Perspectives on Innovation

It has been nearly 3 weeks since the Emergency Response 2.0 Oil Spill Challenge was posted on the InnoCentive Marketplace and the response has been tremendous. More than one thousand project rooms have been opened, and the submissions have totaled in the hundreds.

There has been a lot of media coverage around the solutions we’ve received, many of which are workable and can be tested and implemented in a timely manner.  Below are some highlights from the last few weeks:

Early this week, The Weather Channel’s Al Roker interviewed CEO Dwayne Spradlin about how InnoCentive Solvers have taken up the challenge to solve the oil spill problems and to discuss a “what’s next” step.

InnoCentive’s Mike Albarelli was asked by Slate.com to comment on suggestions for stopping the oil spill submitted by their readers.

The Street suggested that BP may be “letting the best solutions slip by,” citing two specific solutions submitted by InnoCentive Solvers.

A couple of weeks ago Ira Flatow, host of NPR’s live radio show “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday” invited Dwayne Spradlin (as well as Dot Earth blogger Andrew Revkin and UC Berkeley professor Robert Bea) for a lively discussion around the ideas submitted to InnoCentive, the need for a crowdsourcing capability to increase the effectiveness of response efforts, and general preventative measures around oil spills and other disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Our Solvers have “answered the call,” sending in proposals to “cover and collect” the leak that ranged from explosives, various containment methods using metal or liquid nitrogen and “natural” barriers designed using sand and reefs. We received schematics, plans, drawings and sample materials and directions on how to use them. Interestingly, we even received ideas similar to BP’s containment dome that was to be deployed three weeks ago. InnoCentive has gathered the best and most promising solutions and we are ready to send the best solutions to BP for review.  We’d like to extend a big thank you to our Solvers for stepping up to help with this catastrophic event.

Friends:

The situation in the Gulf is serious and getting worse. When they start setting fire to oil slicks, it’s time for some fresh approaches.

Some of you may recall my blog post from 2009 entitled Time for Emergency Response System 2.0. I am not proud to say that we have watched more disasters pass us by and remain unprepared to react quickly, vital in these crisis situations.

If one amazing idea could slow the Oil Leak modestly or even stop it, slow the spread, or minimize effects, then every day wasted is measured in real environmental, human, and economic toll. So we have decided to lead by example here. Last night we posted our first Emergency Response 2.0 Challenge https://gw.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/overview/9383447. We are currently working through official channels to route the most exciting/original ideas to the correct authorities.

As importantly, it is time the systems are made permanent. Hurricanes, Earthquake, Tsunamis, and Oil Slicks don’t send much advanced warning, but the systems can be in place to tap brilliant minds and solutions providers on a moment’s notice. We need to formalize these systems now. Accordingly, InnoCentive will be making Emergency Response 2.0 challenges available in times of emergency as a public service. The hardwiring to the official emergency response agencies and officials will need to be formalized.

What can you do right now? Immediate concern is the Gulf Oil Spill.

If you have innovative thinking that could be helpful in this crisis, register and submit your ideas at https://gw.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/overview/9383447. Don’t wait.

Send the link to any potential solvers you know. Think of this as a telephone tree. Need to get the word out in these and future situations quickly. Email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, Word of Mouth, Media, etc. Even an old fashioned cell phone can be used to get your problem solving colleagues and friends involved. All good ways to get the word out.

We have had little luck getting through to BP, if you can help, let us know (US government cooperation looks very promising and forthcoming).

If you are an authorized official from any of the several agencies, NGOs, etc. engaged in this situation, let us know ASAP and we may be able to add you to the distribution list.

Thank you and know that with your help we may be able to act even more quickly in the future with Emergency Response 2.0 challenges. Crisis are by definition unexpected and chaotic. Sometimes one brilliant solution can chance prospects tremendously. Thank you for your assistance now and in the future.

Best regards,

Dwayne

In this segment of his Big Think interview, Dwayne tells the story of the Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI), which faced the challenge of removing viscous oil from the bottom of Prince William Sound after the the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After 20 years of trying to solve this problem, they turned to InnoCentive and received a solution from an InnoCentive Solver who had no background in the oil and gas industry.  This story illustrates the power of diversity and the effectiveness of tapping into a pool outside of your own experts.

A few weeks ago, InnoCentive Solver Ed Herrmann Tweeted the following: “Just deposited my Innocentive check for the Polestar Challenge. Now I just need to decide what to buy; suggestions?” He received a few responses, including an enthusiastic suggestion to sponsor a happy hour in Phoenix.  In the end, he used the money to purchase a new server and an SDN Subscription. He’s planning to use the server to run the SAP Web Application Server which comes with the subscription, which will provide him with his own licensed SAP system to use for future SAP related InnoCentive Challenges.

Over the years, we’ve heard about Solvers using their winnings for all manner of things – from philanthropy to upgrading lab equipment to upgrading home entertainment equipment.  John Davis, winner of the OSRI oil spill Challenge is planning to use his winnings to fund a trip to Alaska, to help the Seeker, the Oil Spill Recovery Institute, develop and implement his solution.  In addition, he donated some of his winnings to OSRI to be used toward finding more environmentally friendly methods of cleaning up oil spills.

What about you?  What have you done with your winnings?  If you haven’t yet won an award, what do you think you would do?  Tell us!

On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast becoming the costliest and one of the deadliest natural disasters in United States history. Many remember FEMA, state and local officials nervously struggling with the scale of the disaster while the human suffering and toll was making national and international headlines. In the aftermath, serious questions were raised regarding US preparedness.

Here’s the problem with natural disasters: they are random events and no amount of planning is sufficient. The best conceivable responses manage the impact through effective situational command and coordination of personnel and resources leading up to, during, and especially after the disaster. Proper response and optimal decisioning demands real time access to the information, ideas, and approaches to deal with these highly unpredictable and fluid situations. In New Orleans, FEMA needed every conceivable idea and potential solution for temporary housing, better food distribution, people transport, and flooding containment. The opportunity costs of ideas not surfaced or considered early in these emergency situations could be substantial. The current pandemic threat should serve as a vivid reminder that we need conventional and unconventional thinking to respond to challenges ahead.

The rapid evolution of communications, crowdsourcing, and social networking technologies has created an extraordinary opportunity to significantly advance the tools available to organizations that engage in the most serious of these disasters. FEMA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), Red Cross and others needs to pay particular attention to the potential of these technologies to significantly improve the effectiveness of response efforts.

Many storied examples already exist like users “Twittering” critical information from the front lines of the California wildfires, globalgiving.org quickly raising and routing donations for reconstruction of clinics after natural disasters, and online communities self organizing to fill vital communications needs in times of emergency. A few days ago, InnoCentive posted a Challenge to quickly identify whether airport passenger screening can be enhanced to detect contagions, clearly a response to H1N1 Influenza pandemic concerns.

InnoCentive is committed to making its InnoCentive.com crowdsourcing capability and access to its 175,000 strong Global Solver Community available “on demand” to work with disaster response agencies. Coupled with other Web 2.0 providers, FEMA and other organizations could have instantaneous access to hundreds of thousands of virtual responders, including scientists, engineers, healthcare professionals, and others … all ready, willing, and able to lend much needed support.

These systems could be “hard wired” for use by selected agencies and organizations in times of natural or manmade disaster, dramatically improving response effectiveness. This Emergency Response 2.0 Toolkit should be developed and orchestrated BEFORE the next natural disaster.

We call on FEMA and other agencies to survey the landscape of communication, crowdsourcing, and social networking tools available and to put in place the strategies, linkages, and training necessary to immediately leverage these capabilities in times of need. Let’s not wait until next Hurricane Katrina, Tsunami, Earthquake, or Global Pandemic to recognize the ability of people everywhere to have an extraordinarily positive impact in these Emergency Response situations.

Dwayne Spradlin
CEO, InnoCentive