The Past, Present and Future of Social Networking and Outsourcing: Impact on Theory and Practice

Development practice continually evolves. Some of the latest evolutions are emerging as a combination of Social Networking and Outsourcing activity resulting in the emergence of crowdsourcing or Open-Global sourcing. This paper examines some examples from history of technology informed social networking activity along with examples of some current activity. The historical perspective helps to provide some interesting insights into how activity may evolve. Some of the changes may be subtle but far reaching. Open-Global sourcing is a Social Innovation that is redefining business practice and stretching existing theories. The paper identifies areas of theory that are being ‘stretched’ and argues that Open-Global sourcing is an area calling for theoretical development

Searching for a New Open Innovation Education for Generation Z

This research introduces a high school club\u27s activities and outreach programs focusing on open innovation research and a global community network for disadvantaged children. Most STEM high schools do not provide appropriate awareness and knowledge of open innovation and neglect accessible research literature and materials for academic presentation at various international conferences. This presentation provides Youth Open Innovation (YOI) club at IMSA with an example of the club. The YOI mission is to educate Generation Z on the emerging open innovation trend through rigorous research methods and further provide global networking experiences and an innovative STEM curriculum for open social innovation. This study suggests that the newly developed curriculum by the YOI club will spread to Illinois high school students through an online presence in the short term and nurture future leaders who utilize open innovation to create innovative products in the long term. This study also suggests globalization through broader and more collaboration with diverse NGOs and startup companies worldwide

Open Innovation and Strategy

The article discusses a process of business innovation known as open innovation and its relation to traditional business strategy. The competitive strategy developed by Michael Porter emphasized rivalry, buyer power, and barriers to entry as forces that could enhance a producer\u27s surplus. The authors discuss the impact of the Porterian value chain, the processes of production through to the consumer, on subsequent business practices. However, this theory does not account for external sources of value to a company, such as innovation communities, volunteer contributors and surrounding networks, including social networking web sites, open source software and the Wiki model of open contributions. The concept of openness requires shifting from ownership to value creation and value capture

Contextual Social Networking

The thesis centers around the multi-faceted research question of how contexts may be detected and derived that can be used for new context aware Social Networking services and for improving the usefulness of existing Social Networking services, giving rise to the notion of Contextual Social Networking. In a first foundational part, we characterize the closely related fields of Contextual-, Mobile-, and Decentralized Social Networking using different methods and focusing on different detailed aspects. A second part focuses on the question of how short-term and long-term social contexts as especially interesting forms of context for Social Networking may be derived. We focus on NLP based methods for the characterization of social relations as a typical form of long-term social contexts and on Mobile Social Signal Processing methods for deriving short-term social contexts on the basis of geometry of interaction and audio. We furthermore investigate, how personal social agents may combine such social context elements on various levels of abstraction. The third part discusses new and improved context aware Social Networking service concepts. We investigate special forms of awareness services, new forms of social information retrieval, social recommender systems, context aware privacy concepts and services and platforms supporting Open Innovation and creative processes. This version of the thesis does not contain the included publications because of copyrights of the journals etc. Contact in terms of the version with all included publications: Georg Groh, [email protected] zentrale Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die vielschichtige Frage, wie Kontexte detektiert und abgeleitet werden können, die dazu dienen können, neuartige kontextbewusste Social Networking Dienste zu schaffen und bestehende Dienste in ihrem Nutzwert zu verbessern. Die (noch nicht abgeschlossene) erfolgreiche Umsetzung dieses Programmes führt auf ein Konzept, das man als Contextual Social Networking bezeichnen kann. In einem grundlegenden ersten Teil werden die eng zusammenhängenden Gebiete Contextual Social Networking, Mobile Social Networking und Decentralized Social Networking mit verschiedenen Methoden und unter Fokussierung auf verschiedene Detail-Aspekte näher beleuchtet und in Zusammenhang gesetzt. Ein zweiter Teil behandelt die Frage, wie soziale Kurzzeit- und Langzeit-Kontexte als für das Social Networking besonders interessante Formen von Kontext gemessen und abgeleitet werden können. Ein Fokus liegt hierbei auf NLP Methoden zur Charakterisierung sozialer Beziehungen als einer typischen Form von sozialem Langzeit-Kontext. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt auf Methoden aus dem Mobile Social Signal Processing zur Ableitung sinnvoller sozialer Kurzzeit-Kontexte auf der Basis von Interaktionsgeometrien und Audio-Daten. Es wird ferner untersucht, wie persönliche soziale Agenten Kontext-Elemente verschiedener Abstraktionsgrade miteinander kombinieren können. Der dritte Teil behandelt neuartige und verbesserte Konzepte für kontextbewusste Social Networking Dienste. Es werden spezielle Formen von Awareness Diensten, neue Formen von sozialem Information Retrieval, Konzepte für kontextbewusstes Privacy Management und Dienste und Plattformen zur Unterstützung von Open Innovation und Kreativität untersucht und vorgestellt. Diese Version der Habilitationsschrift enthält die inkludierten Publikationen zurVermeidung von Copyright-Verletzungen auf Seiten der Journals u.a. nicht. Kontakt in Bezug auf die Version mit allen inkludierten Publikationen: Georg Groh, [email protected]

Establishing expert consensuses on the value of open data in open social innovation ideation

There is little conclusive evidence as to whether OD provides value to social innovation ideation scenarios. Furthermore, OD as a resource is severely contested as to its openness, availability, quality, importance, and usefulness within innovation ideation. Therefore, understanding how Open Data (OD) can be leveraged for innovation ideation practices has become a topic at the mainstream of management literature. However much of the effort thus far has been focused on ideation and innovation for-profit, specifically when in papers examining Open Innovation (OI), even though OD has been depicted as a resource for providing social, economical and entrepreneurial benefit. Therefore this paper presents an initial study of the perceived value of OD, in research phase Open Social Innovation (OSI), amongst academic and professional experts in OI, Innovation Networking and OD. Consequently, a Modified Delphi Study (MDS) is conducted, aimed at forming a convergence of opinion amongst academic and professional experts. From converging expert opinions from both academic and professional perspectives, optimal managerial practices within this field can be shaped. Furthermore, management processes and practices can be justified in collecting and targeting particular datasets that are opportune for a social innovation context. In addition to the primary objectives, and with respect to the paper’s findings, barriers of utilizing and leveraging OD for this purpose are duly noted with proposed methods of overcoming such challenge

Theoretical foundations in support of small and medium towns

This theoretical review aims to create a comprehensive and systematic analysis based on previously published literature explaining how contemporary technological developments may promote new paths for small and medium-sized towns (SMTs) and their networking systems. Much has been said concerning the capacity of towns to absorb strategic knowledge, which is highly dependent on local governance systems. In this paper, five levels of multidisciplinary approaches will be addressed so as to pinpoint the theoretical grounds for the promotion and advocacy of small and medium-sized towns (SMTs) as major drivers of regional sustainability: agglomeration advantages and networking efficiencies-representing strict economic accounting of cost and benefits; clustering in a context of online environments, and its extension to open networking systems; sustainable innovation processes for SMTs, technology, and knowledge transfer in open innovation systems-both settings for discussions within the framing of new technological developments and artificial intelligence; knowledge and new technological developments with local spillovers-to be enhanced employing new educational programs and learning diffusion at advanced levels; the social functions of small and medium-sized towns-to be addressed in the areas of sociology, architecture, and planning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Network Learning and Innovation in SME Formal Networks

The driver for this paper is the need to better understand the potential for learning and innovation that networks canprovide especially for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which comprise by far the majority of enterprises in the food sector. With the challenges the food sector is facing in the near future, learning and innovation or more focused, as it is being discussed in the paper, ‘learning for innovation’ are not just opportunities but pre‐conditions for the sustainability of the sector. Network initiatives that could provide appropriate support involve social interaction and knowledge exchange, learning, competence development, and coordination (organization) and management of implementation. The analysis identifies case studies in any of these orientations which serve different stages of the innovation process: invention and implementation. The variety of network case studies cover networks linked to a focus group for training, research, orconsulting, networks dealing with focused market oriented product or process development, promotional networks, and networks for open exchange and social networking

Trust formation processes in innovative collaborations: networking as knowledge building practices

Purpose - This study examines the practices and processes of trust building and use in collaborative networking for product innovation and compares face to face with virtual networking. Design/Methodology/Approach – Guided by a literature review and preliminary participant observation, 16 open ended interviews collected data about the processes in 11 small biotech firms. These data were inductively analysed by the constant comparative method to develop explanatory themes. Findings – Trust was seen as requirement for successful collaborative innovation, but we identified how different dimensions of trust are located in the trust building processes. Trust works by creating a platform of confidence that fosters flows of information and the exchange of tacit knowledge. Two types of trust relationships, the technical and the social, work in different ways to produce different, but complementary, types of trust. Virtual environments suit technical trust building but are less suited to developing deeper, more enduring forms of trust. Originality/Value – The paper contributes conceptually by theorising the trust building process and its role in collaborative innovation. It addresses a gap in the literature in identifying how trust is produced, developed and employed in furthering innovation, in particular the behavioural patterns of using virtual networks in furthering innovation

Impact in networks and ecosystems: building case studies that make a difference

open accessThis toolkit aims to support the building up of case studies that show the impact of project activities aiming to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. The case studies respond to the challenge of understanding what kinds of interventions work in the Southern African region, where, and why. The toolkit has a specific focus on entrepreneurial ecosystems and proposes a method of mapping out the actors and their relationships over time. The aim is to understand the changes that take place in the ecosystems. These changes are seen to be indicators of impact as increased connectivity and activity in ecosystems are key enablers of innovation. Innovations usually happen together with matching social and institutional adjustments, facilitating the translation of inventions into new or improved products and services. Similarly, the processes supporting entrepreneurship are guided by policies implemented in the common framework provided by innovation systems. Overall, policies related to systems of innovation are by nature networking policies applied throughout the socioeconomic framework of society to pool scarce resources and make various sectors work in coordination with each other. Most participating SAIS countries already have some kinds of identifiable systems of innovation in place both on national and regional levels, but the lack of appropriate institutions, policies, financial instruments, human resources, and support systems, together with underdeveloped markets, create inefficiencies and gaps in systemic cooperation and collaboration. In other words, we do not always know what works and what does not. On another level, engaging users and intermediaries at the local level and driving the development of local innovation ecosystems within which local culture, especially in urban settings, has evident impact on how collaboration and competition is both seen and done. In this complex environment, organisations supporting entrepreneurship and innovation often find it difficult to create or apply relevant knowledge and appropriate networking tools, approaches, and methods needed to put their processes to work for broader developmental goals. To further enable these organisations’ work, it is necessary to understand what works and why in a given environment. Enhanced local and regional cooperation promoted by SAIS Innovation Fund projects can generate new data on this little-explored area in Southern Africa. Data-driven knowledge on entrepreneurship and innovation support best practices as well as effective and efficient management of entrepreneurial ecosystems can support replication and inform policymaking, leading thus to a wider impact than just that of the immediate reported projects and initiatives

The SNS-Based E-Learning Model to Provide Smart Solution for E-Learning

We are in the era of social networking sites that gives platform to billions of individuals for offering and conveying to each other's. These social sites additionally give a worldwide platform to students and educators to satisfy their learning or instructing necessities. The incorporation of social networking sites (SNS) and online tools with e-learning, getting high fame, extraordinarily in instructive space. Learners are more comfortable with these SNS, they feel pleasure to join, participate and collaborate with peers or teachers in these sites. The smart integration of social sites and online tools with conventional e-learning platform could revolutionize the current e-learning model. Various e-learning issues including learner’s participation, association, motivation and engagement can be mitigated by this integration. Number of SNS and online tools have great components for learning, teaching or training however their balanced use and incorporation with e-learning model is as yet an exploration challenge. In this paper, we present a model that utilizes social networking sites and tools effectively with e-learning platform.  The basic idea of this model is to make e-learning simple and more compelling by using normal, easy to understand and generally free social sites and online tools. This paper also highlights some open research issues and challenges that might be faced SNS-based e-learning model. The idea, knowledge and open research issues that talk about in this paper may create another heading of research in the space of innovation bolstered learning