Program for the Future Challenge Update
Since Dec. 2008, the Program for the Future Global Design Challenge has been seeking new tools to improve collaboration and collective intelligence. It is a challenge to "develop a practical method, tool or technology that connects people so that they collectively act more intelligently. We are looking for new ideas – even simple ideas – that help people work better and smarter together in some important area." So far there have been 35 entries and the first year's Challenge is closing next Monday, Feb. 8, so hurry if you would like to submit your idea.
To see the current entries or add a new one, go to
http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/program-for-the-future/program-for-the-future-challenge
The judging criteria for the Challenge entries, determined by a distinguished panel of advisors, are in three parts:
Your Method, Tool or Technology
- Can your innovation be a stepping stone towards enabling people to solve an important problem?
- Does your innovation promote communication and collaboration?
- Will your innovation enable changes in the way people work together that will lead to better decisions or outcomes?
- Does your innovation scale, continuing to support better outcomes even as more people use it?
- Does your innovation have the potential to change social and cultural practices for the better?
Your Demo
- Is your demo hands-on and interactive? Is the museum visitor's experience an improvement over Web access?
- Does your demo adequately explain how and why your method, tool or technology works?
- Will your demo inspire others?
Your Plan for Impact
- Is your plan likely to lead to successful adoption and widespread dissemination?
- Would winning a prize make a significant difference to your innovation’s potential impact?
- Does your plan favor community contribution and global connection?
Many really interesting ideas have been submitted, but few have a well-developed idea for a demo (a.k.a. museum exhibit). Apparently, developing collective intelligence tools and museum exhibits require quite different skill sets. Who knew? The advisors have therefore decided to split the judging process in two: deciding first on the merits of only the "method, tool or technology" and the "plan for impact." Judging the merits of the demo will not occur until about a month later, in coordination with the sponsoring museums (The Tech Museum, the MIT Museum and Science Centre Singapore).
Accordingly, we are giving entrants an **EXTENSION** of about a month (details coming soon) to complete their demos. This will not; however; change the Feb. 8 deadline to enter; describe your method, tool or technology; and your plan for impact. The selection of the first stage of judging (but not the final winners) will be announced at CoLABoration 2010, the second Program for the Future Conference, on March 3. The final winners will be announced a month or two later.
Finally, speaking of the PFTF Conference on March 3, it will be a collaboration mash-up. At CoLABoration 2010, we are experimenting with Doug Engelbart's idea of "co-evolution" -- by bringing together technology leaders with experts in human facilitation and representatives of many disciplines -- all focused on improving collaborative techniques. Can you help us fire up the global brain? Our goal is to launch a collaborative community that will become an intentional neural network for global problem solving. Humanity could find innovative ways to handle our world crises (not to mention our day-to-day problems) if we all could put our heads together and our egos out of the way.
Because it will be focused on doing collaboration not just talking about it, attendance will be limited. If you would like to attend in person at The Tech Museum in San Jose, please fill out this application and we will contact you. We will announce plans for virtual participation soon. For more information, see programforthefuture.org/conference.
Open Workshop
