Solving problems in the Cloud…

Washington, D.C.—I attended an event sponsored by the Society for International Development about an IBM product called "innovation jam." IBM reps pitched the "jam" as a tool organizations can use to survey large numbers of people about various issues, such as workplace environments, cost-cutting strategies or product rollouts. In 2001, IBM started using the "jam"—a cloud-based conferencing tool that harnesses the power of social networking and data mining to inform the decision-making process. IBM has since sold use of the product to multinational firms, the NATO alliance, USAID, the United Nations and others. The reps say the tool enables organizations to solve problems and develop entrepreneurial ideas by engaging tens of thousands of people in the discussion. "You never know where the million-dollar idea is going to come from," said IBM Senior Management Consultant Montressa Washington. She said people often assume incorrectly that good ideas can only come from CEOs. While in reality, "your million-dollar idea can come from anyone." In effect, a jam is a crowdsourcing tool. It pulls large numbers of people together around a set of theme-based problems and instructs them to explore potential solutions. The presentation got me thinking. My interest is in learning about tools schools could use to engage the younger generation in global issues. I want to empower the today's students to work with foreign peers to develop transnational solutions to intractable problems, such as resource scarcity, poverty, and environmental degradation. I truly believe young people have what it takes to offer fresh ideas. I doubt IBM's jam is the answer since its cost is rumored to be enormous. (Company representatives would not discuss price issues.) The jam and its Cobra data mining instrument may make sense for multinational firms interested in collecting and retaining proprietary rights to ideas and data, but it makes less sense for organizations seeking more altruistic ends. I wonder what other collaboration tools might be available in the cloud for schools, nonprofit organizations and others. The possibilities seem endless. And there's a lot to learn from IBM's example. The key, it seems, is in leading and facilitating the discussion toward productive ends. The dialogue is unscripted yet controlled. Gary Scotland, IBM's senior consultant, compares the tool to a jazz jam session that brings the young and old together to improvise music. It makes me wonder what would happen if the young and old came together in the cloud for productive purposes. . . . I can almost hear the harmony. ©Mohr Media