The Innovation Appraisal Group (IAG)
Background:
Innovation is the key to prosperity, the means to solutions, the
roadway to recovery and cure -- who would disagree with that?
However, as scientists we must be a bit more accurate: Innovation
Productivity is the key, means, and roadway to all those good things.
To come up with a great idea is necessary, of course, but it's not
sufficient. The vast majority of good ideas are doing no good at all.
Their net result is innovator's frustration. Ideas need to be funded,
and fielded. To wit:
Whatever you are doing can be done in a better way.
Alas, nobody is wealthy enough to be able to fund
all the good ideas that come down the pipe. The process of resource
allocation becomes as critical to the productivity of innovation
as the quality of the ideas themselves.
Allocation of funds should be determined by three factors:
Government offices dispensing R&D funds, foundations, corporations, interest groups
of all sorts
are generally focused on the first two factors in their decision
process. The reason being that until recently there was no objective
way to determine how much money is needed to walk through the roadmay of
the unknown, which is what innovation is all about.
Gideon Samid has been running a cost estimation service for a long
time, specializing in high-tech and high-uncertainty cases. Estimating innovation
intensive projects was a natural step up, and, indeed, for more than a
decade now, Dr. Samid pioneered the field of innovation appraisal --
tools and methodologies to develop a most credible estimate of
cost-to-complete, and time-to-finish for research and development.
Case Western Reserve University has recognized the significance of
this emerging discipline, and sanctioned the formation of a dedicated
group.
Purpose:
The Innovation Appraisal Group at Case Western Reserve University is
dedicated to the development, the practice, and the teaching of tools
and methodologies to promote innovation productivity, and to credibly
appraise cost-to-complete, and time-to-finish of innovation intensive
projects.
Appraising Energy Alternatives:
When the question of PeakOilWhen would be settled, and a most
credible estimate of its time frame will be determined, it will be time
for a global review of the full range of oil-alternatives. Most of the
more promising alternatives require some serious R&D effort. The global
energy
crisis will create a global gamble on the right set of alternatives.
We stand the risk of betting our best resources on an exciting
alternative that would nonetheless cost too much, and last too long. The
challenge is to allocate our resources over a winning combination of
candidates
so that when oil is reaching its peak, the baton will be passed on, and
world economy will not go through a jolt. The Innovation Appraisal
Group (IAG) intends to be a major player in this global R&D allocation
challenge, offering its most advanced techniques to credibly appraise
each major energy resource contender
Read:
The Innovation Turing Machine
Find it!
Fund it!
Field it!
(c) 2007 The Gideon Samid BiPSA Company