Entovation International - Global Learn Day

ENTOVATION^® Stories:
Global Learn Day IV – The Network in 24-hours of Innovation Dialogue
by Debra M. Amidon

It was the equivalent of an international intellectual marathon – broadcast live on the Internet. Described as a ‘sparkling’ event. Most participants experienced a new level of understanding of the potential power of the technology and the value of a solid professional network with a purpose.

Imagine your own precious contacts who live and work in various corners of the globe – Gulgen Kayakutlu from Turkey, Thomas Philip Maciejewski from Poland, Jean Marc Le Duc in Paris, Piero Formica from Italy, Joachim Doering from Germany (but he was at a meeting in Ireland), Chin Hoon Lau from Malaysia, Alejandro Fernandez from Venezuela, Ali Liban from Somalia, Javier Carrillo from Mexico, Doug Macnamara from The Banff Centre in Canada, and more…many more. Oh yes, they are represented on the Global Knowledge Leadership Map. But more often than not, you have commented that one should know the other because of their particular expertise or aspiration.

Then imagine that – thanks to the technical and vision wizardry of John Hibbs (Ben Franklin Institute) – you are able to orchestrate such a meeting of the minds via the use of the telephone and chat rooms on the Internet. And now, they meet one another – albeit still virtually – through a 24-hour conversation featuring their talents. This was the essence of Global Learn Day 2000 held October 8th beginning at 00:01 GMT.

GLD IV Program-at-a-Glance:

Perhaps the best way to comprehend what happened during the day is to visit – as have some 3 million before you – the archives of the previous years, especially the Prelude. Or, you can read what Converge magazine had to say about the event that now has been held annually for 4 years.

Then, visit the program for GLD IV that embraced the theme of innovation! The Keynote was provided by Sir Daniel, Vice Chancellor for the Open University, who suggested that, "We must ignite a passion for learning and embrace all cultures. By listening, we will all learn." He cautioned that we should not get carried away with globalization as most individuals operate locally. Consider the "multi-national network of partnerships" as the key educational challenge; and quoting John F. Kennedy reflected, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what together we can do for the freedom of mankind."

The Opening ceremonies also included advice from a Navajo Elder who spoke of how we might use the Internet, but also protect our own languages and cultures. Describing GLD IV as "Where the world comes to learn", Katherine Smith, The Native American Institute (Colorado, USA), urged the audience to "Be careful. Study hard and learn how the world and governments work. Always watch for the coyote."

There were numerous other experts who shared their expertise over the course of the day. Roger Lee Boston (Houston, Texas) described the Virtual Classroom - http://www.rboston.com/ and other international initiatives using a FireTalk session during which he queried the idea of a free Internet education. Dr. Arun Mehta (New Delhi, India) spoke of the Indira Gandhi National Open University and bringing the power of the Internet to the poorest of the poor. Earle Mardle, Founder and Coordinator 2020 Communications Trust (Wellington New Zealand) discussed cross-cultural communication. Dr. Neil Hynd (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) reaffirmed the relationship of quality standards with the distance education movement. Dr. Boris Sedunov (Moscow, Russia) described his efforts through the Moscow College of Business Administration and the College of Future Global Economics - http://www.eni.edu/page98.html - with the EarthNet Institute. Dr. Terrance Redding (Florida, UDA), President of the On-Line Institute continued the discussion of a distance education for free. Dr. Armando Arias, (Monterrey, California), President of Monterrey Institute for Graduate Studies - http://www.degree.com/ - commented on certification programs. Dr. Sherif Kamel, who established the Regional IT Institute - http://www.aucegypt.edu/ - spoke of the role of Technology Awareness Community Centers in Egypt.

One of the highlights of the entire day was the active participation of Thomas F. Malone (NCS). Formerly at MIT and now with North Carolina State, most recently he has been catalyzing an effort with the National Academy of Sciences in the Americas. An article of his CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA HOY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TODAY CIENCIA E TECNOLOGIA HOJE1 is available upon request (Tfmalone@aol.com). He suggested in closing remarks that this is a defining moment in our history where the issues of values are involved.

"I believe we are at a historical choice point in determining the kind of world our children's children will inherit. If we make these choices based only on the models of our industrial-age past, we will almost certainly miss the true opportunities before us. Knowledge does have the potential to create economic sustainability in our society. The path to a prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society is long, winding, and difficult, but a start can now be made with a knowledge-based and human-centered strategy. This strategy empowers individuals to renew rather than degrade the physical and biological environment, aid to enrich rather than impoverish the social and cultural environment. Entry into this knowledge society will require new patterns of collaboration among the scholarly disciplines. New modes of partnership must also be established among all levels of government, academia, business and industry, and local community organizations."

There were many others during the worldwide tour – too many to mention here; but the real story for ENTOVATION^® were the stars that appeared for the live audio and text chat dialogue!

The ENTOVATION^® GLD IV Schedule of Events:

The ENTOVATION^® contribution to the program featured a sample of representatives from the ENTOVATION^® 100. Beginning in the Far East in Malaysia, and onto Europe, over to South America, the US and Canada, the cross-fertilization if ideas and expertise in the network was refreshing. Between those who were able to phone in to an audio broadcast and others who were rapidly responding to the content via chat rooms, members were able to converse real-time about issues and opportunities.

There were little vignettes throughout the day that are worthy of mention; but the real story of GLDIV was one of individual perspectives and responses. Through active participation, knowledge professionals were able to listen to the initiatives of one another and determine what contribution they might make and/or how the material might benefit them and their constituency. Let me try to mention just a few:

Vignette #1: It was the story recounted by Gulgen Kayakutlu (http://www.iku.edu.tr/) - an expert on small and medium sized businesses - about the aftermath of their recent Earthquake in Turkey that sparked an intensive on-line dialogue about customer relationship management (CRM). How? She described how in only 52 seconds 80% of the manufacturing base was destroyed. How does one go about recovering customer information? The rebuilding began with a systematic study of customer knowledge (i.e., interacting with and learning from customers)! As Gulgen was describing the knowledge processes required for the successful reconstruction via the telephone, a lively discussion among other ENTOVATION colleagues – Pat Parker-Roach (Bolton, Massachusetts) and Yvonne Buma (The Netherlands) was happening in the chat room. Pat suggests the problem with implementing such programs is a matter of the dialogue skills required in the bi-directional flow of knowledge. Lynne Schneider (USA) suggests that most CRM programs are dropped at the front or back office with little or no understanding of what constitutes customer success. Philip Maciejewski (Poland) adds that they always have a relationship between the customers; but that there is nothing new in CRM but some technology. Lynne offers the ENTOVATION concept of "innovating with the customer." Pat announces the new CRM consortium as part of the SoL (Society of Learning) based at MIT. They all are eager to hear from Gulgen’s real-time customer success. Gulgen is also responsible for the Turkish translation of the Turkish translation of the Momentum of Knowledge Management. The Network is in operation.

Vignette #2: Chin Hoon Lau, the representative from Malaysia, hosted activities in conjunction with the Global Knowledge Partnership sponsored by the World Bank in March 2000. Throughout the 24 hours, this molecular geneticist described his Lagenda Knowledge Systems business as well as his initiatives in virtual collaboration as a way to transform voluntary groups (e.g., http://www.netbio.org/ ) into viable entities. Chin Hoon is responsible for the Chinese translation of the "Global Momentum of Knowledge Strategy". While he was on the air, we also visited other experts in the region (e.g., Jin Zhouying from China, Karl-Erik Sveiby and Sante Delle Virgini from Australia, and Stoney Ishikawa from Japan.). But Chin Hoon’s comments were not limited to the Asia/Australia region; he held conversations with other colleagues from all the other regions on a variety of topics. Similarly, Sante’s discussion of intellectual property (IP) in the Knowledge Economy sparked a continuing debate on what can be protected and how as well as comments on the IP Committee of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although there were no conclusions reached, all participating gained a better understanding of the issue and implications for various parts of the world.

Vignette #3: The visit to Europe and Africa prompted a robust 3-hour conversation about "innovating Old Mother Europe." Gulgen (Turkey) talked about the ‘mind-tuning’ necessary. Lynne (US) described the EU Knowledge Council’s, but that it is the change in attitudes that is essential. Philip (Poland) queried, "Can we really see the power of Intellectual Capital?" Another colleague from Poland, Volker Rohde described the potential for "building the capacity to create within the next 10-20 years a platform for people around the world – beyond CNN." This is precisely the foundation of the Global Knowledge Innovation^® Infrastructure sponsored by The Banff Centre – http://www.entovation.com/gkii/ - and the new EU-sponsored KALif Project described by Michael Kelleher (Wales). Other progressive initiatives we described by Charles Savage and Elizabeth Sundrum speaking of their new e-culture initiatives - and values technology. Joachim Doering, VP Siemens (Germany), was visible during the day describing how to implement a global knowledge-sharing network as was done within their ICM business. There were questions of the unnecessary duplication of effort and a debate about whether re-inventing was a viable strategy (and whether it did lead to innovation). There seemed some consensus that business transformation was a matter of innovation (e.g., re-thinking). In fact, Siemens was responsible for the trend analysis performed by Jan Wyllie, Trend Monitor International, published by ENTOVATION^® as the Knowledge Millennium Generation. Such a discussion cut to the heart of the real meaning of innovation – capitalizing on the best of the past and realigning the rest for future opportunities. As Henry Thoreau in Walden wrote: If you have built castles in the air, that is where they belong. Now build the foundations under them."

Vignette #4: Piero Formica (Italy) during a coffee break of a conference he was chairing, described the Entrepreneurial University he has been innovating with faculty from multiple universities and focused on ‘real’ business projects - http://www.zernikegroup.com/. Piero was discovered by ENTOVATION^® in the EU meeting in Utrecht hosted by CIBIT, another alliance partner of Kelleher’s. He is a leader in the Association of Science Parks and was speaking from Birmingham, England, which was the location of my own first international keynote presentation in 1988. Jean Marc Le Duc, Ministry of Research (France), had convened the Grande Colloque de Perspective in 1989 also hosted with Eunika Mercier-Laurent, the launch of Innovation Strategy for the Knowledge Economy, the French edition of which is soon to be released. He joined the discussion with a perspective from a country government and his new project of cinecities - http://www.cinecities.com/; and Lars Kolind (Denmark) was featured as guiding the Intellectual Capital (IC) indicators for the nation - http://www.growth.dk/. Esko Kilpi (Finland) - http://www.nedecon.fi/ - has been a similar leader in his own country and was also at the Utrecht meeting. Similar to Karl-Erik Sveiby (Australia), Ante Pulic (representing his homeland of Croatia, but on the faculty in Austria) - http://www.measuring-ip.at/ - has been a leading light in the measurement of IC field. A fellow Austrian, Manfred Bornmann was responsible for the German translations of the book and website. And from Africa - although he is currently resident in Saudi Arabia - Ali Liban (Somalia) was discussing the practical applications of patents, the environmental implications and concerns about the development and visibility of other African nations. These are long-term learning connections that have helped to fuel the progress within companies, academe and government. These national and/or regional learnings have shadow influence around the world thanks to the technology and human commitment by GLD active participants.

Vignette #5: It was 1994 when we first discovered Ted Lumley, one of the leading knowledge practitioners from Mobil Oil Corporation. We orchestrated the first Knowledge Management Conferences for the Oil & Gas Industry. Together with Ed Witterholt from British Petroleum, we developed a timeline of activities to put into perspective the new knowledge focus. Around the same time, Dr. David Skyrme – both of whom were from the UK, introduced us to Jan Wyllie. We commissioned some trend analysis for the publication, Collaborative Innovation and the Knowledge Economy in which we included the "Economics of Intangible Value." Shortly thereafter, we served on the advisory team for the World Development Report – "Knowledge for Development" – and began to work with Stephen Denning, the CKO of The World Bank. All of this is to preface how 3 talented individuals were brought together through ENTOVATION^® linkages; and now the three are working collaboratively on "The Springboard" and "Sweat Lodge" – an experiment beyond tacit knowledge. Jan shared the story on the air during the broadcast as he defined ‘real knowledge’ as including feelings, actions, social relationships, sense of purpose, spiritual well-being, etc. The nature of such knowledge cannot really be ‘captured;’ it is best conveyed through story-telling (the topic of Denning’s new book) which offers a deeper level of mutual understanding. This is the essence of the real nature of change in absolute time. It is also the story of the interweaving of expertise and aspirations that occurred throughout the 24-hour GLD dialogue.

Vignette #6: Since the European meeting in Utrecht, we have been working with representatives from Central and South American to convene the Latin America Roundtable on the Implications of the Knowledge Economy. Lynne Schneider (US) has just returned from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico where the political leadership are recognizing the potential of such a regional effort. Discussions originated with Dr. Javier Carrillo, Director of the Knowledge Systems Research Center of ITESM – notably the MIT of Mexico. As the creator of the Knowledge-Based Value Model and graduate KM curriculum, he has also architected the KM MetaSite that captured the interest of most GLD participants. It is a masterful compilation of the worldwide knowledge resources and websites. His leadership in relevant knowledge and innovation journals as well as consortia is admirable; but his work with the International Center for Sustainable Development, the Club of Budapest is what places his talent on the world stage. A variety of others were featured in the region. Gerardo Calderon (Mexico), CEO of Intracorp, has provided for the Spanish translations of the book and articles. Alejandro Fernandez, VP of Human Resources for PDVSA (Venezuela) was a Sloan Fellow with me in 1989. He was the host for Global HR 1999 – a federation of 7 Human Resource Professional Organizations. In 2000, Leif Edvinsson and I were featured at Global HR 1000 in Paris. Next year, it is in Switzerland and in the year 2002 comes to Mexico City! Alejandro described the role of PDVSA as a government-funded corporation as well as their in-house Knowledge Symposium for 450 of their top executives – a model for large-scale institutions worldwide. Our recent meetings with Banamex – thanks to the introduction by John Hibbs – provide another corporate example of IC leadership to be harnessed. Vidyartha Kisson (Guyana) described the Knowledge-Sharing Opportunities in the Caribbean. Through the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP), they determine agencies duplicating work across the region and promote the sharing on all social issues. Vidyartha was discovered during the Global Knowledge Development (GKD) in conjunction with the Malaysia GKII conference referenced in Vignette #1! This is a prime example of how insights can be spread within a region and around the world in lightening speed with the power of communications technology and the sharing of intellectual wealth.

Vignette #7: Throughout the day, the symbiosis was evident. Experts building upon the ideas of one another and meeting – albeit virtually – contacts we had been recommending over the years. The names became faces and backgrounds of expertise as the Oasis forms were completed for GLD. For many, this was the first time they were in conversation. Doug Macnamara, VP of The Banff Centre and Andre Mamprin, his assistant, initiated the North America region. Describing the GKII and the unique Executive Management Program on Knowledge and Innovation, they described the competency-based models they have researched, "Leadership @ Internet Speed," and the recent article on the 7C’s of Knowledge Leadership - published in the Handbook of Business Strategy. Lynne Schneider (US) described the success of the enterprise model and Holonic networks as an exercise in Knowledge Management Systems. We featured Dr. Clint Ackerman (USA) and the new Knowledge Jobs search firm - Bryan Davis (Canada), The Kaieter Institute – and his focus on e-Knowledge, and Charles Armstrong, CEO of Armstrong Industries and Know Inc. outlined his KnowledgeShop (one of the new knowledge trading systems) and Knetus – a Knowledge Networking program for competitive Advantage. The Banff Programme on Aboriginal Management – and, in essence, the evolution of cultures - was tied to the opening remarks of Navajo Elder Katherine Smith and plans for a book by Ali Liban (Somalia). And so, the search for an understanding of knowledge, learning and innovation returns to the opening remarks. As Cindy Gordon (Canada) says, "The journey is a long one – and understanding that different cultures attach different meanings and interpretations. To achieve our desired state of a global knowledge economy, we must not forget who we are and what we want to leave behind for future generations to carry forth."

GLD IV Major Learnings – ENTOVATION^® 100 Proof-of-Concept:

Participation in the GLD was an experiment for ENTOVATION^® – an initial introduction of the ENTOVATION^® 100 to one another. It is the beginning of what will evolve into a monthly dialogue on al ten dimensions of innovation strategy, the findings of which will be published as a new ENTOVATION^® Intelligence Service.

What we learned:

Members of the ENTOVATION^® Network have a great deal of expertise to offer one another; and the connections happened in unexpected ways.
The combination of audio and text interaction facilitated the real-time worldwide dialogue. Video would have been nice; but it was not necessary.
Advance preparation – in the form of the OASIS information (i.e., photograph, biographical information, career highlights and suggested URL’s) – provides a succinct way to profile the talent and current projects.
The dialogue must – at least initially – be structured so to illuminate the aspects and attitudes of participants that might be useful to one another.
In spite of the technology availability, most people are resistant to (and some are unable to afford) taking advantage of the new technology, such as the audio clips.
There is no turning back. Once a participant realizes the value of the interaction and their potential contribution, there is no alternative but to build on the competencies of one another.
The GLD IV Archives provide those listeners worldwide an experience – especially those who have interest in elevating the distance learning agenda as the integral vehicle for innovation in the Knowledge Economy.

Therefore, visit the Innovation Station, and stay tuned for the official archive edition of Global Learn Day IV!

¹CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA HOY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TODAY CIENCIA E TECNOLOGIA HOJE - EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. Vol 78, No 18, pp.185, 191, Washington, DC, 1997

Email: debra@entovation.com


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