by Madanmohan Rao
Editor, The KM Chronicles
http://twitter.com/MadanRao
Bangalore; April 18, 2012

The third Bangalore K-Community session of 2012 will focus on the case study of KM at GMR. GMR Group is one of the fastest growing infrastructure enterprises in the country with interests in Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure sectors. Employing the Public Private Partnership model, the Group has successfully implemented several iconic infrastructure projects in India, such as the new airports at Delhi and Hyderabad.  The Group also has a global presence in Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, Singapore and the Maldives. GMS’s KM implementation takes a people centric approach with strong focus on aligning to business needs. It includes Knowledge Sharing sessions, a portal, storytelling and communities.

Speaker:

V.K. Sajeev, AGM-Knowledge Management at GMR Group

V.K. Sajeev is currently AGM-Knowledge Management at GMR Group. He was previously Associate Director for KM at MindTree (focusing on KM in Project Delivery), and Project Manager at Bosch (Technical Project Manager as well as customer coordinator at Bosch Germany). He specialises in change manangement and innovation. Apart from KM, Sajeev is passionate about mind, thinking and creativity.

Moderator: Dr. Madanmohan Rao, Editor, The KM Chronicles

Date: 18th April, 2012
Time: 18.00 hrs
Venue:
GMR, MTB Mahaameru Bldg
Wellington St, Richmond Town
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Web: http://gmrgroup.in
Map: (Google maps) http://bit.ly/HqLH0I

RSVP & Contact Person

Sajeev VK , Sajeev.vk @ gmrgroup.in, Mobile: 99720-22774

by Madanmohan Rao
KM Consultant and Author http://http://bit.ly/TU12l
http://twitter.com/MadanRao

Climate change, resilience and knowledge sharing in Asia (ADB) http://bit.ly/wdslv0  #KM

Oliver Marks: The corporate learning shuffle http://zd.net/zHu64X  #KM

Knowledge Management & Social Business: The New World of Work http://bit.ly/ApVUD3  #KM

Knowledge management key to successful implementation of Kenya’s Vision 2030 initiative http://bit.ly/wUTE7K  #KM

Change.org and online citizen activism: the next big thing in cyberspace? http://bit.ly/xbmWZM

Godfrey Parkin: South Africa: The Rise of the Sentient Enterprise http://bit.ly/ABxIug

MIT Technology Review: Kenya’s Startup Boom http://bit.ly/yWF4Ju

Maya Rahal: African Startup Launches SMS Marketing Platform For Businesses http://bit.ly/xzPi8X

Munya Chiura: Crowdsourcing gaining momentum in Africa http://bit.ly/A2ZxJN

Talent grab: How top companies are managing Africa’s skills shortage http://bit.ly/yWDOLX

Outsourcing: Got A Mobile Phone? Soon You Might Be Able To Earn Money As A Doctor http://bit.ly/AgDDAy

#Apps from Africa at 6th Annual Mobile Premier Awards in Barcelona http://tnw.co/wEnWBJ

New #app competition encourages technology entrepreneurs in Kenya http://tnw.co/AFe9Xw

The Atlantic: Africa’s Amazing Rise and What it Can Teach the World http://bit.ly/zD3hl5

Africa’s ICT Entrepreneurs – On the Brink of the Long Summer of Love http://bit.ly/wYL85s

Omidyar Network and ACCION Invest US $3.2 Million in Mobile Transactions International http://bit.ly/AsLT2z

Apps for Africa Competition: Afrosilicon team named winner http://bit.ly/xsHq4k

Hamadoun Toure: How mobile broadband can transform Africa http://bit.ly/wAKRcv  (CNN)

Forbes: Africa’s Hottest Tech Startups: Twinpine http://onforb.es/wxUbqn

Mobile application entrepreneurs from India making millions http://bit.ly/H4VHrd

Accel Partners on Internet startups in India http://bit.ly/HbirFf

Forbes: How Crowdsourcing Is Tackling Poverty In The Developing World http://onforb.es/Hy1RCc

2012 #Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) http://uneca.org/istd/ipa/aif/

African telcos call for #innovation http://bit.ly/H4mlnY

Thanks to all speakers/attendees/sponsors/partners for a terrific #Innovation Africa Digital Summit — see you all in 2013! #IAD2012

Creative Sparks: bootstrapping local innovation is the discussion. #IAD2012 (@ Sheraton Addis) [pic]: http://4sq.com/Hlm8gI

Kicking off shortly in minutes: the 10th annual #Innovation Africa Digital Summit, in Ethiopia! http://extensia-ltd.com  #IAD2012

Al Jazeera: African innovations – Homegrown advancements drive Africa’s tech revolution http://bit.ly/GJvaSo

The Hub movement: Setting fire to African ideas http://bit.ly/GB1IuW

Kenya Plans ‘Silicon Savannah’ to Build on Tech Growth http://bit.ly/GCb7ac

ToGather.Asia: Crowdsourced funding for Asia http://bit.ly/GB4EIo

How #crowdfunding is reshaping philanthropy http://bit.ly/GAKjHa

Crowdsourcing Week Asia 2013 to be held in Singapore http://bit.ly/GB0K1G

“Think Big” Ignite 2011 business plan competition, Brunei http://bit.ly/GBP01r

Looking forward to my two-day workshop on #innovation management in Brunei!

Want to design the cover of the first ever “Singapore Proverbs” book? Contact SingaporeProverbs @ gmail .com !!! #crowdsourcing

Stephen Denning on 20th/21st century thinking: Has Goldman Sachs become the dumbest firm in the world? http://onforb.es/x5FfB5

Now available on Amazon: the book “NetChakra: 15 Years of #Internet in India” http://amzn.to/yiTIPl

Economist Intelligence Unit: Ranking of most competitive cities in the world (capital, business, talent, visitors) http://bit.ly/zJhht2

Jungle Ventures plans to gain ground among Indian #startups http://bit.ly/zHI2Gm

Rocky Agrawal: How to pitch your #startup at conferences http://bit.ly/zmAAQf

As mobile tech thrives in Boston, #MobileMonday expands http://bit.ly/A65PiK  #startups

Charles River closes $375M to invest in mobile and software #startup companies http://bit.ly/wfBP08

Steve Blank on the Era of the Lean #Startup entrepreneur.com/blog/223100

Keynote Launches ‘Three Screen’ Startup Shootout Index http://bit.ly/yT615u

#Startups struggle to keep their sites speedy on PCs, phones, and tablets! (VentureBeat) http://bit.ly/xQZNxG

Lessons learnt from mobile #startups in DEMO Asia: Aim big; be disruptive http://bit.ly/zOu0jX

Austin works to become hub for mobile Internet industry #startups http://bit.ly/zAm45F

Another European Carrier Goes VC: Orange Partners With Publicis, Iris In $400M Fund http://tcrn.ch/x1wr2e

San Jose preparing to roll out new, free #Wi-Fi network throughout downtown http://bit.ly/A4Ny7L

#SXSW Interactive Accelerator finalists (mobile #startups) http://bit.ly/zmyfY0  http://bit.ly/zd1Prh  http://on.mash.to/AyfOkk

Drew Boyd: What an Innovative Culture Looks Like http://bit.ly/z2Q6xx

Video: Robert Wolcott: How Can Large Corporations Incorporate Social #Innovation? http://bit.ly/wJrCsW

Global Intrapreneurship Forum 2012: May 27-28, Bahrain http://giforum.thefirm-online.com  http://bit.ly/AgYMj0  #innovation

by Madanmohan Rao
Editor, The KM Chronicles http://bit.ly/TU12l
http://twitter.com/MadanRao
Pune; February 29, 2012

The knowledge movement in India has gained another new community member, with the launch of the Pune K-Community! The inaugural session featuring a panel discussion on trends, opportunities and challenges in KM. KM as a formal discipline is close to 20 years old now. Panelists from Unisys, eClerx and Zensar addressed a wide range of KM frameworks, concepts, impacts, and trends. What have been the key contributions of KM? What are the success factors of KM in the long-term? How does KM boost organisational innovation? What does it take to reach industry leadership in KM and win awards? What career prospects are there in KM? The panel was followed by interactive discussions between the panellists and audience.

Other attending companies included TCS, Wipro, Siemens, Tata Chemicals and Mindtree. The hosting organisation, analytics outsourcing firm eClerx, also added a nice local Pune touch by offering snacks which included bhakarwadi! It was a personal delight for me to be part of the Pune K-Community launch since I grew up in Poona (as it was then called!). Here are some of my key dozen takeaways from the two-hour event.

1. Mature KM initiatives address not just internal collaboration but external collaboration as well. Internal collaboration has been achieved by a range of KM initiatives, but the challenge is to involve external business partners and customers in process design, service offerings and co-creation. Proctor&Gamble and Nike shoes are good examples of advanced knowledge strategies in this regard. Unisys has a conference called Unite where they invite inputs from their valuable customers; these are used in drawing the product roadmap. Practitioners of some mature KM initiatives are themselves becoming consultants for launching KM in other organisations.

2. Well-designed KM initiatives pay proper attention to branding of KM and communicating the knowledge message. Some organisations have KM brand managers. Others chose names of their newsletters and events which cleverly reflect the names of the organisations, eg. Unisys has an annual KM festival in India, China and Australia called Unilight. Its KM leaders’ forum is called Talking Heads. Zensar’s Intranet is called Zen Lounge, its chat utility is called Zen Talk, and technology incubation forum is called Zen Lab. (Last week I conducted a KM workshop at the first annual KM festival of airport infrastructure company GMR in Delhi; the festival was called Gyaanotsav (‘knowledge festival’) and it featured a KM skit, KM graffiti sheets, and even a chocolate KM cake!)

3. Social media are playing an increasing role as knowledge narrative, and mobile cloud is a key trend in workflow infrastructure. Some companies are developing their own hybrid social media tools which integrate the best features of consumer social media tools. The rise of Gen Y is a major opportunity – and challenge – for Gen X-dominated organisations, and there is a need for those in between who can bridge the gap (Gen X.5?   

4. Organisations should find the right balance between creation and re-use of knowledge assets. Wipro has developed useful metrics in this regard, eg. Contribution Index (percentage of employees contributing knowledge assets), Engagement Index (percentage of employees using existing knowledge), and Usage Index (percentage of assets being accessed and reused).

5. Gamification is a growing practice in KM, eg. conducting coding contests and competitions for best personal KM (MySite) at Unisys, as well as a best paper contest to showcase thought leadership in a field.

6. Academic research and foundations are finding increasing acceptance among KM practitioners. Zensar’s CEO has authored two books on KM and has a PhD in KM; their CIO has a master’s degree in KM. Zensar has developed fundamental ‘tenets’ of KM practice such as ‘knowledge is socially constructed and consumed.’

7. Mature KM practices from India are winning awards around the world, eg. eClerx has just won the MAKE India award and Unisys hopes to win the MAKE award in 2013.

8. The true success of KM is when it ‘disappears,’ ie. KM processes are embedded in workflow, eg. in project closure documentation. 90% of the knowledge contributions in Wipro happen as part of the normal workflow and are not created via additional activities. There will always be a need for KM professionals, however, in designing and upgrading such workflow tools, analysing knowledge conversations and lifecycles, and keeping up to speed on harnessing ‘supply side’ factors like emerging social media and cloud tools.

9. The scope and metrics for KM are becoming increasingly sophisticated. KM is being used within organisations not just for activities like project management but also discussing and defining high-level organisational vision and market strategies, eg. in Zensar. There are metrics at the level of projects, associates and customer satisfaction.

10. Idea management will become intertwined with KM, as a range of tools (such as Mango Apps) emerge to manage idea pipelines. Many KM practices of knowledge validation, ranking and rating are also applicable to idea management (eg. MindTree’s Neuron portal for ideas). Some organisations open up ideation to all kinds of activities in order to encourage the flow of creative juices, eg. some companies have even toyed with creating internal matrimonial matchmaking services!

11. To broadbase the KM movement in India, practitioners will have to go beyond English and tap local languages as well. Tata Chemicals now encourages employees to submit ideas in their own local languages.

12. KM has different flavours in different industries. White collar IT and services firms have the advantage of using advanced IT tools; new strategies will have to be devised to harness and unleash knowledge flows from blue collar workers who have their own forms of expertise. Public sector and government agencies have their own cultures and knowledge dynamics, and KM strategies will need to be different as compared to profit-centred companies.

The discussion wrapped up after an eventful two hours (also touching on topics like the difference between frugal innovation and jugaad!), and by then the traffic from the Hinjewadi tech parks to the city areas had mercifully diminished. The next Pune K-Community meetup will be hosted by Zensar, followed by Mindtree and then TCS.

With its strong local base of R&D labs, manufacturing/automotive, pharma, IT and BPO services firms, the Pune K-Community is off to a good start, and will be able to create useful synergies with the neighbouring Mumbai K-Community. The challenge will be in deciding when exactly to have the first anniversary celebrations: the inaugural event was held on February 29, and the next February 29 will only be in 2016!

by Madanmohan Rao
Editor, The KM Chronicles
http://twitter.com/MadanRao
Bangalore; February 15, 2012

The second Bangalore K-Community session of 2012 will address KM strategies for delivery in IT companies. This panel discussion will feature three speakers from MindTree, Unisys and Wipro addressing a wide range of KM contributions in methodology, domain expertise, project management, account relationships, reusability, prediction, productivity and innovation. It will be followed by interactive discussions between the panellists and audience.

Moderator: Dr. Madanmohan Rao, Editor, The KM Chronicles

PANELISTS:

Rajendhiran N. is KM Group Head at Wipro, leading KM initiatives in several verticals, service lines and functions. He is one of the pioneers in the company’s KM initiative over the last ten years. He is a hands-on KM practitioner supporting a base of 60,000 employees. Prior to the KM position he worked for technical support, customer service, quality and training for 18 years.

Venkataraghava P. is currently delivery manager of a large insurance account in MindTree. He has been in the IT industry for more than 17 years. He has worked towards building the insurance knowledge community, formalisation of knowledge through certifications, and solutions accelerators that will enable delivery and value to customers. Prior to MindTree, Venkat has worked with customers such as IBM, FedEx, Charles Schwab, and BellSouth. His active non-work interest includes organic farming of coffee.

Raghu Govinda Rajulu is part of the Chief Technology Office for Knowledge Management in Unisys. He is working on building KM initiatives for delivery centres as part of Unisys Global Services, India. His focus is on improving Unisys sales and delivery centres through the use of knowledge sharing and collaboration tools. He has 10 years of experience in the field. Prior to Unisys, he worked with Microsoft and Dell.

Murali Sundararaj is part of the Chief Technology Office for Knowledge Management in Unisys. Presently, he is doing a role of KM champion for UGSI KM projects and part of building KM initiatives for delivery centres. He has been in the IT industry more than 12 years. Prior to Unisys, he has worked with Mindtree as a Technical Manager for Microsoft Projects.

Address & Direction to Hosting Organization:
Mindtree, Plot No 150
EPIP Second Phase KIADB Industrial Area
Hoody Village, Whitefield Main Road, Bangalore

Map: http://bit.ly/xpA28s

Website: http://www.mindtree.com

RSVP & Contact Person

Shadab Lari <Shadab_Lari @ mindtree.com>
Phone: 6747-0000
Online RSVP: http://kcommunity.ning.com/events/km-in-it-delivery-a-panel-discussion

by Madanmohan Rao, Editor, The KM Chronicles
http://bit.ly/TU12l http://twitter.com/MadanRao

Day Two, #KMindia 2012 kicks off in Bangalore!

Keynote: David Coleman, Collaborative Strategies: “The Future of Collaborative Work.” Founder, Collaborate.com. Formerly with Oracle; wine taster/maker. Author of 4 books on collaboration, two more coming

David: Next book – Collaborative Tools for Learning; I am crowdsourcing some of the content for the book; send me your tweets!

David: After that – book on Crowd-based Business. India has tremendous strength – huge population, leverage that with crowdsourcing.

David: Metaphors for collaboration: Black Hole (dark matter which holds the universe/org together), Toilet (everyone uses it but no one notices till it is broken!)

David: I have access to pretty much every collaboration tool out there. We also did scenario planning for the workplace in the year 2020 if price of oil becomes $20 per gallon.

David: I look at people, process, technology – and space. Tech is only 20% of the solution. First figure out what you want to do, how, what are your expectations from each other, level of trust, what is the expected outcome. Activity metrics is not enough; only rough measures. Address what value people get from tools.

David: As commitment and level of purpose increase, we move along the scale: Conversation, Communication, Coordination, Cooperation, Collaboration.

David: Tool evolution for collaboration: phone, fax, email, P2P/distributed teams, Web 3.0, crowd-based business.

David: Some roles in collaboration: stealth ninja, social, skeptic, dinosaur, student, expert, ringleader.

David: Don’t let CIO strangle your business growth. It can even affect talent retention; GenY may leave in a few months if you only have Lotus Notes as work environment. Some CIOs have BYOD strategies – Bring Your Own Device!

David: P&G gets half their ideas from outside their workplace.

David: “No smart asshole rule” – remove the assholes except if they are smart! “50 foot rule” – If you are more than 50 feet away from me, low chance of collaboration.

David shows images of what future workspaces may look like. Greenhouse, round tables, trees; skylights. Emerging techs: 3D printer, nano-tech, driverless cars (imagine what that could do to Bangalore traffic!), private spaces in clouds.

David: DARPA had contests for driverless cars – bumpy roads, LA traffic.

David: Teams will be augmented by crowds. Future companies will have a cross between long-term commitment and free agent. Structures will evolve from hierarchical and matrix to ‘fishnet’ – with temporary hierarchies.

David: Critical processes for business survival: R&D, training, decision support, sales/marketing, customer support, value network management

David: People can deal with max 150 relationships; hard to engage with more. Goal-driven crowds – value increases as per Metcalfe’s Law.

My question to David: What is the connection between culture and collaboration? Douglas Hofstedte published work on national cultures and perceptions of authority.

David: Culture is the most important part of collaboration. Local context is key: personal context, company context, country context, project context. Even if you want to focus on collaboration, begin with culture.

David: What is going on today is ‘half collaboration’ – tools give them only half of what they want, that is why there is such a proliferation of tools.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do all these collaboration tools and KM methodologies offer to small/medium sized organisations?

David: It helps small/medium organisations work even with employees across regions and time zones – same as to a large organisation. Creates new networks and clusters of SMBs.

Ganesh: We do that with NASSCOM’s Emerge session for SMEs – how to network with one another.

Ganesh on social media: Periodically I delete 400 friends from Facebook. I have 10K+ connections on LinkedIn, too much! I do not use tools which crosspost on Facebook and Twitter; the messages get truncated on Twitter!

Next panel: Tech Trends for the Collaborative Enterprise

Rajan Anandan, MD, Google India: Key business trends: localisation/globalisation, personal productivity, speed. Key tech trends: mobile, social, cloud. Work in the future – today: any team, any time, any place, any device.

Rajan: Pace of change: 10 billion dollar companies were created in the last three years alone.

Rajan: If you miss one wave of innovation, you can survive; if you miss two, you are gone

Rajan: Cost of collaborative techs is dropping. Cost of cloud apps will be cost of giving your employees three cups of tea/coffee per day. My phone is now my videoconferencing tool, no need of expensive tools.

Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Zensar: Employees who want to waste time will eventually find ways to waste time, even if you block social media. Ankit Phadia, Pune, wrote a book on “How to Unblock Everything on the Internet.”

Ganesh: The expensive tools enable high-quality multi-screen videoconferencing, but many people would be happy with cheaper tools even with less quality.

Ganesh: You have to embrace new tech because Gen Y is using it and bringing it into your organisations

Jeby Cherian, VP IBM India: IBM was formed in 1911. In 2002, three values of IBM were defined by thousands of employees via collaboration. HR recruitment has changed so much today as compared to 10 years ago, eg. using LinkedIn profiles.

Jeby: Tech changes processes + dynamics of organisations. Thanks to telecommuting, we pay employees more if they work from home or elsewhere. But we think Shaadi.com should be blocked on the enterprise network!

Ashok Krish, TCS Innovation Labs: Even if Shaadi.com is blocked in the enterprise, employees will create their own version of it!

Krish: When the printing press was invented many intellectuals thought it was the worst thing that could happen to knowledge

Krish: Textmining tools will make the knowledge manager irrelevant. If your company thinks you are relevant then your company will itself become irrelevant!

Krish: Big flip – consumers on external Web have better collaboration tools than you in the enterprise have. They don’t want the junk you have. Today’s generation does not know what the world was like before Internet/mobiles. New behaviour – continuous partial attention, work-life blurring.

Krish: Gamification can make people work better (rather than just extrinsic factors like salary) – satisfaction of recognition, contribution, winning.

Krish: A driver for TCS’ KM initiative was how to find out the right expert/manager at the right time. Tough when there is so much churn in the company. Started a Q&A forum. But unless you get gamification right it just becomes a game! It works for GenY better than other generations. Challenge is how to design different environments/models when there are different generations involved. The workplace of the future will be gamified, will look like dashboard of World of Warcraft!

Jeby: Great example of gamification as organisational culture: the company TopCoder uses competitions to get the best coders. Some consulting firms also have this, eg. you must become a thought leader at the national level to become a partner.

Aniruddha Desandikar, Microsoft India: In 10 years, we went from dialup Internet to NetFlix movie downloads. Can we even imagine what will happen in the next 10 years? It’s like moving from 20X20 glasses to 3D glasses, and more.

Q: Should we be even talking about KM “systems?”

A: Yes, you do need systems to get to what the organisation needs. Some companies may not have formal KM systems, but they do have systems and tools for activities like collaboration, etc. which are a part of KM. Focus should be on flows, not ‘managing’ knowledge.

Ganesh/Zensar: There are CKOs between GenX and GenY! 90% of employees still need some guidance.

Ganesh/Zensar: We used animated female character (ZenZ) to show how to use ZenLounge (knowledge repository). 40 winners demanded a date with ZenZ – so we asked 40 women to volunteer to be ZenZ!

Q: Is too much multitasking and too many tools going to get in the way or productivity?

Jeby: There is good multitasking and bad multitasking! Distinguish between the two.

Krish: Many people have always been criticising new technologies and their impacts (printing press, radio, TV, Internet, mobiles). Disruptive technologies have a phase shift in the way in which they affect societies. It takes times for protocols to get established, eg. muting phones in the cinema.

Krish: There is no information overload – only filter failure. Filters will evolve

Aniruddha: Some people start work (eg emails) at home before they come to work, so they don’t see anything wrong if they check Facebook when they come to work

Ravi/Unisys: What changes will be needed in labour laws, eg. working hours are 9-6 pm.

Ganesh: That is not a government law; the HR people must have set it because that is when they come to work!

Jeby: Actually IT companies in India come under the Shops Act where specific hours are specified.

Krish: Some German companies ask employees to switch off Blackberries after 6 pm because otherwise they can bill for extra time!

Krish: Governments don’t understand technology, just the way parents don’t understand why their kids are on Facebook!

Q: What about parts of the world which do not have mobile broadband?

Ganesh: Yes, there will be phase shifts between regions, age groups, etc.
Krish: India has gone from zero to 800 million mobile phones in 10-15 years.

Up next: panel on Intelligent Computing and Knowledge Seeking

S. Sadagopan/IIIT-B jokes that computers are good at doing things which are painful for human beings; hard for other tasks. Artificial intelligence has come a long way in the last 5 decades

Kavi Mahesh, PESIT: What has changed in intelligent computing in the last ten years? Early AI has moved on from keyword matching, stats, syntax. Other approaches – social methods. Today I = AI + BI + CI + SI (business, community, swarm)

Kavi: “Algorithms of the Intelligent Web” book: search, recommendation/personalisation, clustering, classification. Elements of intelligent apps: aggregation, reference, dealing with uncertainty

Kavi: Changes in knowledge-seeking behaviour over the last decade: more independent, yet more social, more arrogant/assertive, less trust on traditional channels. Because of generation gap + technology.

Great to see P.Anandan on stage next – my kind host for my first week of grad school in the US at UMass/Amherst in 1985!

P. Anandan, Microsoft Research India: I used to teach AI, will take a more optimistic view. AI will arrive in bits and pieces and consumers won’t be aware of where it is.

Anandan: Criteria for AI success: natural interaction in the workplace, awareness (context/location), ability to learn/adapt.

Anandan: Machine learning has achieved success in the last two decades, eg. search queries (learning user intent), BI. Microsoft Kinect has some of the three elements above.

Sridhar Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Xurmo Technologies: Key role of AI is informed decision making, eg using Big Data

My question: What new tech trends are emerging in tools for knowledge workers who are differently abled, or assistive techs for senior citizens?

Anandan: Industry has not done enough in this area; less market pressure. Emerging trend: mediated technology.

Kavi: We have GPS, speech recognition/narration. Big gap – inadequate Indian language support on smartphones. Skew towards English.

Up next: Knowledge Café; Valedictory Address

Day Two wraps up; see you all at #KMindia 2013 next year!

by Madanmohan Rao, Editor, The KM Chronicles http://bit.ly/TU12l  http://twitter.com/MadanRao

#KMindia 2012 kicks off in Bangalore! Lots of topics on social media and knowledge sharing – but no free WiFi at venue! #clueless

*All* conference organisers, please read my blogpost on use of #Twitter, #WiFi during knowledge sharing events: http://km.techsparks.com/?p=42  

Ashok Soota: Loose, open-ended customisable work procedures are conducive to collaboration and innovation. KM needs encouragement, but avoid winner-take-all incentives

Ashok: Thomas Jefferson: Knowledge is power, safety, happiness. Only now are organisations catching up with what societies knew about knowledge all along

Keynote: Roopa Kudva, CRISIL. Order of the day: “Partner or Perish.” India examples: Amul (cooperatives)

Roopa: Bharti (focused on strategy and marketing, outsourced the rest to Nokia, IBM; call centres). Reduced capex, opex. IT-led transformation, strong KM

Roopa: CRISIL rates 8,000 Indian companies. We project what Indian companies may look like in 2015. Top 15 companies will have 30% of revenues from overseas. Indian companies will need KM, intercultural collaboration for globalisation

Roopa: KM success depends on extraction of business insights from information and communication. Organisational info has gone from meg (1980s), gigs (1990s), terabytes (2000 onwards) and more.

Roopa: Indian educational institutes (and overseas) don’t produce people with adequate statistical skillsets for analysis of Big Data. Knowledge industry must groom such talent

Arun Maira, Planning Commission of India: Tech and HR have different views of what is knowledge. IT view: info, documentation, tools. HR view: collective sense-making, learning.

Arun: I talk about framework of knowledge in my book “Remaking India.” Four levels of depth: data (superficial; routines – know what), processes/concepts (know how), beliefs/theories/ideologies (know why), cares/values/aspirations (know wants).

Arun: ‘What’ and ‘how’ are above the waterline (explicit), rest are tacit. Theories of management: compliance (carrot and sticks); commitment (very different measures: community, aspiration, energy)

Arun: Planning Commission of India has masses of data! Need broader consultation – but how can the eight members of the Commission consult with a billion Indians? One way – social media, NGOs

Arun: IT industry has brought glory to India worldwide, but need to bring SMEs on board now, make them more networked and effective. Create a “swarm of fireflies”

Arun: Creativity, innovation is sparked not by teams of similar members, but divergent and different backgrounds

QUOTE OF THE DAY! Arun Maira: Argumentative Indians need to become Collaborative Indians!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: David Coleman, Collaborative Strategies: How can you leverage the crowdsourcing potential of a billion Indians to make business more effective?

David: Crowdsourcing is being leveraged in the US for micro-tasking, eg. fundraising: raising money for movie projects, startups, books.

Arun: CSIR has used a platform (developed by Infosys) to collaborate in the pharma domain. Conventional industry asks: who owns the IP? Desire for money v/s joy of collaboration – different belief systems

Ashok: We crowdsourced the design of the logo of our company, Happiest Minds! We got 2,500 responses from around the world; winner was from New Jersey

Ganesh Natarajan, Zensar: KM can help companies weather storms better. Change management, consolidation.

End of opening panel; up next: KM Impacts on Business

David Coleman, Collaborative Strategies: A collection of knowledge is not wisdom, a collection of wisdom is not truth

David: KM has moved from “content and collect” to “connect and context.” Integrate KM processes into business processes. Focus is knowledge flows, not management. Not a task, but work.

David: I did a case study of IDEO; they use KM to connect 600 employees, 34 nationalities, 8 offices. Designers, sociologists, ethnographers. Rebel culture.

David: IDEO’s five knowledge sharing principles: 1. Build pointers to help connection. 2. Reward individual contributions, but everyone has responsibility. 3. Demand intuitive interfaces. 4. Go where the people already are and trust them. 5. Build adaptive systems; things change!

David: I have seen over 2,000 collaboration tools. Key for success – two clicks to get anything done; no training needed.

Kishore Poduri, HR Head, eClerx Services (fin/banking, analytics services): Knowledge has to be usable for KM to succeed; like oxygen. Involve users in creation.

Anuradha Rajanna, Solution Delivery Head, Wipro Technologies: KM Vision: Be a globally admired learning organisation.” Decade-old KM practice: Phase 1 – content, Phase 2 – collaboration, Phase 3 – efficiency+delivery.

Anuradha: KNet statistics: Project+team contributions. Reduce dependency on individual persons, helps deal with attrition. Helps customers leverage applications better.

Anuradha: KEDB – for productivity (track, document, deal with errors). SHINE – for learning, in dynamic teams. Enterprise Konnect – for queries (expert profiles, forums). Enterprise Reuse – for effort saving (components repository). Enterprise KS2 – for expertise sharing.

V. Sridhar Subramaniam, Finacle Infosys: KM for business users – how can all the KM tools be used and leveraged? Give users diverse tools and mechanisms, eg. project database.

Sridhar: Services context and product context have different needs. Need to remember decisions taken in the past; that is where KM helps.

Vijaya Deepti, VP, TCS: We have had KM for 10+ years, won MAKE awards. 200K+ people, wide range of services.

Vijaya: Tata group used business excellence models across all its companies; KM was integrated into them for different user groups, eg. tools for marketing, innovation.

Vijaya presents case study of KM in the context of a large UK Pension Programme. Captured four years of discussions, RFP, 170 contractual documents, builds, decisions, implications for capabilities.

Q: The panellists have defined success metrics through productivity, efficiency. What happened to happiness as a metric?

Sridhar: What you measure can get distorted. Look not just at activity but impacts, spirals. SMEs can get overloaded if you require all Qs to be answered in 4 hours. Make sure the way you define metrics does not have detrimental effects.

David Coleman: SAP developer community metric – you can get 6 good answers to any question within 7 minutes.

Q: Has KM changed your company’s culture, or has your company’s culture changed KM?

A: Both! TCS: KM helped break silos. Wipro: KM has become a way of life, not just a tool/portal. Infosys: no one questions rationale for KM today. eClerx: KM helped our company in its rapid growth environment.

Sridhar: We have come so far in 10 years, with blogging, Wikis – they did not exist even 10 years ago.

David: I notice that companies hire people for their degrees/experience, but don’t often look at how collaborative they will be when they join the company. Cisco knowledge-sharing communities – you can get good answers to questions within a minute.

Q: KM seems to have helped companies do things faster – but has KM helped companies do the right thing at the right time? eg. see Apple v/s Kodak

Sridhar: KM focuses a lot on people in day-to-day execution, not so much on decision-making, strategy, forecasting, etc.

Sridhar: Your KM tools should allow the person with the softest voice in the room to be heard

Padma/Infosys: What is the role of communication in a KM programme?

Kishore/eClerx: Involve users in the design of the KM and communication tools, that helps get buy-ins from the beginning

DowJones: How do you weave in fresh news updates from the outside within your knowledge flows?

David Coleman: We use collaborative filtering.

Kishore/eClerx: If KM is designed for strategy managers, then yes you need to weave in external info

Q: What lessons can the training community learn from KM?

Coffee+lunchtime chatter: catching up with #KM colleagues from Bombay, Poona, Chennai; US! #KMindia rocks…    

Up next: panel on #KM in Business Domains

Ganesh Natarajan: CII National Knowledge Council is broad-basing #KM in India now, extending it beyond IT/BPO sectors to mainstream business and SMEs

Ganesh: My #KM interest is more in enabling business growth; my books and PhD are in KM (eg. maturity models)

Arun Gupta, CTO, Shoppers Stop: We started #KM ten years ago, had 3 failed implementations. Realisation: focus on people, not tech! Knowledge sharing happens through conversations, meetings, processes – not just tech tools

Arun: We had 5-6 per cent attrition per month during our high-growth phase. #KM was key for fast effective training, and retention.

ArunL Started with floor engagement: collecting and publishing stories about customers and employees: Chicken Soup for the Shoppers’ Stop Soul! Created positive impact, created mini-heroes.

Arun: We started a programme called Baby Kangaroos (mentorship programme). Babies themselves then became mentors!

Arun: For retail to succeed we had to make a difference for the 30 million customers who come through our stores. Low-tech high-touch #KM programme, for capturing customer insights

Arun: We look at what people say about us in social media. We are still looking at effective ways of monetising social media and using it for business change

R. Mukundan, MD, Tata Chemicals: We have three cultures in our organisations – those dealing with farmers, industrial organisations, consumer mass market.

Mukundan: Early repository (‘Gangotri’) was flooded with info; there was lots of stuff but we had to pause to see if it was really effective. Changed approach to focus on conversations.

Mukundan: We trained our engineers to write stories. Some published in newsletter, with pictures and photos. Induced others also to write; virtuous cycle. Tech (bandwidth, tools) has improved KM. We created a TED-like feature internally: 3-minute videos!

Mukundan: KM is a  Level 3 process in our organisation. After internal KM, we shifted focus to knowledge needs of our customers, eg. how to use knowledge to increase salary of farmers

Mukundan: Indian heritage contribution to our KM journey: we learned from Gurukul system, made it more effective via tech; also Mela – have fun as groups. Advice: bring social aspects into tech focus of KM.

Ganesh Natarajan: The late great CK Prahalad was a mentor for CII, authored a book on “India at 75”

Ganesh: CK Prahalad: Gurukul system is the best; till the age of 12 you study by rote and get stuffed with data, then you interpret it and digest it! Kids were not asked if they liked what they learnt

Ganesh: Q: When does rote process work, when does open-ended bloom approach work for organisational learning?

Mukundan: You need a balance of both, Gurukul + Mela. We have been using Yammer; people refer to docs ‘out there’ – more effective than just uploading to Intranet.

Mukundan: We have innovated even for basic products like salt, eg. iodisation of salt. In Orissa we have double-fortified salt, with iron (to tackle anaemia); worked with National Institute of Nutrition. Products are not uninteresting; we have even written a book called “Romancing the Salt,” starting with Gandhi’s dandi march!

Ganesh: We once used a Bollywood movie format to train people how to stick to ISO processes (“Baban ban gaya ISO Man!”). Games/entertainment are a great way to teach KM! Make it engaging, participatory, collaborative.

Sandhya Shekhar, CEO, IIT Madras Research Park: Let me trace my KM journey, using Gartner hype cycle. Tech trigger was e-learning tools.

Sandhya: Then came over-inflated expectations, mushrooming of experts. Every KM system seemed to be same, and no one was asking the so-what question. People were asking RoI question, just like IT RoI earlier

Sandhya: I took ‘leave of absence’ from KM and studied globalisation and virtual organisations. Research question: “When should companies establish an office in another country, or outsource?” I discovered that a key success factor was effective knowledge transfer. And thus KM came back into the picture!

Sandhya: Distance, culture, tools affect knowledge transfer. We need academia and industry to work more closely to help organisations understand KM and come up with business outcome metrics, map out value partnerhips. Look at open innovation.

Sourav Mukherji, Associate Professor, IIM Bangalore: Takes a dig at Arun who took a dig at KM “academics” and “experts” earlier! Retail sector should use KM also for competitive intelligence, not just consumer behaviour. Capture transactional data + interaction data. Tap “consumer communities”

Sandhya: You must learn to believe what your data can teach you, it can be counter-intuitive. I have learnt that co-location is key for innovation.

Ganesh jokes that the answer to the question “What is 2+2?” is “What do you want it to be?”

Next panel: KM in Globalising Companies

Uma Ganesh, CEO, Global Talent Track: In my PhD I looked at how knowledge determines organisational strategy, growth. Studied 100 orgs in different stages of growth.

Uma: Knowledge sources: employees, customers, tech, processes, industry ecosystem, info sources (events, media), vendor relationships

Ramesh Mangaleswaran, Director, McKinsey: We are 14,000 employees, 107 countries, 250 docs added+deleted daily from a repository of tens of thousands of docs. Objective of KM: link to organisation’s life, not just to make people more knowledgeable. It is an obligation for each of us to find and share knowledge for our client’s benefit.

Ramesh: What to share: not everything is valuable or shareable; need judgement. Levels of knowledge sharing: employee, customer, expertise, regular interactions. Balance: de/centralisation.

Ramesh: Two years ago we moved to a very easy searchable user-friendly interface for our knowledge assets. Now we have mobile apps for KM also (on my Blackberry), since we work in a distributed manner. Granular presentation of info.

Ramesh: Our KM incentives – Knowledge Olympics. 6-month process. Top 20 finalists flown to a special location to meet top management.

Ramesh: 7 KM steps: 1. Start with objectives of your organisation. 2. Define what/how of knowledge 3. Find balance between de/centralisation 4. Design knowledge processes 5. Determine role of tech 6. Design incentives for KM culture 7. Work out implementation strategy (pilot, test, scale)

Q: Is KM a science or an art?

William Filler, VCIES: KM is a discipline and an art – just like music, dance. Build the foundation through long periods of hard work, then you get the freedom to explore and innovate.

Uma Ganesh: In the initial stages KM is a science, then becomes an art.

Ramesh: Need to find the balance between the two – science (foundation layers) and art (flexible layers). It is not either/or

Q: What may not be valuable today may become valuable tomorrow – how to guard against discarding of potentially valuable knowledge?

My question to the panel: How are organisations of today globalising with a younger workforce? Youth today are more global in exposure and consumption than previous generations.

Uma Ganesh: Tata Group CEO said he wants younger CEOs. Not just experience but ability to access information and convert that into knowledge is important; young managers have a huge advantage there.

Ramesh: Expectations of young generation are different: accelerated learning, accelerated growth, global exposure. Organisations need to break away from dogmas of the past, only based on experience.

Ravi/Unisys: Q: Are there trends you are seeing of ‘reverse mentoring’ – eg. youth training senior managers on aspects like social media?

Ramesh: I have seen a few organisations offering reverse mentoring, but it is not a major trend.

Last panel of Day One: Creating Knowledge Space

Edward Rogers, NASA CKO: “Exploring Knowledge Space.” I like coming to India, it formed me in many ways, I studied here. I have gray hair because I took my daughter to buy an Indian sari, and after three hours and many photographs she still did not buy a sari! And I have a ponytail because I have bought a Harley now!

Edward starts off with a short history of the stars. Societies created artificial pictures, named constellations, used them as navigational aids, and are now exploring them. I think KM is the oldest of professions!

Edward: Adam starting naming and collecting animals. Human beings began as creatures who collected and named stuff. The stars that we see represent only 5% of the universe. What makes a nebula look beautiful is the space around it.

Edward: Value of knowledge is found in the recombination opportunity (eg. car + van = minivan)

Edward: Your KM program should be like a good pair of shoes – they should fit your organisation well and they should take you someplace interesting.

Edward: Value of KM in the project organisation – anyone team member must have access to entire group’s knowledge

Edward shows 2X2 matrix – right/wrong decisions/outcomes -> right/wrong lessons learned. Learn from decisions, not just outcomes. Package lessons for learning. Use KM to augment learning. We learn from stuff, from what people do, and from what we do.

Edward: Analogy: Infrastructure gaps in India are like the Dark Matter in space, that is where the opportunities for new value are.

Edward: We don’t really know what is out there. Shows videoclip of fisherman on icecap – being swallowed up by a giant whale! Too often we just sit and wait. Look beyond just the routine of your daily life.

Edward: People like to learn, but not be taught, told or controlled. Inspire people with knowledge and you will prosper.

Edward: Dilbert cartoons made most of their money poking fun at KM!

Edward: Managers need to have humility to change; if their rules are wrong, they should admit their mistake and ask for suggestions for better rules.

Edward: The NASA Web site has a 25-year KM roadmap, but that is more of a good thinking tool from 10 years ago. My centre has a different KM agenda.

My question: What are some KM challenges NASA has faced? I have been to other KM conferences where speakers have taken potshots at NASA for the Space Shuttle failures.

Edward: Yes, it is easy to take potshots at failures. We are looking beyond government reports, NASA is taking other approaches. That is why they hired me, a non-space guy, for KM.

Shubha Ashraf: Q for Bijou Kurien, CEO, Lifestyle Reliance Retail – have you employed KM for analysing customer purchase behaviours?

Bijou: Our systems gave us lots of data, and a little information. Rich knowledge is in stores, emphasis is on sharing stories. This gives pointers, guidance (eg. dealing with customers who have foreign currency). Challenge – a lot of this kind of knowledge walks out of the door.

Up next: Special Address by SV Ranganath, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka

SV Ranganath: 65 years after independence, India’s economy crossed the trillion dollar mark, by 2025 it may cross 4 trillion. If we get our act together!

Ranganath: Inclusion, entrepreneurship are the only way for India to meet its challenges and needs. Indian industry is moving beyond cost advantage to quality, innovation. Jack Welch: India’s intellectual capital is the best value for money globally.

MAKE India award winners 2011: Wipro, eClerx, Infosys, Tata Chemicals, TCS, MindTree, L&T Hydrocarbons (overall winner)

Ganesh Natarajan jokes that the dabbawalas of India and the IT industry made presentations to Prince Charles; the dabbawalas were invited for his wedding, but not the IT industry speaker, me!

Ganesh Natarajan: Knowledge is the baton which will take India to supremacy. Must keep up with the aspirations of the people, which have changed so much since my childhood years. Gen Next demands more, we have to deliver to them. Karnataka/Bangalore is the capital of the knowledge industry of India. Next year we should start an innovation/mentoring programme.

And now a “lightning enlightening” panel with the MAKE India award winners 2011! 50% of the winners are from the non-IT sector; KM is spreading to other sectors now.

Q: What did you do which is different and innovative in KM?

Wipro KEDB (Known Error Data Base): app maintenance and support. Better ticket resolution, addressing incidents, bug fixes. CTI classification. Role-based workflow, social media features. Leverages structured and unstructured knowledge.

eClerx: KM is the biggest enabler for our business. KM works with L&D; cross-leverage each other. Learning and KM are embedded in each other. HR processes build KM into the competency structure; included in appraisals and promotions.

Infosys KM approach: INSPIRE – Induct, eNable, Share, Partner, Integrate, Recognise, Evaluate. Customised programs for freshers and laterals. Gen Y programs should be attractive for them; classroom + cafes, fun approach to KM exposure, online + physical, with games. Create avenues for knowledge flow right down to project level. Partner with other groups (eg. planning, strategy); even using flashmobs.

Tata Chemicals: KM journey over the past 6 years = insights + intelligence + innovation. KM fulcrum: people, process, technology. Framework: Titli ( = butterfly; metaphor: no two are the same, cross-pollination spreads ideas!). Portal: formerly called Gangotri, now re-named K-Connect. Performance dialogues around KPIs. iCare: corporate venturism – suggestions for how to take the company to go to the next level. In sum, KM = LASER: learn, apply, share, explore, re-use.

TCS: Over the years, our aim has to be to embed KM into the organisation, not keep it separate. 1,200 processes identified; mapped them on to KM platform. Benefits – better decision-making, reduced deployment overheads. Integrate KM in delivery (100 meta-data attributes). COIN: Co-Innovation Network (eg. with VCs). In 5 years, nobody should talk about KM separately!

MindTree: Innovate, Collaborate, Reuse. Open, vibrant, thriving culture, built on principles of transparency, trust, volunteerism. Expertise-led, Culture-backed. Key KM thrust: business alignment. Focused KM interventions, community knowledge infrastructure. 70% of MindTree is GenY, 80% in another five years. KM infrastructure for GenY has to be social and technical. We got the order for the Adhar platform. 2009: internal tech show Osmosis showcased; sold a product called Momentum, now in Adhar. Our Intrapreneurship program aims to create $50M value in 5 years. Learnings: Innovation and KM are inseparable. KM uniquely suited for GenY. New focus area: business enablement.

L&T Hydrocarbons: KM used in proposal making, engineering, procurement. Portal: KnowNet. Learning tool – eVidyalay.

Day One wraps up; cocktails and dinner next; mercifully Bangalore traffic will be much less after this late hour…       

by Madanmohan Rao, Editor, The KM Chronicles, http://twitter.com/MadanRao

Bangalore; January 18, 2012; 6-8 pm

The first Bangalore K-Community session of 2012 will begin on a high note, focusing on issues of knowledge and strategy (http://www.Kcommunity.org). This panel discussion will feature eminent speakers addressing questions of KM alignment, organisational vision and knowledge societies. It will be followed by interactive discussions between the panellists and audience.

Topic 1: Is Knowledge Management Losing Sight of the Bigger Picture?

Speaker: Waltraut Ritter

Are some knowledge management initiatives too narrowly focusing on internal operations and not addressing larger questions about the nature and sustainability of the knowledge driving the organisation? This session will discuss the issues regarding ethics, risk, and governance of KM practices which do not address this broader context.

Waltraut Ritter is director with the Asia Pacific Intellectual Capital Centre, a Knowledge Economy Research Centre in Hong Kong. She is also founder-director of Knowledge Dialogues, specializing in innovation, knowledge, and intellectual capital. She has participated in initiatives of the Commonwealth Secretariat, European Commission, UN, Asian Development Bank, OECD and national governments (Finland, India, China and Korea). She is lecturing information science related topics at universities across the Asia Pacific region, including ISIM in Mysore.

Topic 2: Knowledge Strategy for State and Society

Speaker: Dr. M.K. Sridhar, Director, Karnataka Knowledge Commission

Moving from organisations to societies, this talk will focus on how the Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC) aims to increase the state’s competitive advantage in fields of knowledge. This includes educational capacity, indigenous knowledge, and efficient government. The talk will cover KM opportunities for KKC and for the state and society, and the roadmap of KKC.

Dr. M.K. Sridhar is Member Secretary and Executive Director of the KKC. He is a Professor of Management at Bangalore University, and holds a doctoral degree from Mysore University. He has completed projects on entrepreneurial awareness among youth, impact of mass media on adolescent youth and the Study of Interaction between Technical Institutions and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Hosting Organisation:

Unisys India, 135/1, Purva Premiere, Residency Road (Opp. Bangalore Club), Bangalore – 560 025. Phone: 4159 4000 Website: www.unisys.co.in

RSVP & Contact Person:  Randhir.Pushpa@ in.unisys.com Mobile: 99805-73382

by Madanmohan Rao
KM Consultant and Author http://bit.ly/TU12l
http://twitter.com/MadanRao

An interesting read: http://amzn.to/uh4Zhq  The #Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas & Make them Happen: by Boynton & Fischer #innovation

Forbes: Tech Gets Exciting In India, But 5 Years Behind China http://onforb.es/vU684B

Salon: Role of immigrants in US innovation; China, India http://bit.ly/vzWCbM

A terrific read: Peter Sims – “Little Bets: How breakthrough ideas emerge from small discoveries” http://amzn.to/voA6kc  #innovation

Turkey’s rising technopreneurs http://bit.ly/tWlrEk

Excerpt from The Little Black Book of #Innovation: How It Works, How to Do It by Scott D. Anthony http://bit.ly/rNRuZV

Roger Martin: Canada, like #SteveJobs, should zero in on #innovation and not just invention http://bit.ly/tGrH80

Clozette, Skydoor: Singapore firms tap social, 3D video as differentiators (Red Herring Asia Top 100) http://bit.ly/tisd3q

France-Singapore #Innovation Days http://fsid.sg  http://bit.ly/tTe6Dk

Festival of Media Asia sparks dialogue on opportunities in Asia http://festivalofmedia.com/asia http://bit.ly/tO2zU3

IT cos, developers embracing smart tech in Indian cities http://bit.ly/t2Rbi5

Robert Goldsmith: A practical guide to managing #innovation http://bit.ly/v7yDaD

Thomas Friedman: India’s #Innovation Stimulus http://nyti.ms/vtYpc9

India innovator profile: Yashveer Singh http://bit.ly/sC0xPX

India’s ministry of human resource development will launch #Innovation Fellowships to reward talent at school level http://bit.ly/rzBOk8

Edwin Heathcote: Mapping the innovative city http://on.ft.com/ur8oy8  #innovation

Being an #entrepreneur is ‘hot’; target ‘Chindia’ price: Vinod Khosla http://bit.ly/w0VJhy  http://bit.ly/t0GoW9  http://bit.ly/suWtV6

India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to set up eight #innovation complexes http://bit.ly/uHfvk3

Frank Jensen: Cities: The most important engines for growth http://bit.ly/twbrD3  #innovation

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2012 http://bit.ly/vz5Cxw  #Innovation a game-changer, must focus on poverty: India PM http://bit.ly/uxXxNU  http://bit.ly/u2IGCM

National Fair finale of the India #Innovation Initiative (i3) http://bit.ly/ud1df0

http://bit.ly/uokpwe

A good read: What the European Union can learn from India (Manu Joseph) http://nyti.ms/sHf948

Will check, gracias! @olgag Madan, @LarryChiang will be in Bangalore featuring Geeks on a Plane – It might be of interest to U

Learnings from “#Innovation in Education” conference http://bit.ly/tjCq2L

The Atlantic: The 8 Best National #Innovation Practices From Around the World http://bit.ly/t0aeiZ

Profile of 8 Indian Business Professionals/Academics Among Top 50 Thinkers http://bit.ly/sMgo2N

Montreal Gazette: Keeping up with China in science is key to West’s economic future http://bit.ly/upZW28

Richard Alvarez: In health-care #innovation, the future is already here http://bit.ly/sNT8Ia

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invests in radical science #innovation http://bit.ly/rHNJAa

Rowan Gibson: “People’s #innovation key to organisations’ productivity” http://bit.ly/tRHgim

Thomson Reuters Unveils the ‘Top 100 Global Innovators’ Study http://bit.ly/tJx0RY  http://bit.ly/vZU16y  http://usat.ly/tAFyfD

Justin Rattner: It’s Not Your Imagination: Technology Is Moving Faster http://bit.ly/v7VCt9

@TheEconomist Immigrant networks are a rare bright spark in the world economy. Rich countries should welcome them http://econ.st/sz12jo Retweeted by MadanRao

RT @GautamGhosh “In India we have 19th century mindset, 20th century processes and 21st century needs” Sam Pitroda #nhrd11

India NHRD Network’s 15th National #HR Conference: “Live and Breathe the Change http://hrconference2011.com

@futuresagency RT @neilperkin: Dead Fish: ‘From The Wisdom Of Crowds, To The Wisdom Of Friends’ http://bit.ly/u0UXjj

@futuresagency RT @dtapscott: How Online Innovators Are Disrupting #Education

via @HarvardBiz http://ow.ly/7t3wl  #innovation Retweeted by MadanRao

#Infosys Science Prize: Research activity in India declining, need gov + industry support http://bit.ly/sz27MG

Scott Shane: Who Counts As an Entrepreneur? http://bit.ly/tjyoPu

Seminar: ‘Garage’ Start-ups Now Possible in Life Sciences Industry http://bit.ly/u7Do3b

Social Innovation: Lifebuoy soap’s “Global Handwashing Day” http://bit.ly/rMcF4A

Kevin Brown: Economic futures and #ASEAN summit: A fragmented forum http://on.ft.com/vQcjjm

Peter Bakker: Radical change and #innovation is needed to meet the sustainability challenges ahead http://bit.ly/uiZp06

The Knowledge Management Programme: Gyanodyan launched at India’s ONGC http://bit.ly/ui79Sp  #KM

Ramon Barquin: Should the United States Have a Chief Knowledge Management Officer? http://bit.ly/u1zXM6  #KM

The Cloud Of Opportunities: Profile of #cloud startups in India (eg. Wolf Frameworks) http://bit.ly/tWBhTJ

@manveergrewal RT @LucianT: By 2020 the average age in the world:India 27,China 39,US 47.India has a Demographic dividend that’ll payout with skills #WEF

@geertdesager “@vikaspota: Ethical Hacker, Fadia says #YouTube is the largest

training centre of the world #wef @IndiaIncorp” nice quote!

@YGLvoices “The world is changing but we’re stuck with old models. We can’t deal with Complexity and Velocity.” Klaus Schwab #YGL #WEF

@peggy_steele India not-so-quietly ramping up in global competitiveness? “@wef: India leads the world in frugal innovation – Sander Noordende #WEF India”

#WEF Global Shapers Community launches in India (Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi) http://bit.ly/vPhxOa  #entrepreneurship

World Economic Forum, India: press coverage http://bit.ly/rRPkRE http://on.wsj.com/rU8jRX  http://bit.ly/uvU8SD  #WEF

Awesome event, must add it to my list of favourites+regulars! #Alchemix Thx to @InnovAlchemy team! Now off to negotiate Bangalore traffic…

@amritochates Talk around first creating value & money would follow at #alchemix

reminds me of a phrase I read yesterday – ‘Value over valuation’

Shradha: Revenue model is important, but sometimes it emerges later, not apparent in the beginning #Alchemix

Attendee: Pay attention to quality and credibility of social content (especially for corporates) #Alchemix

Infosys attendee: Pay attention to the user experience. Observations, anecdotoes, states, research. #Alchemix

Me: Suggestion to companies using social media – periodically archive your tweets as static pages on your Web site; good for SEO #Alchemix

Looking forward to the brainstorming/feedback session next! #Alchemix

Sidharth/FLOH Network: Even in the age of social media, human connection cannot be replicated #Alchemix

Sidharth/FLOH Network: Use social media to connect urban singles who have passions (eg. blue cheese!) #Alchemix

Maya/Ashoka: Learnings: Original compelling content is king. Interest your staff in creating content. Stay connected w/ community #Alchemix

Maya/Ashoka: We have created an Impact series of interviews/chats with women entrepreneurs #Alchemix

Sati/Ashoka: We organise one FB event every two months, featuring one of our Fellows. #Alchemix

Sati/Ashoka: 50% of our Website traffic comes from social media referrals #Alchemix

Sati: Web site helps us become a key resource for the development community in India. Post-2011: blogs, SEO, stories of Fellows #Alchemix

Sati: Ashoka Foundation has 3K Fellows globally. Our first fellow was elected in India, 30 years ago #Alchemix

Up next: Sati from Ashoka India Foundation http://india.ashoka.org #Alchemix

Maya/Pratham: Success factors for social media: honesty, transparency, resource sharing, collaboration, approachability #Alchemix

Maya/Pratham: Social media helped us discover Radio Mirchi, who also created audio books for us #Alchemix

Maya/Pratham: We used Twitter to get books for children running a mobile library for other underprivileged children in Calcutta #Alchemix

Maya/Pratham: We uploaded audio books for the blind (Soundcloud) — others wanting to learning languages also downloaded them! #Alchemix

Maya/Pratham: Twitter allows us to create conversations about content, win fans/re-tweeters, and network with publishers #Alchemix

Maya/Pratham: But look beyond the numbers in social media, look at level of engagement also. #Alchemix

Pratham Books: We have about 4K+ Twitter followers, 140K blog pageviews, 2.5K FB followers, 4K Youtube video views #Alchemix

Nathalia: What worked for mDhil – blending SEO with social media (eg. for YouTube videos) #Alchemix

Nathalia: We have used Facebook ads, Twitter to build a community of healthcare fans #Alchemix

Coming up: Social #Innovation Awards 2012 http://socialinnovationawards.com

McKinsey Invites Social Innovators to Present their Ideas http://bit.ly/tIw74F

Globalisation: Nathália Matychevicz, Social Media Manager of Bangalore-based mDhil, is from Recife/Brasil! #Alchemix

Board of directors of mDhil includes Ganesh Rengaswamy, founder of http://TravelGuru.com  #Alchemix

Entrepreneurial team of mDhil: http://mdhil.com/aboutus/   #Alchemix

mdhil.com – Indian + Brasilian teamplayers. Healthcare info via #SMS #Alchemix

mDhil: Societal impact can be created by SEO and social media in the healthcare industry Shradha: I even got Sushmita Sen on my site! But some called me opportunistic. I let those comments stay, and earned goodwill #Alchemix

Shradha: We have 3,500 stories so far, many are successful. Power of social media: be helpful, be maniacal/psychotic/passionate! #Alchemix

Shradha: Long term gain – successful startups will reward me later! India can be a giving culture #Alchemix

Shardha: Some flak I got – “You are doing just PR,” “These startups will fail in a few months” #Alchemix

Shradha: Though I didn’t make money in the beginning, it was gratifying to air/voice stories about entrepreneurs #Alchemix

Shradha: Startups which are not yet successful need a voice. Online was a feasible channel as compared to a print magazine #Alchemix

Shradha Sharma launched http://YourStory.in  when she realised how badly startups need good media coverage in their early stages #Alchemix

Terrific initiative by #InnovAlchemy and @DREAMIN_Team, thanks! http://InnovationAlchemy.com/alchemix2011  #Alchemix

Speakers today: Shradha Sharma (@YourStoryDotIn), mDhil (@mHealthTips), Maya (@PrathamBooks), @AshokaIndia, #FLOHnetwork  #Alchemix

Theme for #Alchemix 4: “Social Energy: An #Innovation Ingredient?”

How do innovators/entrepreneurs use social media/networks?

#Alchemix 4th session kicks off in Bangalore: “an active community of innovation practice” Webcast: http://bit.ly/v9WTiU

Winners of the African Social Venture Prize at the #AfricaCom 2011 Awards http://bit.ly/s9lYgk

Youth and #ICT4D: The World Summit Awards (Youth) – winners for 2011 http://youthaward.org/winners-2011

@beastoftraal The China Startup Report http://slidesha.re/szpL6U  /via @Aniketh Good backgrounder for those in #nasscompc

My #INMA South Asia presentation on “Social+Mobile Media Opportunities for Newspapers” http://bit.ly/uW88f4

INMA South Asia Conference, Bangalore: Roots and Wings of News Industry: Presentations and Pics: http://bit.ly/uW88f4  http://bit.ly/t3gHYd

@futuresagency RT @mtrends: The 20 Most Innovative Startups In Tech according @businessinsider http://ow.ly/1A6FjK  via @SAI

@YourStorydotin #India’s Billion Dollar Bet On The Next Decade Of

#Software http://your.st/rJU4m2  #NASSCOMPC

Looking forward to the Alchemix session tomorrow on #Innovation and Social Networking! Bangalore, Nov 12 http://bit.ly/tF8vdZ

Sarad Sharma: India is a hub of successful IT service companies. Can it be a hub of product cos as well? http://bit.ly/rWAh87  #NASSCOMpc

Vinod Khosla: “Try and fail, but do not fail to try” http://bit.ly/w0VJhy  #NASSCOMpc

Vivek Paul: Indian start-ups should be talking to one another http://bit.ly/t5a6HU  #NASSCOMpc

Ten Indian Products Which Clicked At NASSCOM Product Conclave LaunchPad http://bit.ly/skFeiE  #NASSCOMpc

NASSCOM: Indian software services industry earnings = $76-billion, product companies earnings = $2 billion http://bit.ly/sk1hbd  #NASSCOMpc

@wadhwa: Great meeting you! Here are the books I was referring to: http://bit.ly/TU12l  http://netChakra.net  Happy reading! #NASSCOMpc

@shelisrael Entrepreneurs here are frustrated w/not getting media coverage. They also seem impatient with the necessary process #nasscomPC Retweeted by MadanRao

@ServiceSutra Agree: @vijayanands A deer with the imagination of a tiger is a dangerous thing. #nasscompc Retweeted by MadanRao

@ConnectHarshal If you can’t invent, copy with a twist! #nasscompc Retweeted by MadanRao

Naveen Jain: Think big! You can’t create a billion dollar company by solving a million dollar problem #NASSCOMpc

Naveen Jain: Disruptive innovations never come from incumbent experts, but from outside the mainstream industry #NASSCOMpc

Naveen Jain: My philosophy of entrepreneurial philanthropy: social startups should be scaleable, sustainable #NASSCOMpc

Naveen Jain: God has been kind to us, I am just a trustee of his kindness and should give back to society #NASSCOMpc

Naveen Jain: Indian univs should focus on creating entrepreneurs, not just jobs; jobs will follow #NASSCOMpc

Naveen Jain: The two big product opportunities in India now are education, healthcare. Next: space, genetics #NASSCOMpc

Naveen Jain (InfoSpace, Intelius, Moon Express): There is a huge opportunity for Indian startups to build apps on top of Aadhar #NASSCOMpc

Vivek Wadhwa: Next big opportunity – healthcare IT, with a mix of tech skills, low cost sensors+tablets. Perfect for Bangalore! #NASSCOMpc

Vivek Wadhwa: I know Kapil Sibal and his cronies are crooks, but the concept of Aakash tablets is good, don’t dismiss it #NASSCOMpc

Vivek Wadhwa: It is a pity successful Indian entrepreneurs like Narayana Murthy have not given back to society, to local startups #NASSCOMpc

#AfricaCom 2011 Awards winners: Orange Surf and Pay, Helios Towers, Ericsson Rural NetCo, Skyvision, Seacom, AgaSha, Kachile, HRIS, MTN SA!

Shortlisted nominees for #AfricaCom 2011 Awards http://africacomawards.com/shortlist/  Am looking for good case studies (projects/services/innovation) for my Africa Mobile Report 2012; see earlier reports – http://bit.ly/leLR1g  #AfricaCom

Speaker lineup: NASSCOM Product Conclave, Bangalore; Nov 9-10 http://bit.ly/rKby7v  http://bit.ly/uOOIlh

@treyka Carl Sagan was born 72 years ago today. I like to think he’s still out there somewhere in his Spaceship of the Imagination. RIP, man. Retweeted by MadanRao

Jim Downie, Jane McKenzie: “It’s time to get social at work” (social media and #KM) http://tinyurl.com/bvldsxo

Gartner on social media and knowledge management #KM http://bit.ly/uqjHCL

Walmart to start innovation lab in India; likely to woo talent from Amazon, Google and Yahoo http://bit.ly/sTRG9m

Kartik Hosanagar, UPenn, on Internet startups in India http://bit.ly/sDA9iL

World Innovation Summit for Education (Qatar, Nov 1-3) http://wise-qatar.org

South Africa: Cell C and Google Launch Business Incubator http://allafrica.com

South Africa director wins digital innovation prize for mobile concept http://bit.ly/rQwlVl

INMA Conference, Bangalore, Nov 7-8: Innovation and growth in the news industry, challenges/opportunities for newspapers, digital strategy

Looking forward to my session at the INMA conference on social media & news! Bangalore, Nov 7 http://bit.ly/sptkl6  http://inma.org

Goa ThinkFest (@goathinkfest): Forum for cutting edge ideas from all over the world. November 4/5/6 in Goa http://goathinkfest.com

RT @isoc_bangalore: “Yahoo India R&D is very strategic to Yahoo globally” – come hear from Yahoo India at Bangalore INET conference Nov

@isoc_bangalore Economist magazine profile of India’s ecommerce leader Flipkart – come hear them at Bangalore INET conference, Nov 4! http://economist.com/node/21532445 Retweeted by MadanRao

Looking forward to my panel and social media workshop at Bangalore’s INET conference, Nov 4-6! http://inet.isocbangalore.org

My Bangalore K-Community blogpost: How to sustain Knowledge Management initiatives in the long term http://km.techsparks.com/?p=282 #KM

Knowledge management challenges: preliminary results from the Knowledge Management Observatory Global 2011 Survey http://bit.ly/txP2WF  #KM

@isoc_bangalore Snapdeal.com wins Red Herring Asia Awards 2011; come hear them speak at Bangalore INET conference Nov 4! http://inet.isocbangalore.org

Snapdeal.com wins Red Herring Asia Awards 2011 http://bit.ly/sl9lAd

Thai netizens get creative with flood survival techniques http://bit.ly/v49vPM

by Madanmohan Rao
KM Consultant and Author http://bit.ly/TU12l
http://twitter.com/MadanRao

My Bangalore K-Community blogpost: Knowledge and #Innovation Management: Sustaining and Scaling Initiatives #KM http://km.techsparks.com/?p=282
Thanks tweeple for more terrific feedback; have updated my concept note: iBrew #Innovation Cafe Network! http://km.techsparks.com/?p=295
Finalists: 2011 Red Herring 100 Asia Award – Most Innovative Companies http://bit.ly/nggVix
Most can see other peoples faults. A few can see other peoples virtues. And two or three can even see their own shortcomings. – Sanskrit proverb
Hany Nada, Founding Partner, GGV Capital: “fans are more valuable than recorded music” http://tinyurl.com/3b9s327
Mike Elgan: Why Microsoft’s vision of the future will really happen http://bit.ly/rWT44g
Steven Levy on Facebook, Spotify and the Future of Music http://bit.ly/ssNHLR
Tweeting the Universe: Tiny Explanations of Very Big Ideas (Marcus Chown, Govert Schilling) http://bit.ly/sAAja3
Art Spiegelman On The Future of the Book http://bit.ly/uZ79Wu
Ken Wheaton and Art Murray – The continuing saga of the knowledge librarian http://bit.ly/vjxNPH
DHL Introduces Global Open #Innovation Competition on City Logistics http://bit.ly/mQmw7n
Speaker lineup for Green IT #Innovation Dinner Series, South Africa http://bit.ly/rdak7j
Shiv VIshwanathan on understanding #SteveJobs: http://bit.ly/qjuMky Eccentric v/s managerial aspects of creativity
Paddy Rao, Infosys: Don’t you want to know what you “know?” (#KM environment + tools) http://onforb.es/okrdl4
MAKE winner quotes: Infosys, Tata, Woods Bagot, ADB #KM http://bit.ly/qWrAVp http://bit.ly/pX4LZG http://bit.ly/r05Y1A http://bit.ly/nuduJC
Teleos Names Asia’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE Awards, Asia, 2011) #KM http://bit.ly/oUMFAj
Dubai conference: ‘Managing Knowledge and Innovation for Sustainable Development in the Arab World’ Oct 23 #KM http://bit.ly/n9lHWZ
Knowledge Communities: Sharepoint Strategies for Knowledge Management #KM http://bit.ly/mPPbx4
New words I learned today: sustainovation, eduneering, tryvertising!
Singapore Aims To Become Space Powerhouse; Attract Young Engineering Talent http://bit.ly/nBHZOW
Thanks to Pavan Soni for highlighting importance of #innovation in organisational knowledge initiatives! http://pavansoni.net
Thanks to guest panelist Jeff Stemke, ex-KM head, Chevron, for sharing their knowledge journey! #KM http://km.techsparks.com/?p=282
Thx to speakers from Wipro, Infosys, Thoughtworks, Mindtree for superb K-Community panel on sustaining knowledge/innovation management! #KM
Looking forward to chairing the Bangalore K-Community meetup today: Knowledge and Innovation Management #KM http://km.techsparks.com/?p=282
Bangalore K-Community meetup, Oct 19: Knowledge and Innovation Management: Sustaining and Scaling Initiatives #KM http://km.techsparks.com/?p=282
fn Frederick Noronha  by MadanRao
Old Konkani saying: When you stop changing, you stop growing. (Original from Domnic PF Fernandes’ Dispott’ttem Chintop, Daily Thoughts)
fn Frederick Noronha  by MadanRao
Old Konkani saying: He who doesn’t look ahead, stays behind. (Original from Domnic PF Fernandes’ Dispott’ttem Chintop, Daily Thoughts)
JulianoGimenez Juliano Gimenez  by MadanRao
RT @euopeninnovatio: Open Innovation, Closed Innovation and Related Terms http://bit.ly/nqAlO2 #innovation
Alok Das on open #innovation in the air force http://bit.ly/nFskUi
Economist Innovation Awards 2011 http://www.economistconferences.co.uk/innovation/home
Diabetics Look to #Crowdsourcing For Better Medication http://bit.ly/nLYow6
US White House to #Crowdsource Ideas For Improving Websites http://bit.ly/oMxeF2
Dun & Bradstreet on the Value of Researched vs. Crowdsourced Data http://rww.to/qCElec
SocialAttire.com to Use #Crowdsourcing to Help Fledgling Fashion Designers http://bit.ly/mZElLr
#Lego makes #crowdsourcing platform global http://bit.ly/o7ri7o
#Crowdsourcing: In search of beautiful minds http://thetim.es/pdVxau
PC Magazine: The Wisdom of #Crowdsourcing http://tinyurl.com/6lbxxwh
#Crowdsourcing science: how gamers are changing scientific discovery http://bit.ly/piyDiq
99designs: #Crowdsourcing Design Site Launches in Canada http://tinyurl.com/5snaxlx
Googles Dead Sea Scrolls is latest #crowdsourcing project http://tinyurl.com/3btbmfs
Hatforce: #Crowdsourcing Meets Vulnerability Testing http://tinyurl.com/3z4m4oc
#YouTube launches Space Lab, the latest in #crowdsourcing academia http://wapo.st/n77l3k
How film-makers use #crowdsourcing http://bit.ly/q1TmHm
“A leap in the dark”: Guardian newspaper goes into #crowdsourcing news policy http://bit.ly/n4gLUz http://bit.ly/necQ1N http://tinyurl.com/5vhstct
Near-Earth Asteroid Discovered via #Crowdsourcing http://bit.ly/oBSOE1
Dennis Ritchie: Remembering Another Computing Genius (Unix, C) http://bit.ly/qmeMrP http://bit.ly/pOLuhX
Information Week: 10 Smart Enterprise Uses For #Twitter http://bit.ly/oXiOfk
#Twitter used as a tool to map epidemics http://bit.ly/qppBGd
ParnaSarkar Parna Sarkar-Basu  by MadanRao
RT @CommunispaceCEO: The Rise of Customer-Driven #Innovation http://mashable.com/2011/10/13/crowdsource-consumers/
Manthan 2011 Awards for best e-Content in South Asia: http://manthanAward.org An honour to be on the jury again!
RT @KumarSinha 450+ valid Nominations, 20+ Jurors, deliberating over the next two days.This @ManthanAward 2011 Grand Jury is a special one!
India winners of MAKE Asia awards: Infosys, L&T Hydrocarbon, MindTree, Tata Chemicals, TCS, Wipro Technologies #KM
MindTree Wins Asian Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) Award for Fourth Consecutive Year #KM http://bit.ly/qSGWkj
The World’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises: 2011 Global MAKE Finalists #KM http://bit.ly/mOS5p5
North America’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises: 2011 North America MAKE Finalists #KM http://bit.ly/p95K2i
Iran’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises: 2011 Iran MAKE Finalists #KM http://bit.ly/rdPEUW
Europe’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises: 2011 Europe MAKE Finalists #KM http://bit.ly/r6v8NF
Asia’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises: 2011 Asia MAKE Finalists #KM http://bit.ly/pbkK3Q
Indonesia’s Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises: 2011 Indonesian MAKE Winners #KM http://bit.ly/nzsVA6
#BASF experience of #innovation and research in China http://on.wsj.com/pVcd8n
Russian #startups in Moscow’s Skolkovo IT Cluster http://buswk.co/pVNSb2
Malaysia Star: The father of Post-it Notes, Geoffrey C. Nicholson, shares the #3M philosophy of #innovation http://bit.ly/pw6cDF
Steve Denning: We are in the The Great Disruption + The Big Shift http://onforb.es/pm2eyT
Haydn Shaughnessy on #innovation in harder times and in emerging economies http://onforb.es/oMelyH
“No dearth of technopreneurs, but funds and IP ownership lacking in Singapore” http://bit.ly/pT004h
RT @IndianProverbs “Listen to popular opinion but follow your own mind.” – Marathi proverb
MarketWatch: Perhaps a revisionist view of #SteveJobs will focus more on his shortcomings http://tinyurl.com/3jq8glq
lorievela Lorie Vela   by MadanRao
The “Big Five” IT trends of the next half decade http://owl.li/6Lquf #social #mobile #data #km
Content management and #KM in the insurance sector (KM World magazine) http://bit.ly/rk0tgD
Steve Denning: Can Higher Education Be Fixed? The Innovative University http://onforb.es/pXmNPS
CSC Receives ‘Best-Practice Partner’ Award for Knowledge Management from APQC http://bit.ly/rtd9bO #KM
Knowledge management in Australia: Parsons Brinckerhoff Asia Pacific wins actKMs Gold Award http://bit.ly/pEEwpv #KM
What would #SteveJobs have said about knowledge management and #innovation management? Bangalore K-Community will discuss on Oct 19 eve! #KM
Finalists for India’s NASSCOM EMERGE 50 Awards for 2011: Growth, #Innovation, Startups http://bit.ly/nwCwtA
Young Turks cashing in on Internet boom in India http://bit.ly/ni8Sqk
Mobile #innovations: annual and weekly awards http://www.ideasproject.com
#SteveJobs: “wired to a uniquely California culture, prizing intuition, creativity, community and risk-taking” http://huff.to/oG2Qtg
V. Sumantran on #innovation at Ashok-Leyland http://bit.ly/rgABLN
Cross-border #innovation networks: India, Chile http://bit.ly/nTFVoh
In Flip-Flops and Jeans, He’s the Unconventional Venture Capitalist http://goo.gl/oTGnl #startup #entrepreneur
“In a post #SteveJobs world, there is no longer an excuse for large corporations to be less bold than start-ups” http://bit.ly/nL6vgC
grazianig Gianni Graziani  by MadanRao
@GuyKawasaki: Pixar gang bids farewell to Steve Jobs http://is.gd/MQBNq3 #rememberingstevejobs #Stevejobs
Deron Kershaw: How Apple turned the fountain of US youth into a fountain of cash http://bit.ly/n9jnNH
DigitalTrends: “Without #SteveJobs, Im convinced that the phone industry would still be a complete mess right now” http://bit.ly/nobGyJ
#SteveJobs: legacy “the poetic aspect of the entire enterprise,” beyond commodity http://nyti.ms/nxP7FE
Justin Fenner on #SteveJobs and his black turtlenecks! http://bit.ly/r47hHf http://bit.ly/pxcIGl
Adel Zakout: Top 10 Tech Company Office Spaces http://huff.to/nn6ebM
Slate: Did Dropping Acid Make #SteveJobs More Creative? http://slate.me/pYbbly
Buzz and celebrity music stars: impacts on Apple iPod brand http://bit.ly/r13Wu7 #SteveJobs
USA Today on what brand values Apple must continue to focus on http://usat.ly/n35Voc #SteveJobs
Anne McIlory: The minds of creative geniuses, like #SteveJobs, remain a scientific mystery http://bit.ly/otNVX4
Nathaniel Borenstein (creator of the MIME e-mail standard) on #SteveJobs http://bit.ly/qImgdJ
Guardian on technology and human emotion: Why do some people really hate Apple? http://bit.ly/nxT0bC #SteveJobs
ashrafamr Amr Ashraf  by MadanRao
Steve Jobs saved technology from itself – CNN.com http://bit.ly/nPGZfE #cnn #stevejobs #technology #apple #mac #internet #computers #rip
#SteveJobs Impact on Asia’s Technology Industry: contract manufacturing jobs, design http://on.wsj.com/mVgyxc
Brian Ardinger, Digital Screenmedia Association, on #SteveJobs http://bit.ly/mPnX37
Even geniuses arent perfect: Apple products created under the direction of #SteveJobs that flopped http://nyp.st/nDrChF
Stewart Brand, Founder, Whole Earth Catalog, on #SteveJobs http://bit.ly/n2MSYa
#SteveJobs: Ad/Filmmaking Industry Reflections http://bit.ly/q5Djv1 “The Apple Store is probably the best ad Apple has ever done”
Horace Dediu: #SteveJobs brought engineering processes to works of creativity and the creative process to engineering http://bit.ly/rtA10Y
Tributes to #SteveJobs – but also critiques of proprietary systems http://bit.ly/qmknAv
Christian Lindholm: The design genius of #SteveJobs http://bit.ly/orjlVF
Profile of Auguste Rodin: “perhaps the most sensual of all sculptors” http://bit.ly/qTw0hQ
#SteveJobs design legacy more than just than a pretty phone: architecture, fashion http://bit.ly/onS8Vm
Joan Muller: How #SteveJobs changed the automobile industry http://onforb.es/oLSMTw
#SteveJobs in 1997-2011: design talents, software prowess, Asian manufacturing http://buswk.co/qgNwaU (Business Week)
Blair Leven: #SteveJobs: The Black Swan CEO http://politi.co/qIAKzL
#SteveJobs: His 10 Best Quotes about art and creativity (WPost) http://wapo.st/rls0II
“The most beautiful, marvellous creation on earth is not the computer, but the person using it” (Guardian) http://bit.ly/oyJsin #SteveJobs
Regional #innovation: #SteveJobs Is Part Of One Big San Francisco Bay Area Family http://bit.ly/ncyKyR
Next: Will #Apple and other companies be able to transform television? http://bit.ly/rcbH96 #SteveJobs
Global entrepreneurship: Singapore as a Chinese/Western hub http://bit.ly/pv9oAY
#ThankYouSteve: Twitter outpouring for #SteveJobs http://lat.ms/ooBazB http://cnet.co/qaXAxw
#SteveJobs: Mainstream culture + counter-culture http://nyti.ms/nqP8RF
mikejulietbravo Mike Briercliffe  by MadanRao
Tim Berners-Lee used a NeXT Computer in 1991 to create the first web browser and web server. #Stevejobs Source: Wikipedia
digimindci Digimind  by MadanRao
Fantastic re-working of the Apple logo by 19yr old in tribute to #stevejobs http://ow.ly/6P3jJ
dweinberger David Weinberger  by MadanRao
A no-BS, insightful, respectful obit by @dsearls of #stevejobs. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2011/10/05 .
ZimmerJohn John Zimmer  by MadanRao
RT @ThisIsSethsBlog Seth’s Blog: A eulogy of action http://bit.ly/rjCyRe #SteveJobs
Always a terrific motivational speech: #SteveJobs Stanford commencement speech 2005 http://bit.ly/nPlSqR (video) http://bit.ly/ranmsJ (text)
More #SteveJobs tributes and insights http://bit.ly/mQmQfS http://bloom.bg/pt8aDf
“For the people’s obituary of #SteveJobs, look on #Twitter.” http://yhoo.it/nKp0XQ
Yunus_Centre Muhammad Yunus  by MadanRao
RIP #SteveJobs . You will be remembered as one of the most creative geniuses the world has ever seen. http://goo.gl/2lDgZ
MafazAlSuwaidan Mafaz Al-Suwaidan  by MadanRao
I am saddened by the death of every creative soul that has contributed to the advancement of humanity.. #SteveJobs you will not be forgotten
TelegraphNews Daily Telegraph News  by MadanRao
#SteveJobs great quotes: “I wish Bill Gates well… I only wish that he had dropped acid at some time.” http://tgr.ph/vtD4zY
billhicks_movie Paul & Matt  by MadanRao
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. – Arthur Schopenhauer #BillHicks #SteveJobs
More Steve Jobs tributes, from #TIME magazine to #Twitter http://ti.me/pVeMxg http://bit.ly/qSNw1q
mashable Pete Cashmore  by MadanRao
“Steve Jobs was the greatest inventor since Thomas Edison. He put the world at our fingertips ~ Steven Spielberg – http://on.mash.to/oc9CJF
More Jobs insights http://bit.ly/nGOXaI wapo.st/p7XM8R http://bit.ly/ruMcQQ http://bit.ly/pRLtuQ
More Jobs tributes bbc.in/pEMsYj http://huff.to/mQ8j6B http://wapo.st/omlr5i http://tgr.ph/mPb7Z0 http://cnet.co/nq7KQ5
HuffingtonPost Huffington Post  by MadanRao
Steve Jobs remembered through incredible mosaics http://huff.to/qGUCTQ
MikeBloomberg Mike Bloomberg  by MadanRao
Steve Jobs saw the future and brought it to life long before most people could even see the horizon http://bit.ly/nxI3N4
RT @IndianProverbs “He who does not fall does not rise.” – Hindi proverb
Quotes from late Apple founder Steve Jobs http://bit.ly/n6VQAH
RIP Steve Jobs http://bit.ly/o715O6 http://nyti.ms/pLhwUu http://bit.ly/pvTUM6 http://on.wsj.com/rihD0t http://on.msnbc.com/nIiPC8
 

by Madanmohan Rao

http://twitter.com/MadanRao

Email: madan@techsparks .com
October 16, 2011

Given the rapid pace of innovation across socio-economic sectors and the global potential of emerging innovations, the time is ripe for a worldwide chain of iBrew Innovation Cafes (“iBrew” = innovation + coffee/beer!).

The Cafes will focus on commercial as well as developmental aspects of innovation. Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood have built on rock and Hollywood themes — the iBrew Innovation Cafes will use a similar model for the domain of local and global innovation. The iBrew Cafes will facilitate innovation within a range of sectors, promote inter-disciplinary innovation, and popularise the innovation message among mainstream audiences as well.

Each iBrew Innovation Café will be a café – think Starbucks or Hard Rock Café – but with important additions. Each iBrew Innovation Cafe will be a gathering spot for the local innovation ecosystem: startups, students, investors, policymakers, service providers, academics and civil society.

The Café will host networking and capacity-building events, display photos of innovators/innovations from around the world, highlight inspirational quotes for entrepreneurs, play videos of innovation, exhibit and sell books by innovation experts, promote local and international innovation conferences, provide directory services of local innovators/investors, and serve an international mix of food and beverages. Each iBrew Innovation Cafe will also have an online social media component and facilitate meetups, eg. between local innovators and visiting global investors.

Each Cafe will have separate meeting rooms for breakout sessions and private functions. In addition to informal gatherings, there will be formal events organised according to a specific programming calendar. Weekly themes will address innovation in different sectors (eg. Internet, energy) different phases of innovation (eg. starting up, prototyping, exit strategy), and the role of investors and government. Formats will range from panel discussions and brainstorming sessions to startup pitches and unconferences/barcamps. There will also be monthly and annual special events (eg. Annual Innovation Conference).

The retail Café chain in different cities will also be networked via social media, thus facilitating regional roadshows of investors and startups, sponsorship across countries, and a petri-dish for analysing innovation trends. The retail operation will be profitable as a café by itself; the innovation component will open up new revenue streams. This model will vary with maturity and diversity of innovation in different cities around the world. Each city will start off with only one iBrew Café, with more added depending on demand. The Cafes will perhaps be best suited for emerging economies, but eventually will have a place in all innovation hotspots.

Across the world, there is growing appetite for innovation, spurred by startups, investors, government incubators and universities. Globalisation is going hand in hand with local and cross-border innovation, thanks to migration, business travel, budget airlines, the Internet and book series such as the “Entrepreneur Guides” for specific countries. The iBrew Innovation Cafes will play an important cultural and business role in this new ecosystem of knowledge flows.

The Cafes will not only attract entrepreneurs but also reach out to mainstream society to spread the energy and message of innovation. Even people who do not think of themselves as innovators will leave the place feeling creative and inspired. Innovation communication and design thinking, after all, should target not just innovators but all of society.

The Cafes will therefore be located in ‘main street’ areas. (There will also be related iBrew Cafes set up within corporate and university/college campuses; other versions will be in schools, to bring the social energy of innovation right down to younger ages.)

Sample weekly programming calendar in each Cafe: Monday (mobile/Internet/ICTs), Tuesday (healthcare/agriculture), Wednesday (investors/VCs/incubators), Thursday (education/learning/HR), Friday (automotive/manufacturing), Saturday (media/entertainment/arts), Sunday (urban/rural, energy, governance).

Monthly features: Mobile Monday, Women Entrepreneurs, Social Entrepreneurship Panel, National Innovation Agenda Roundtable, Government Services Innovation, Public-Private-People Partnerships roundtable, Corporate Intrapreneurship, Country Spotlight (eg. focus on Singapore, Finland, Canada, Germany, Estonia, Australia, Brasil, South Africa, South Korea), book launch/signing.

Special Features (once a year): iBrew Innovation Festival (local), iBrew Innovation Awards (local + national).
Publications/Research: Annual iBrew Innovation Report; white papers released by consulting firms, VCs, government agencies, UN/World Bank.

Branding tagline: “iBrew Café: We brew innovation”

Everything about the Café experience will evoke the word ‘innovation.’ A strong innovative design ethic will be built into each and every element of the retail Cafes: beverages, furniture, cutlery, music, interiors, seating formats, activities, employee dress codes. This will also bring in the local creative community to showcase their designs, and be a possible source of sponsorships and awards (eg. Funky Furniture!).

Each Café will become a magnet for local design, media, tech and business students who will get a chance to showcase their work and ideas in the design of the Café (eg. posters on innovation advances in biology, checklists for organisational innovation teams, daily quiz competitions on innovation, interactive touchscreen exhibits). Parents will be attracted to the Cafés to learn about creative thinking techniques for children and teens; seniors will also be invited to share their interpretations of key innovations over their lifetimes.

Each city will highlight its local and international innovations in the local iBrew Cafe. This local angle will make the Café attractive to government agencies who want to promote local innovation achievements to a broader audience, attract foreign investors/entrepreneuers, and nurture local innovation talent.

Unlike other hubs which focus only on technology or social causes, the iBrew Cafes will span the whole spectrum of sectors and thus encourage inter-disciplinary innovation and cross-fertilisation of ideas. The Cafes will thus have a more informal air than incubators, and a more serious air than a normal café.

The Cafes will address not just technology innovation but also creative achievements in culture (eg. musical genres, creative movie directors), agriculture (eg. farming techniques), education (eg. teaching styles for children) and governance (eg. co-creation of energy grids).

Phase I may begin with iBrew Innovation Cafes in three cities in India: say Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Phase II will expand to five other cities (covering all five continents), and Phase III will cover 100 cities.

OK, maybe that is getting ahead of the story a little bit! But if you are interested as an investor, partner, advisor, manager, sponsor, event organiser, talent scout, government ministry, tech/business academic, or business journalist – drop me a line!

Status Update: October 21
(1) The domain name iBrewCafe.com and Twitter account @iBrewCafe have been registered.
(2) Expressions of interest in setting up iBrew Innovation Cafes have been received from Bangalore, Delhi, Dhaka, Bangkok, Singapore and Dublin; more to come!
(3) I have received 300+ emails over the two days since I sent out tweets/emails; thanks to all for the suggestions, keep them coming!