Characterizing the AQ Cluster

A number of concepts and principles are being used to design and build information systems in the current generation of 'web 2.0', distributed computing, social networking, etc. The AQ cluster is adopting many of these trends and 'mapping' the cluster to these concepts and principles is a useful way to define the cluster, understand it's activities in the past, and to lay out future activities. The content of this page outlines the new generation concepts and attempts to list their key attributes.

Cyberinfrastructure

• Distributed
• Collaborative
• Multidisciplinary
• Heterogenous
• Interoperable
• Accessible as a Public Good
• Sustainable
• Facilitates Collaboration
• Supports Experimentation
• Time and place are no longer barriers to participation and interaction
• Access is open to specialists and non-specialists alike
• Information is the primary driver for progress
• The realm of the possible is expanded through new capabilities, resources, and mechanisms

References

• D. Crawford, Charting our Cyberinfrastructure Future
• Necessary Characteristics of a Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Greer, NSF and Cyberinfrastructure

System of Systems

Systems of Systems Engineering

• Dual Citizenship

Leaderless Organization

• Is there a person in charge?
• Are there headquarters?
• If you thump it on the head, will it die?
• Is there a clear division of roles?
• If you take out a unit, is the organization harmed?
• Are knowledge and power concentrated or distributed?
• Is the organization flexible or rigid?
• Can you count the employees or participants?
• Are working groups funded by the organization or are they self-funding?
• Do working groups communicate directly or through intermediaries?
• Circles
• The Catalyst
• Ideaology
• The Preexisting Network
• The Champion

References

O. Brafman and R. Beckstrom, The Starfish and the Spider

Open Innovation

• Not all the smart people work for us. We need to work with smart people inside and outside our organization
• External R&D can create significant value; internal R&D is needed to claim some portion of that value
• We don't have to originate the research to profit from it
• If we make the best use of internal and external ideas, we will win
• We should profit from others' use of our intellectual property, and we should use others' intellectual property whenever it advances our own objectives

References

H. Chesbrough, Open Innovation