend's blog
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Designing the future of health care . . . or is it really about designing the future of health?
At IFTF, the Health Horizons Program is spending time looking at the latter and considering how design thinking may apply to the future of health. "Design thinking" is an emerging trend that focuses on developing innovative responses to business challenges. It is a cross-disciplinary approach that combines "creative confidence and analytic ability," according to David Kelly, founder of Stanford's d.school an
- Vivian Distler's blog
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IFTF Comments on Senate Bill for Science Park Grants and Loans
Respectfully submitted by Anthony Townsend
Research Director
Institute for the Future
- Anthony Townsend's blog
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Maker Faire Africa
We here at the Ten-Year Forecast Program and IFTF have been saying the Global South is developing it’s own global voice. The Global South is becoming stronger and louder, slowly changing the way the Global North has to do business, for lack of a better analogy. Enter Africa. We usually only hear about Africa in the context of aid, disease, poverty, and war. We usually only pay attention when mega stars like Bono and Madonna get up on their soap box. Well today we are seeing very exciting things happening in Africa, by Africans. A new signal has popped up on the horizon, Ghana is hosting the very first Maker Faire Africa! If any one is able to go, it will be an exciting and inspiring event to be sure. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of all invention. I can’t wait to see what will be coming out of Africa in the coming years.
- Tessa Finlev's blog
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Take your (dental) health on the road
Regular readers will know how much I like a small, random story that illustrates some of the principles we talk about at IFTF: for example, anytime, anyplace health; new business models; the power of "people like me" in health care decisions. I haven't seen one in awhile, so I was tickled by this blog post: "Bringing your healthcare practice to the people." It highlights Dr. Roemer, who opened a dental practice inside the Iowa 80 Truckstop, at Exit 284 of Interstate 80.
- Vivian Distler's blog
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Chinese scientists taking kids home for a better education?
Christian Science Monitor had a great piece May 1 on what some call a "reverse brain drain," adding data to the still largely anecdotal trend of U.S.-based Chinese and Indian scientists going home to develop their careers.
- Lyn Jeffery's blog
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