Integrative Use of Information Extraction, Semantic Matchmaking and Adaptive Coupling Techniques in Support of Distributed Information Processing and Decision-Making

In order to press maximal cognitive benefit from their social, technological and informational environments, military coalitions need to understand how best to exploit available information assets as well as how best to organize their socially-distributed information processing activities. The International Technology Alliance (ITA) program is beginning to address the challenges associated with enhanced cognition in military coalition environments by integrating a variety of research and development efforts. In particular, research in one component of the ITA ('Project 4: Shared Understanding and Information Exploitation') is seeking to develop capabilities that enable military coalitions to better exploit and distribute networked information assets in the service of collective cognitive outcomes (e.g. improved decision-making). In this paper, we provide an overview of the various research activities in Project 4. We also show how these research activities complement one another in terms of supporting coalition-based collective cognition

Choreographies of entrepreneurship: How different formats of co-presence are combined to facilitate knowledge creation in seed accelerator programs

This paper explores different functions of co-presence for collaborative knowledge creation in the context of seed accelerator programs. Seed accelerators offer programs of three to six months to enhance the growth of early-stage start-ups through various means of training and organizational development. In this paper, seed accelerator programs are analysed as orchestrated sequences of different types of physical co-presence. By drawing on qualitative case study data, the paper identifies eight different ways in which physical co-presence is used during seed accelerator programs. Through these eight types of co-presence, the analysis reveals that physical co-presence unfolds unique social dynamics that are utilized in a carefully designed combination of presence and absence. It is shown that physical co-presence is a means to enact relational distance and to bridge this distance for the benefit of the entrepreneurial process. Therefore, this paper adds a new perspective on how co-presence is used to facilitate the generation of value through collaborative knowledge creation.Dieser Beitrag erkundet verschiedene Funktionen von Kopräsenz für das Gelingen von kollaborativer Wissensproduktion im Kontext von Seed-Accelerator-Programmen. Seed Accelerators bieten drei bis sechsmonatige Programme an, in denen das Wachstum von neu gegründeten Start-ups durch verschiedene Maßnahmen zur Firmenentwicklung beschleunigt werden soll. In diesem Beitrag werden Seed-Accelerator-Programme als orchestrierte Sequenzen aus verschiedenartiger physischer, gleichzeitiger Anwesenheit (Ko-Präsenz) analysiert. Aus einem qualitativen Fallstudiendesign heraus werden acht Formen von Ko-Präsenz identifiziert, auf denen die analysierten Programme beruhen. Weitergehend wird herausgearbeitet, wie diese acht Typen von Ko-Präsenz auf sozialen Dynamiken beruhen, die durch den Seed Accelerator mittels einer abgestimmten Kombination aus Ko- Präsenzen und Abwesenheiten erzeugt werden. Dadurch kann relationale Distanz überbrückt werden, um Wissen zu produzieren, das den Prozess der Unternehmensgründung erleichtert und beschleunigt. Konzeptionell wird eine neue Perspektive geboten, wie Ko-Präsenz genutzt werden kann, um kollaborative Wissensproduktion in Wert zu setzen

Matchmakers or tastemakers? Platformization of cultural intermediation & social media’s engines for ‘making up taste’

There are long-standing practices and processes that have traditionally mediated between the processes of production and consumption of cultural content. The prominent instances of these are: curating content by identifying and selecting cultural content in order to promote to a particular set of audiences; measuring audience behaviours to construct knowledge about their tastes; and guiding audiences through recommendations from cultural experts. These cultural intermediation processes are currently being transformed, and social media platforms play important roles in this transformation. However, their role is often attributed to the work of users and/or recommendation algorithms. Thus, the processes through which data about users’ taste are aggregated and made ready for algorithmic processing are largely neglected. This study takes this problematic as an important gap in our understanding of social media platforms’ role in the transformation of cultural intermediation. To address this gap, the notion of platformization is used as a theoretical lens to examine the role of users and algorithms as part of social media’s distinct data-based sociotechnical configuration, which is built on the so-called ‘platform-logic’. Based on a set of conceptual ideas and the findings derived through a single case study on a music discovery platform, this thesis developed a framework to explain ‘platformization of cultural intermediation’. This framework outlines how curation, guidance, and measurement processes are ‘plat-formed’ in the course of development and optimisation of a social media platform. This is the main contribution of the thesis. The study also contributes to the literature by developing the concept of social media’s engines for ‘making up taste’. This concept illuminates how social media operate as sociotechnical cultural intermediaries and participates in tastemaking in ways that acquire legitimacy from the long-standing trust in the objectivity of classification, quantification, and measurement processes

New paradigms related to community building and identity in service design:Exploring global and local design initiatives

The paper concerns how service design is developing as a field, and calls for new paradigms for social organization as well as new models for human-to-human interaction. The authors present and discuss the key themes and contributions presented at the conference ServDes 2018 concerning the role of community building in service design (track 7). We reflect on expectations for the call in light of the contributions received. The paper provides an overview of different perspectives in the contributions, including case studies on local and global design experiences and theoretical issues. A main concern is the changing role of the designer in terms of fostering community and identities through meaning-making in service design practice. In conclusion, there is a review of the challenges facing community-oriented designers, along with discussion on the changing paradigms for service design and humanto- human models of interaction

Process monitoring IAN Agroparks in India : Transforum report 2009

This is the first report of the TransForum project Process monitoring agroparks international, which focuses on India and specific on the development of the IFFCO Kisan SEZ Nellore in the south of India. It contains an overview of process design and the content of the proposition of IAN agroparks in India for 2009

German and Israeli Innovation: The Best of Two Worlds

This study reviews – through desk research and expert interviews with Mittelstand companies, startups and ecosystem experts – the current status of the Israeli startup ecosystem and the Mittelstand region of North Rhine- Westphalia (NRW), Germany. As a case study, it highlights potential opportunities for collaboration and analyzes different engagement modes that might serve to connect the two regions. The potential synergies between the two economies are based on a high degree of complementarity. A comparison of NRW’s key verticals and Israel’s primary areas of innovation indicates that there is significant overlap in verticals, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), sensors and cybersecurity. Israeli startups can offer speed, agility and new ideas, while German Mittelstand companies can contribute expertise in production and scaling, access to markets, capital and support. The differences between Mittelstand companies and startups are less pronounced than those between startups and big corporations. However, three current barriers to fruitful collaboration have been identified: 1) a lack of access, 2) a lack of transparency regarding relevant players in the market, and 3) a lack of the internal resources needed to select the right partners, often due to time constraints or a lack of internal expertise on this issue. To ensure that positive business opportunities ensue, Mittelstand companies and startups alike have to be proactive in their search for cooperation partners and draw on a range of existing engagement modes (e.g., events, communities, accelerators). The interviews and the research conducted for this study made clear that no single mode of engagement can address all the needs and challenges associated with German-Israeli collaboration

Swift trust and client acquisition in technology conferences - A start-up entrepreneur’s perspective

The author, being a CEO of a Finnish startup Panda Training, noticed that 90% of the startup’s clients were acquired during technology conferences and events. This sparked two research questions. Firstly, why might events and tech conferences work better than cold calls or social media as a client acquisition channel for new ventures whose entrepreneurs are young or are entering an industry they do not know? And secondly, why is it that short personal contact so important for establishing the trust required for the client to place their first order? Young entrepreneurs that are entering the industry often lack established connections and reputation. This leaves them without good channels for early client acquisition and testing. As a result, entrepreneurs are often left guessing if the root cause behind the lack of growth is a product or a marketing challenge. This thesis aims to clarify the feasibility of technology conferences as a client acquisition channel and understand if this channel has an advantage in comparison to more traditional channels like cold calling and social media for young entrepreneurs. The author examined the theory in the light of his personal experiences as an entrepreneur. The literature on client acquisition was scarce in relation to technology events, but the literature on trust provided some insight into the role trust might be playing in the relationships formed at the conferences. Exploration of the theory of swift trust provided a better picture. The literature on swift trust revealed that technology conferences have attributes required for building swift trust and thus might be a very good source of initial client acquisition for new ventures which don’t yet have an established reputation. That is why we need more empirical studies that could compare the effectiveness of conferences and tech events as the channels for client acquisition versus more traditional channels such as cold calling, and social media marketing