A number of companies are experimenting with internal crowdfunding. This has the potential to be a successful way to spark innovation and evaluate employee-generated ideas.
Given the attention that crowdfunding and Kickstarter have had in the media over the past two years, it is surprising that more large enterprises have not experimented with crowdfunding internally with employees.
Ideation platforms, where employees can contribute suggestions and ideas and then vote on the best ones to implement, are now commonplace in both large and small companies. Some of these schemes have been in place for over a decade.
Similarly, arguing the business case for your own initiative is now part of corporate culture, and some organisations have an “innovation” fund for new projects which may be regarded as extraordinary spend, above and beyond normal functional or departmental budgets.
With idea management widespread and pitching for funding part a frequent activity, perhaps enterprise crowdfunding is not such a huge cultural leap.
The advantages of internal crowdfunding
The advantage of distributing some budget for the employees to back different projects is it greatly increases the influence of the workforce and each individual on which initiatives are actually taken forward.
In traditional idea management schemes, a committee tends to sift through the most popular projects, but internal crowdfunding means there is a potentially deeper sense of involvement for all employees.
In turn this means more considered participation, better proposals, deeper engagement through the process (particularly if there are incentives), more ongoing feedback and the diffusion of an innovative culture.
Read more →
Using social network analysis to uncover authority and centrality
By Ross DawsonAs reflected by the title of this blog, networks have long been at the heart of how I see the world.
I have applied the tools and approaches of network analysis to a wide variety of domains, including organizational analysis, industry analysis, client relationship analysis, influence networks, sales and innovation networks, high-performance personal networks, and far more.
Much of my work today is helping organizations and senior executives to think effectively about the future, so as to set and implement effective strategies for success. However network analysis is an invaluable complement to that work, applying it as a tool to help improve performance.
In a networked world, we must understand the networks in which we are embedded.
On RossDawson.com I have just published a brief piece Futurists on Twitter: An analysis of network centrality and authority.
The chart showing the network analysis is shown below, uncovering authority and centrality among futurists on Twitter. Zoom in by clicking on the image.
Read the article for full details on the analysis.
Futurists on Twitter: An analysis of network centrality and authority
By Ross DawsonSince the 1990s I have been applying network analysis to help understand the development of technology, business, and society. In 2002 I wrote the book Living Networks to describe how networks are moving to the center of our world.
Over the years I have analyzed the network characteristics of many domains, including organizations, industries, influence, business relationships, innovation, decision-making and more. I am now coming back to spend more time exploring how network analysis can provide us with useful insights.
To kick off a forthcoming series of network analyses, we have done an analysis of prominent futurists on Twitter who are included on my Futurists Twitter list.
Here is an image of the analysis, with an explanation below.
Click for a detailed zoomable image
Each node in the graph represents a futurist’s twitter profile. A line connecting two nodes represents a follower relationship. On average each user follows and is followed by 37 other people.
Two important concepts in social network analysis are authority and centrality .
Authority reflects importance based on quality and connectedness of followers.
Centrality is a broader concept, reflecting the time it takes for a message sent by that user to reach everyone in the network. More connections mean faster propagation and higher centrality.
In this chart centrality is shown by color (green most central) and authority by the size of the node. As these are related concepts, nodes with the same color tend to have similar size.
The network is fairly well connected, showing a relatively “flat” social structure with no established hierarchy.
The 40 highest authority Twitter profiles in the network are:
@iftf – Institute for the Future
@WorldFutureSoc – World Future Society
@rossdawson – Ross Dawson
@gleonhard – Gerd Leonhard
@DefTechPat – Patrick Tucker
@Urbanverse – Cindy Frewen
@VenessaMiemis – Venessa Miemis
@cshirky – Clay Shirky
@cascio – Jamais Cascio
@bruces – Bruce Sterling
@mitchbetts – Mitch Betts
@frankspencer – Frank Spencer
@futuryst – Stuart Candy
@johnmsmart – John Smart
@Geofutures – Josh Calder
@ThomasFrey – Thomas Frey
@doctorow – Cory Doctorow
@heathervescent – Heather Schlegel
@psaffo – Paul Saffo
@MareeConway – Maree Conway
@dunagan23 – Jake Dunagan
@jenjarratt – Jennifer Jarratt
@kevin2kelly – Kevin Kelly
@wendyinfutures – Wendy L Schultz
@patrickdixon – Patrick Dixon
@Joi – Joi Ito
@GreatDismal – William Gibson
@futuristpaul – Paul Higgins
@futuramb – P A Martin Börjesson
@kristinalford – Kristin Alford
@nraford – Noah Raford
@avantgame – Jane McGonigal
@DavidBrin – David Brin
@jhagel – John Hagel
@fastfuture – Rohit Talwar
@singularityhub – Singularity Hub
@singularityu – SingularityU
@futureguru – Dr. James Canton
@timeguide – Ian Pearson
@FutureCon – Future Conscience
We will later post some further network analyses of futurists using some different analytic approaches
Why social media oversharing may NOT ruin your career
By Ross DawsonAt the launch of the Safeguarding the Future of Digital Australia in 2025 report I authored for McAfee, part of Intel Security, a question came up about the implications of social media indiscretions.
Angus Kidman of Lifehacker describes my response in an article Will Social Media Indiscretions Really Wreck Your Career?
This is not a new thought. Back in 2007 women’s magazine Madison ran a piece on the dangers of social media sharing quoting me. In those days it was important to highlight the risks of oversharing, as many people hadn’t yet fully grasped the implications of what they share online.
Read more →
Our reputation, personal opportunities, and identity will be shaped by social media
By Ross DawsonThis morning was the launch of the Safeguarding the Future of Digital Australia 2025 that I wrote and compiled for McAfee, part of Intel Security.
There has been a very strong response to the report, with so far good articles in The Australian, Dynamic Business, WA Today, and many others, and the Federal Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull saying “Intel Security’s report makes a major contribution to our understanding of how to safeguard Australians online and into the future.”
Parliamentary Secretary for Communications Paul Fletcher spoke at the report’s launch at Parliament House, drawing particular attention to the tagline we created for the Future of Social section:
Read more →
Report: The Future of Digital Australia in 2025 and what Australians think
By Ross DawsonI have been recently working with McAfee, now part of Intel Security, to write a report on Safeguarding the Future of Digital Australia in 2025, being launched this morning in Parliament House in Canberra as part of the Federal Government’s Stay Smart Online Week.
McAfee_Future_of_Digital_Australia
Click on the report cover image left to download the report.
Accompanying the report, we did a survey of what Australians think about their digital future in 2025. The results of the survey are in the video below. There are some fascinating insights.
For now, please feel free to share the resources. I would love to hear your thoughts on the report.
The future of credit unions is community
By Ross DawsonTwo weeks ago I gave the closing keynote at the Boards of Directors and Supervisory Committees Conference of the U.S. National Association of Federal Credit Unions in the beautiful Hawaiian island of Maui, on the topic of Profiting From Technology Trends.
The credit union sector in the U.S outperformed commercial banks after the financial crisis according to the very interesting ILO study Resilience in a downturn: The power of financial cooperatives, moving from 42.8% to 45.0% market penetration to a total over $1 trillion in assets, while in the same post-GFC period credit unions increased their market share in most other regions in the world.
Read more →
Is Internal Crowdfunding in the Enterprise Set to Take Off?
By Steve BynghallA number of companies are experimenting with internal crowdfunding. This has the potential to be a successful way to spark innovation and evaluate employee-generated ideas.
Ideation platforms, where employees can contribute suggestions and ideas and then vote on the best ones to implement, are now commonplace in both large and small companies. Some of these schemes have been in place for over a decade.
Similarly, arguing the business case for your own initiative is now part of corporate culture, and some organisations have an “innovation” fund for new projects which may be regarded as extraordinary spend, above and beyond normal functional or departmental budgets.
With idea management widespread and pitching for funding part a frequent activity, perhaps enterprise crowdfunding is not such a huge cultural leap.
The advantages of internal crowdfunding
The advantage of distributing some budget for the employees to back different projects is it greatly increases the influence of the workforce and each individual on which initiatives are actually taken forward.
In traditional idea management schemes, a committee tends to sift through the most popular projects, but internal crowdfunding means there is a potentially deeper sense of involvement for all employees.
In turn this means more considered participation, better proposals, deeper engagement through the process (particularly if there are incentives), more ongoing feedback and the diffusion of an innovative culture.
Read more →
Updating the newspaper extinction timeline for the Arab world
By Ross DawsonYesterday I gave the opening keynote at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai, on Creating the Future of Arab Media.
My speech and a series of interviews I did afterwards have received broad coverage, including articles in Al Arabiya, Gulf Today, Huffington Post, Emirates 24/7, Zawya, and Gulf News, as well as interviews on Dubai Eye and Dubai One. I thought it was worth reviewing a few of the major points made.
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Keynote slides: Creating the Future of Arab Media
By Ross DawsonTomorrow I am doing the opening presentation at Arab Media Forum in Dubai, the largest and most prestigious conference on media in the Arab world.
The slides to my presentation are below. As always, slides are designed to support my presentation, not to stand alone, but may still be of value even if you didn’t attend my keynote.
In my presentation I cover:
Read more →
Future/ media/ social media meetup in Dubai – Wednesday 21 May
By Ross DawsonI am in Dubai for the next few days to do a keynote at Arab Media Forum on the future of media.
I’d love to catch up with anyone who is interesting in an informal meetup to chat about the future, media, and social media in the Arab world and beyond.
It has been a while since I’ve been in UAE and keen to connect with interesting people and hear what’s happening.
Where: A’Rukn cafe, Souk Madinat Jumeirah (location link)
When: 6-8pm, Wednesday 21 May
Register on Eventbrite
Hope to see you there! Everyone is welcome, feel free to pass on word, whoever turns up will be the right people