i-open innovation zone report april 2006

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Copyright 2010 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 UnportedLicense The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)

4415 Euclid Ave Suite 306, Cleveland, Ohio 44103 Phone: 216-220-0172 Web:https://sites.google.com/site/instituteopeneconomicnetworks/

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I-Open Innovation Zone Report

Accelerating Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Northeast Ohio

Prepared by Betsey Merkel, Co-Founder and Director, I-OpenPortions contributed by Ed Morrison, Co-Founder and Director, I-Open

April 2006

The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)

4415 Euclid Avenue, Suite 310, Cleveland, Ohio [email protected]


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INDEX

Introduction to I-Open Innovation Zones Page 2 The I-Open Innovation Zone Model Page 3

o Objectives Page 3o

Strategic Activities and Benchmarks Page 4 - 5o Researcho Networkso Entrepreneurial Initiativeso Development of Online Education Opportunitieso Criteria

Midtown Innovation Zone Report First Quarter, January through March2006 - Page 5

Resulting Midtown entrepreneurial initiatives Page 6 The I-Open Innovation Zone Network Today Page 8 Our Opportunity: The Center for Regional Economic Initiatives (REI)

Page 9 Next Steps Page 10 I-Open Team - 10 I-Open Supplemental Materials Page 12 History Page 12 Todays Updates on Research and Practitioner Work - Page 13

Introduction to I-Open Innovation Zones

What are we doing at I-Open?The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) is building Innovation Zonesin Northeast Ohio to accelerate entrepreneurial partnerships and collaborationsbetween libraries, universities and local businesses. I-Open has developed aprocess to cultivate business leadership and sustain innovation andentrepreneurial activity. Innovation Zones integrate business, research,educational and cultural assets that our region has to offer to fuel creativity andinnovation.

What are Innovation Zones?I-Open Innovation Zones are small zones to encourage density and achievecritical mass faster by creating an entrepreneurial culture. Innovation zonesprovide access to business and opportunities for applied research, case studiesand internships and offer colleges and universities a high number of diversepartnership opportunities to connect to business.


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What is the I-Open Innovation Framework?The I-Open Innovation Framework organizes social and economic investmentsinto five areas: Brainpower, Dialogue & Inclusion, Innovation & EntrepreneurialNetworks, Quality, Connected Places and Marketing & Branding. The Frameworkacts as a guide for investment activity in an innovation zone. With the aid of new

measurement tools such as social network mapping, I-Open Strategic Activitiesallow us to 1) visualize the size and location of social and financial capital, 2)understand the relationship between sectors of investment, and 3) measureinvestments over time.

What are I-Open Civic Forums?I-Open Civic Forums are the first step in building innovation zones. Weeklyforums educate future leaders in Open Source Economic Development andprovide a platform for entrepreneurs to practice new behaviors and worktogether. Simple rules of behavior create a safe neutral place to exchange ideasand build networks. Topics align with the Innovation Framework, introduce global

models and communicate topic relationships to economic development andprosperity.

I-Open Civic Forums quickly move ideas to action by promptly identifying nextsteps. People move in the direction of their conversations and, over time, opensystems of networked activity coalesce around transformative initiatives.Collaborating individuals and organizations lead innovation supported by anavailability of quality, connected workspace, meaningful relationships, andacumen.

Individuals and organizations practicing open source economic developmentbehave toward one another in ways that build trust and respect. Ethical behaviorand compassionate leadership build the quality relationships needed toaccelerate idea exchange and begin to seed unprecedented exponential growthof innovation and entrepreneurship.

The I-Open Innovation Zone Model

Objectives

Rebuild a deep, sustained commitment to entrepreneurship andinnovation

Utilize the regions unique assets, especially knowledge-based assetssuch as our colleges, universities and libraries in new and different ways,


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creating unique value propositions that will attract and retain businessesthat create high-paying, new economy jobs.

Instill a spirit of lifetime learning in our children, and create a deep regionalcommitment to flexible, continuous learning.

Learn and practice new habits of collaboration among government, non-profit, philanthropic, educational and business organizations.

Strategic Activities and Benchmarks

ResearchI-Open is developing a research and laboratory network across Northeast Ohio topromote collaboration and accelerate innovation and entrepreneurial activity.

Benchmark: number and quality of researchers committed to the

networks.

Networks (See attached social maps January 11 and March 22, 2006)Develop and nurture open collaborative networks to accelerate economicdevelopment in regions

Benchmark: number of networks supported by the Innovation Zoneinfrastructure.

Entrepreneurial Initiatives (See list below)Generate transformational initiatives to leverage new ideas, innovation andbusiness development

Benchmark: track each new initiative and its relationship to the InnovationFramework demonstrating location of investment in each quadrant.

Development of Online Education OpportunitiesPosition Myers University as a leader in distributing I-Open process and tools foropen economic development distance learning applications and desktop trainingproducts for academic, industry and government leaders and students nationally.

Benchmark: Number and quality of innovative educational programs andparticipants

Criteria


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Provide safe neutral environmentsSafe, neutral environments encourage leaders to build trust andcollaboration.

Engage cross-disciplinary activity

Open economic network development is an integration of the humanities,the social sciences and business development. Innovation systemsrequire new skills in network weaving, open economic strategy design,business value building and appreciative leadership.

Produce a high volume of activityOpen networked systems produce a high volume of activity at any giventime increasing the likelihood of social connectivity and emerginginnovation.

Create open networked hubs

Engage grassroots, grass tops and senior level leadership in strategicactivities.

Build capacity networksCapacity networks provide the infrastructure to connect resources andsupport services for ongoing group activity. These networks helpentrepreneurs to gain access to lab facility and equipment, funding, socialconnectivity, and access to information.

Midtown Innovation Zone ReportFirst Quarter, January to March 2006

Accelerating Innovation and Entrepreneurship Along the Euclid Corridor

The Midtown Innovation Zone

Midtown Innovation Zone activity began in January 2006 in partnership withMyers University and the City of Cleveland. Since that time open weekly forumscreated early stage network development and provided the opportunity to learnnew practices and tools for economic development. Forums are modeled afterthe seventeen-month pilot process developed at the Case Center for RegionalEconomic Issues (REI) 2003 through 2005 demonstrating unprecedentedexponential growth in innovation and entrepreneurship.


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Midtown forum topic development has focused on the economic value of citizen journalism; infrastructure innovations for regional sustainability; building quality,connected places for the NEO African American community; creating aninformatics culture; strategic networking and social network mapping.

Marketing & communications consist of weekly or daily posting to MidtownWednesday Blog http://www.midtownwednesdays.blogspot.com; the DjembeProject Blog http://www.djembeproject.blogspot.com; posting to regional eventcalendars; weekly email announcements and press releases to the I-Open opt-inand media mailing lists.

Over 400 people have participated in twelve weeks of forums hosting speakers inthe following areas: government (2), business (9), civic (7), and academia (2).The Midtown opt-in email list has generated 18,828 media impressions.

Weekly social network maps measure the growth of open economic networks

and identify people who are connected to each other by idea exchange andresource sharing. (See attached social network maps January 11, 20006 andMarch 22, 2006)

In the second quarter of development (April to June 2006), working groups areapplying basic concepts of open source economic development practices andnew tools to organize, plan and implement resulting early stage initiatives listedbelow.

Initiatives offer solutions to gaps in infrastructure building necessary to propelNEO forward as a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Resulting Midtown entrepreneurial initiatives

NEO University Innovation Caf is a co-operative effort of students and alumnifrom regional universities and colleges. The Caf will provide a place for studentsto work together on innovative projects and initiatives. Centrally located inMidtown, it will offer innovative workspace, public WiFi access, meeting roomsand healthy food.

The Djembe Project is a community initiative to strengthen historical AfricanAmerican cultural organizations in Cleveland and spearhead new projectsthrough the strengthening and mapping of social networks. The Center willleverage social networks to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in NEO.


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Film and Movie IncubatorIndependent Film Company is seeking support to builda film and movie incubator; create a new regional workforce; and produce digitalfilm products.

Global Literacy Networks Building global literacy networks around the world to

provide for third world children and the opportunity for schools overseas toreceive books from the United States.

GIS Initiative To identify, build and strengthen social networks between regionalleadership investing in GIS capabilities and training; standardize measurements;devise storage and process solutions; identify global models and best practicesfor regional applications.

GreenCityBlueLake http://www.gcbl.org Develop the economic developmentstrategy; leverage an OSED process to achieve a higher level of socialengagement to strengthen best practices and the quality of innovational content

posted to the community site.

Business Innovation NetworkDevelop industry applications of open source toolsand practices to inform business leaders the value of collaboration within acorporate entity.

Ohio Conference on International Entrepreneurship Fall 2006, hosted inpartnership with Cleveland State University will network Associate Deans fromOhio colleges and universities to discuss and learn how to work together tostrengthen business schools and faculty curriculum. By working together,academic leadership can leverage region resources and discover collaborativeopportunities to compete globally.

Research and Lab Network connects academic leaders who adopt I-Opencurriculum, support student internships and conduct innovative research. Labnetworks connect researchers, innovations, facility and equipment for bioscience,creative digital media, film, technology, etc. These networks will provideinfrastructure for innovation zones in other areas of the region such theUniversity Circle zone targeting innovations at the intersections of science andtechnology.

Student Internship Opportunities I-Open is working with regional colleges anduniversities to develop internship opportunities. Cleveland State Universityrecently hosted an I-Open Research Symposium for CSU faculty and PhDstudents.


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Video Game Competition Develop a plan to teach youth how to build videogames, web sites and to host the Midtown Gaming Competition. There is anactive network of individuals interested in developing a gaming competition.

The I-Open Innovation Zone Network Today

I-Open is building a regional network of Innovation Zones across Northeast Ohioconnecting research, resources and capabilities to strengthen innovation andentrepreneurship. A portfolio of transformative initiatives will be developed foreach zone. Universities and Colleges located in these zones and will benefit fromregional collaborations to build trust accelerating new business opportunities,student internships and best practices.

Midtown Innovation ZoneThe Midtown Innovation Zone is a model for Northeast Ohio.Contributors: Myers University and the Myers University Library, Cleveland State

University, The City of ClevelandStatus: 1 Qtr. mature

In Development:The Berea Innovation ZoneContributors: Baldwin Wallace College Center for Innovation and Growth, theCity of Berea, the Berea City School District, the Berea Chamber of Commerce,the Berea Public Library.Status: Ready to begin

Innovate! On the CircleContributors: The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, FUTURE @ TheCleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC),Systems Technology Affiliates (STA) and EcoCity: GreenCityBlueLake,engineering and research.Objective: to explore the intersections between the natural sciences andtechnology for the creation of new entrepreneurial ventures.Status: Ready to begin

Voices in the ValleyContributors: Youngstown State University and the Warren YoungstownChamber of Commerce.Status: Ready to begin

Kent State University and Kent, Ohio


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Contributors: the Kent State University Department of Economic Development,Kent State University Business School, and the City of Kent.Status: Ready to begin

Fairview Park Library and the Fairview Business Leadership

Contributors: the Fairview Park Library, proposed Chamber of Commerce, localschools and municipal government.Status: Ready to begin

Hiram College and Hiram Village and Township CollaborationStatus: Ready to begin

Our Opportunity: The Center for Regional Economic Initiatives (REI)

Like the Case REI model, the Midtown Innovation Zone has proven that byleveraging a process of weekly forums, and sharing I-Open practices and tools to

support open source economic development, open innovation andentrepreneurship results in a very short period of time.

The Midtown Innovation Zone has yielded eleven possible initiatives in twelveweeks of activity. With the proposed additional six Innovation Zones to beginwithin the next few months, NEO has an opportunity to engage in anextraordinary number of entrepreneurial activities regenerating our region andthe country.

It is critical that Northeast Ohio support the creation of a center, the Center forRegional Economic Initiatives (REI), to coordinate research, guide leadership,publish issue briefs and policy recommendations. REI will connect resultinginnovation and entrepreneurship to research located in our regional colleges,universities and libraries.

In addition, expansive new knowledge databases facilitated by advances intechnology software, speed, capacity and lower costs, must be constructed tosupport non-political decision-making affecting our limited natural resources. I-Open entrepreneurs are already proposing web-based platforms to supportglobal standards for energy, water and modern models for education.

The Center for Regional Economic Initiatives is the missing link betweenresearch, innovation and entrepreneurship and will provide an invaluableconnection to future sustainability.


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Next Steps

Phase One Planning Grant Model Design

Process

Engage a group of diverse stakeholders Our model: CuyahogaNext and the Indiana Humanities and Business

Leadership process

Outcomes Determine scope of REI responsibilities Identify five transformative initiatives

Phase Two

Determine who will lead REI Determine funding and resources

I-Open Team

Ed Morrison, Executive DirectorEmail: [email protected]

Ed Morrison is co-founder of I-Open based in Northeast Ohio. Until recently, hewas Executive Director of the Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) at theWeatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Heholds a BA degree from Yale University and MBA and JD degrees from theUniversity of Virginia.

For over nineteen years, he has been conducting strategy projects with economicdevelopers in the U.S. His work won the first Arthur D. Little Award for excellencein economic development presented by the American Economic DevelopmentCouncil. Ed is the architect of the strategic economic development plan forOklahoma City, and he served as economic development consultant to theChamber from 1994 to 2002.

Betsey Merkel, Director / Network Development & ProgramsEmail: [email protected]


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Betsey, co-founder of I-Open, the Institute for Open Economic Networks, bringstwenty years of business development experience, designing communityresidencies and ongoing project management in the non-profit sector. Areas offocus include the creative industries, land conservation and water management,the performing arts industry, and architectural restoration.

Working with Ed Morrison and the I-Open Team, her approach to network designhas created I-Open Civic Forums, catalyzing many diverse projects, proposalsand businesses. She designs process to support community engagement andentrepreneurial innovation initiatives. Betsey co-authored "Artist to Artist", abusiness development seminar supported by the State of Ohio Office of theGovernor and the Ohio Arts Council. Betsey earned a Master of Music from theCleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University.

Susan Altshuler, Director/Finance & Grants AdministrationEmail: [email protected]

Susan, co-founder of I-Open, the Institute for Open Economic Networks has over25 years of office and financial management in both the corporate and nonprofitenvironments. For the past eight years, Susan worked as Special Assistantunder Richard Shatten, Director of REI at Case Western Reserve University from1998 to 2002, and then under Ed Morrison, Director of REI from 2003 to 2005.Under her management, Susan worked on special projects, programs, andevents; led fundraising efforts with the Director to ensure long-term funding bydeveloping funding proposals, identifying significant prospects and managingflow of relationships with donors; coordinated day-to-day activities for REIprofessional staff; supervised Department staff and student researchers;responsible for grants and contract administration; assisted Director in the hiringand evaluation of staff and researchers.

Dennis Coughlin, Director / Administration & OperationsEmail: [email protected]

Dennis, co-founder of I-Open, the Institute for Open Economic Networks, hassignificant experience in operations management with non-profit organizationscreating budget proposals, managing staff, developing programs, and analyzingsystems. In his positions, he was accountable for all financial operations,including preparing budgets, approving purchases, general accounting,preparation, analyzing and presenting financial statements. He previously workedas a consultant at REI under Eds stewardship.


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I-Open Supplemental Materials

The I-Open Model

The I-Open model builds a sustainable process and practical tools for business,

civic, government and academic leaders to identify transformative initiative(s)and design next action steps toward 30, 60 and 90-day goals. This replicableprocess encourages participants to think entrepreneurially and creates culturescapable of identifying business innovations quickly to move forward faster withexceptional business opportunities and exponential growth.

I-Open builds open economic networks to engage leaders, to build trust and tomodel collaborative behaviors enabling working groups to identify transformativeinitiatives, moving ideas to action. Engagement begins on a grassroots level andprogresses out to include all leadership.

One Northeast Ohio pilot program, Tuesdays@REI, developed a civic forumprocess at the Case Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) between 2003and 2005. We engaged over 3,000 participants over a seventeen-month period,generating 83,000 media impressions and producing a multitude of initiatives,proposals and new businesses. Over 200 hours of video content of expertpresentation was produced from each public program and posted on the Internetfor public access.

This pilot continued to contribute to a larger leadership process, evolving overnine months into the 2006 Cuyahoga County Commissioners Blue Ribbon TaskForce. The BRTF embraced over 200 ideas from leaders resulting in fivetransformative initiatives adopted and funded by Cuyahoga County. A copy of thereport can be downloaded off of the County website.

Link: http://www.cuyahogacounty.us/bocc/blueribbon.htm

History

The open source economic development model suggests that in an innovationeconomy regions will be transformed by open networks of collaboration withcolleges, universities, schools and libraries as hubs in these networks. EdMorrison

This approach to knowledge sharing was also practiced by Richard Shatten, lateDirector of the Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) at Case Western


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Reserve University. Shatten had a keen understanding of the businesscommunity and the ability to help others bridge the gap between research andpractice. He was the guiding hand behind public private partnerships thatreinvigorated Cleveland in the 1980s and 1990s. Richard taught that meaningfulcivic activism must ultimately rest on serious economic analysis of the issues. He

moved easily from thoughts and ideas to creative action, never loosing sight ofthe need to build effect networks among people to get things done.

Richards efforts to bring divergent parties together in meaningful and mutuallybeneficial relationships are what his colleagues remember best about him.

Shattens successor, Ed Morrison, continued to build on this legacy until theclose of REI in July 2005, by helping people to understand where they fit in toeconomic development and the importance of social behaviors as fundamental tothe success of open source economics, a new approach to economicdevelopment.

In Morrisons twenty-five years as an economic development professional, hehas served regions across the nation demonstrating a gifted ability to bridge thegaps between community and leadership and by strategizing practical solutionsto tough community problems. Morrisons innovative approaches to economicdevelopment are continuously shaped by advanced theoretical and practitionerresearch and characterized by a new level of Internet interaction.

Todays Updates on Research and Practitioner Work, by Ed Morrison

There is significant literature available on social network analysis and innovation.Here is some of the most current news and updates:

Valdis Krebs, New York Times, Magazine, 3-12-06, Can Network Theory ThwartTerrorists?http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/magazine/312wwln_essay.html?ex=1142830800&en=1fe03acd5b49e523&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Valdis Krebs, social network analysis, Business Week article on IBMorganizational structure and network mapping, 2-17-06:http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2006/id20060216_633293.htm


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June Holley at ACE-NET has been working closely with Valdis and applyingthese tools for several years with good success and anecdotes. June has beeninvolved with I-Open since the beginning.See http://www.acenetworks.org/frames/framesabout.htm

June and Valdis presented a lecture to the business school at UCLA and USClast month.

On Tuesday afternoon, 2-28-06, Valdis and Ed Morrison will be giving apresentation to a research seminar at the Cleveland State University BusinessSchool.

At the core of the I-Open approach is the development of open networks ofinnovation sometimes called clusters. There is a wealth of information aboutclusters and networks. This is the core approach of the Council onCompetitiveness in Washington. See http://www.compete.org/

This is the core of the Council's regional innovation initiative:http://www.compete.org/nri/

It is also the core of Michael Porter's work. See his book: On Competition.Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998. See also, the Institute forStrategy and Competitiveness at Harvard University. See:http://www.isc.hbs.edu/econ-clusters.htm

It is also the basis for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City:http://www.icic.org

You can look to the National Governors Association, as well:http://preview.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.9123e83a1f6786440ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=85e0303cb0b32010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD

Cluster based development is strongly supported in the UK:http://www.dti.gov.uk/clusters/ecotec-report/

As for proof that it works, look to Silicon Valley, as documented in RegionalAdvantage, a book by Anna Lee Saxenian. Her seminal work: RegionalAdvantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 (HarvardUniversity Press, 1994).

People of international stature working on this approach right here in Cleveland:


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Valdis Krebs is a consultant in social network analysis.Valdis Krebs: [email protected]

David Morganthaler, a venture capitalist, is very strongly supportive ofcluster-based development. David Morganthaler:

[email protected]

Both of these following people have a lot of experience and have thought deeplyabout these matters.

Pete Rea at the Baldwin Wallace Business School. BW has chosen tohelp incubate I-Open.Peter Rea: [email protected]

Ed Morrison has also been working with the new Center for RegionalDevelopment at Purdue. Please communicate about Eds work with the

Director of the Center, Sam Cordes.Sam M. Cordes [email protected]

Ed Morrison developed this approach over the past seven years workingin the field. Please communicate with JR Wilhite, the Commissioner forCommunity Development in Kentucky's Cabinet for EconomicDevelopment.J.R. Wilhite [email protected]

For success stories about this approach working in Cleveland, explore thecase of Herb Crowther and Midwest Biofuels. He went from an idea topumping biodiesel in five months.Herb Crowther [email protected]

Norm Roulet and Peter Holmes, of Real NEO http://realneo.us who arelooking at this issue from the community computing side. What types ofinfrastructure do we need to support dozens of clusters?Norm Roulet [email protected] Holmes [email protected]

The open question is how can we create, nurture, sustain (choose your verb)new clusters in Cleveland and the County? That's what I-Open is focusing on.

i-open innovation zone report april 2006

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