Tag Archives: Kevin Desouza

Resilience in Planning – Starting a Discussion

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“Resilience is a term much bandied about these days in the planning and development professions. Buildings, plans, economies and even cities are expected to be resilient to unforeseen externalities in a world of rapidly changing technologies, climates, and cultures. With this in mind, Kevin C. Desouza and his colleagues at the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech would like to engage you, the planning and development community, in a discussion of what exactly it means to be resilient in a planning context, whether this is a laudable goal, and, if so, how we can achieve it.”

Read more at Planetizen and join the discussion here.

Information Techology and Local Sustainability Planning

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Kevin Desouza and Joe Schilling co-authored an exploration of local sustainability planning in the PM Magazine of ICMA. The article, available online, provides a preliminary snapshot of local government sustainability plans and discusses ways that information technologies can enhance their design and implementation.

These are just a few of the questions we are exploring at the Metropolitan Institute’s Sustainability Planning Lab. Virginia Tech’s Sustainability Planning Lab is continuing to inventory, catalog, and assess the current planning landscape. Starting with a preliminary list of 240 cities, we found that 84 of these places did not have a true sustainability plan, but instead relied on an assortment of plans and programs.

Information technology plays a pivotal role in advancing sustainability. Instead of relying on a small cohort of experts to interpret residents’ needs and desires, through crowd sourcing and modeling solutions, residents themselves develop and even implement solutions to urban issues.

Leveraging the Wisdom of Crowds through Participatory Platforms in Planetizen

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MI’s Director, Kevin Desouza, outlines five guidelines to consider for Leveraging the Wisdom of Crowds through Participatory Platforms was published on Planetizen. The future of design and planning is certain to be around participatory platforms, designers and planners should embrace these platforms and leverage their potential towards designing smart(er) cities through open, inclusive, and collaborative approaches. Planners need to learn how to orchestrate participation on these platforms so as to arrive at plans that are representative of community needs and within scope, budget, and resource constraints. Failure to achieve this will result in plans that fall prey to the foolishness or the rowdiness of crowds. I outline five simple guidelines to consider. To read more, click here - LINK

Metropolitan Institute to present at IGU Commission on Geography and Governance Annual Conference

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Kevin Desouza and Lauren Bulka will present at the IGU Commission on Geography of Governance annual conference set for April 2012 in Lisbon, Portugal. The International Geographic Union (IGU) is a network of scholars that focuses on the relationship between geography and governance, particularly in government/administration structures and processes. This year’s annual conference will focus on two main themes: “Citizen e-Participation in Urban Governance,” and the “Impact of Economic and Financial Crisis on Local Governance.” Kevin’s paper, co-authored by Akshay Bhagwatwar, “Citizen Apps and Urban Governance: Understanding the Landscape of Apps and their Impacts” focuses on examining the range of citizen applications (‘citizen apps’) targeted to solve urban issues and their ensuing impacts on planning, decision-making, problem solving, and urban governance. The paper looks broadly at citizen apps that address a wide range of urban issues from those that solve public transportation challenges to those advance management public utilities and services and even public safety. Lauren’s paper “Impacts of Inter-Municipality Cooperation on Small City Regeneration,” will focus on the impact of economic and financial crises on urban regeneration in small deindustrialized cities; looking specifically at the role inter-municipal cooperation could play in mitigating negative effects. The paper will use an in-depth case study of Clarksburg, West Virginia to analyze and propose innovative solutions for alleviating and addressing these impacts. For more information about these papers, please contact us.

 

Citizen Apps for Solving Urban Problems: New article in Journal of Urban Technology

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Kevin Desouza, has a new article accepted for publication in the Journal of Urban Technology. Co-authored with Akshay Bhagwatwar (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University), this paper, entitled “Opening up Information for Tackling Complex Urban Problems:  A Study of Citizen Apps,” looks at how citizen apps are employed to solve complex urban problems. The Metropolitan Institute will build on this paper as it continues work on the IBM Center for the Business of Government grant.

Abstract:

Tackling complex urban problems requires us to examine and leverage diverse sources of information. Today, cities of all kinds and sizes capture a large amount of information in real-time. Data is captured on transportation patterns, electricity and water consumption, citizen use of government services (e.g. parking meters), and even on weather events. Through open data initiatives, government agencies are making information available to citizens. In turn, citizens are building applications that exploit this information to solve local urban problems. Citizens are also building platforms where they can share information regarding government services. Information that was previously unavailable is now being used to gauge quality of services, choose services, and report illegal and unethical behaviors (e.g. requesting bribes). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the range of citizen applications (‘citizen apps’) targeted to solve urban issues and their ensuing impacts on planning, decision-making, problem solving, and urban governance. We examine citizen apps that address a wide range of urban issues from those that solve public transportation challenges to those advance management public utilities and services and even public safety.

Citation: Desouza, K.C., and Bhagwatwar, A. “Opening up Information for Tackling Complex Urban Problems:  A Study of Citizen Apps,” Journal of Urban Technology, Forthcoming.

Intrapreneurship: Managing Ideas within Your Organization – New Book by Kevin Desouza

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Just published by the University of Toronto Press, available on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com

Bridging academia and the corporate world, director Kevin Desouza has produced a book looking at the critical role of ideas in the success of any new venture. Intrapreneurship provides an engaging guide for both managers and employees, academic and staffers, on how to direct the flow of ideas and foster a culture of entrepreneurship within their existing structure.

Based on Kevin C. Desouza’s research and experience consulting with thirty global organizations, Intrapreneurship outlines ways to mobilize all types of ideas - from radical thinking to incremental innovations. With practical frameworks and real life examples, Intrapreneurship helps identify the value in ideas and how to leverage them to ultimately benefit your organization.

This book has received wide acclaim from scholars and practitioners. See below for a sampling of reviews:

‘Intrapreneurship offers a fresh and timely perspective on how to harness — and not kill — the power of innovation that exists inside every organization — including nonprofits. In his book, Desouza masterfully weaves academic research together with real life stories across industries to show us how to foster innovation and turn the best ideas into reality. His fusion of innovation and implementation into a single, pragmatic intrapreneurship framework is where the magic happens. This book is a must read for employees and leadership alike whether you are trying to increase profits, save the world, or both.‘ Neal Myrick, Director, Groundwire

‘As competition intensifies globally, no corporation can afford to ignore the potential of corporate entrepreneurs, or “intrapreneurs,” to drive growth and continual renewal. Kevin C. Desouza provides a new look and important contribution to the field of innovation, and he does so in a way that should be of keen interest to executives, intrapreneurs, and aspiring intrapreneurs across industries. Not only does Desouza explore new territory, he does so in a highly readable, applied manner drawing from both research and practice. Intrapreneurship will enable employees and managers to overcome typical, and costly, roadblocks faced when transforming ideas into commercially viable products and services.‘ Robert Wolcott, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Kellogg Innovation Network, Northwestern University

‘The evidence suggests most companies actually do a terrific job of killing off the entrepreneurial endeavours of their would-be innovators, through their standardized procedures and risk-averse mentalities. Kevin C. Desouza’s book, Intrapreneurship, provides the solution. He gives guidance to the people with bright ideas, to help them build support and get their ideas taken seriously, and he offers advice on how to manage and organize a company to give these would-be intrapreneurs as much support as possible. Drawing from his own practical experience as well as decades of academic research, Desouza’s book is a must-read in companies that care about making innovation everyone’s job.‘ Julian Birkinshaw, Professor, London Business School; Co-Founder, Management Innovation Lab (MLab); Fellow, Advanced Institute of Management Research (UK); and author of Reinventing Management

‘You cannot stay competitive and lead your industry unless you mine the potential within your own organization. Kevin C. Desouza makes the case for identifying and empowering talent to steward innovation from within. Intrapreneurship will help you tap your company’s greatest potential.‘  Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance, National Bestselling Author of Making Ideas Happen

To order your copy, please visit amazon.com or B&N.com.
To learn more about the book, please visit the University of Toronto Press site.

IBM Center for the Business of Government: Citizen Apps as a Democratizing Technology

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The Metropolitan Institute is pleased to announce a new grant from the IBM Center for the Business of Government for our research project, Citizen Apps as a Democratizing Technology:  Challenges and Opportunities for Federal Agencies. This project will be conducted as part of the institute’s policy informatics portfolio with Kevin Desouza serving as the Principle Investigator.

Most US federal agencies have embraced President Obama’s vision for 1) greater transparency, 2) increased citizen participation, and 3) greater collaboration. A critical outcome of these initiatives is the willingness of federal agencies to engage with citizens around open-data initiatives and the creation of technology for solving public policy problems – ‘citizen apps.’ We are witnessing an increasing proliferation of ‘citizen apps,’ i.e. applications designed by citizens and developers to solve public policy challenges. Federal agencies are not only opening up data reservoirs, but are also incentivizing the development of citizen apps through competitions. In this research project, we propose to study citizen apps and the federal programs that fostered (incentivized) their creation.

There are many reasons why it is beneficial to involve citizens in the governance process. One, it opens up problem solving opportunities where citizens can participate. Second, it serves as a forum to increase the diversity of thought and knowledge brought to a problem. This increases the potential for innovation by engaging many minds to solve complex problems. Citizen participation leads to greater collective intelligence and hopefully more robust solutions for social issues. Third, it allows citizens to solve problems that a government agency might be challenged to address. Finally, it empowers the vision set forth by former President John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Citizen app programs normally come in two broad flavors. One set of citizen app programs are fueled by government open-data initiatives. In these cases, a government agency makes data available to the public and the public in turn responds by using this data creatively to generate technologies (the apps) that better the lives of citizens. The second set of citizen app programs is where a government agency issues a challenge or problem to the public. The public then responds by building solutions to the challenge. In this case, the government may incentivize the development of the apps through issue of recognition prizes and funding. This success of both types of citizen app programs depends on the dynamic collaboration of government agencies, app developers, and the citizenry. To date, our knowledge on what makes for successful collaboration among these three players is limited.

There are a number of design considerations that need to be addressed when building citizen app programs from the nature of incentives provided to goals of the apps, the motivations that drive citizens to create the apps, and how (and where) to deploy the apps, the involvement by the agency (e.g. staff time to interact with app developers), level and amount of data availability, and creation of problem-solving communities and forums, among others. In this research project, we will uncover design considerations that government executives need to bear in mind as they initiate citizen app programs. We will also compare and contrast citizen app programs to arrive at a set of best practices by looking at critical success factors that led to citizen app programs that were highly successful.

Our research project will thoroughly inventory and study the range of citizen apps to understand the typology of the apps, the data they use, the problems they address, the motivation of the designers, the usage by citizens, and the impact on government and governance. We propose to discover and define the inter-relations between the government agencies, the app developers, and the citizens. While our focus will be on studying citizen apps generated out of programs commissioned by the federal government, we will also look at programs started by progressive states (e.g. New York, California, etc).

The results of the final report will benefit public sector government executives, public managers, and the public-at-large in several ways: 1) it will enable government executives to avoid common pitfalls when incentivizing citizen app programs (for e.g. placing emphasis on the frontend, i.e. the creation of apps, and ignoring the more challenging aspect of ensuring that the apps are diffused into the agency’s work practices or to citizens); 2) it will enable public managers to understand the landscape of citizen apps, the motivations of citizens who create them, and the factors that drive their usage; and 3) it will enable federal agencies to better engage citizens into the policy setting process through supporting technology development thereby increasing the chances of more effective solution generation for policy problems.

Examining Public Participation in ACTion Alexandria

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The Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech has entered into an agreement to partner with ACT for Alexandria to advance the design of citizen engagement platforms. Kevin Desouza, Director of the Metropolitan Institute, will lead a team of researchers who will work in collaboration with ACT for Alexandria personnel to examine public participation on the ACTion Alexandria platform. The team will look at how user interactions on the community platform can guide design choices that promote more robust forms of citizen engagement.

ACT for Alexandria is a community foundation founded in the the fall of 2004 by a small group of citizens who came together to decide how best to stimulate philanthropic giving to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in their community. The ACTion Alexandria project is a new citizen engagement platform which provides interactive tools that make it easier for residents to take a more active role in addressing community problems. ACTion Alexandria connects individuals to nonprofit organizations they want to support, but with a strictly local focus. Individuals have the opportunity to take action on behalf of nonprofits working to improve the community.

“ACT for Alexandria is excited about partnering with the Metropolitan Institute to further refine and grow the ACTion Alexandria platform as a model for others nationally,” said John Porter, Executive Director of ACT. Tracy Viselli, the Project Manager for ACTion Alexandria, added “the possibilities for this platform working with the institute are endless.”

According to Desouza, “ACT for Alexandria is a prominent player in the non-profit space. We are excited to partner with them to study the dynamics of public participation in action. The ACTion platform gives us access to real world scenarios of how citizens use technology to engage each other.”

This initiative will advance the work being done in Policy Informatics at the Metropolitan Institute. “Designing better collaborative and participatory platforms remains a critical challenge in the public arena. We are not only interested in this project from a research point of view but also from a design and policy point of view,” says Desouza. The Metropolitan Institute will be analyzing information on user behavior on the platform, designing experiments to test various strategies for increasing engagement on the platform, and contributing to the design of the overall platform.

Desouza explains, “Collaborating on this effort allows us the opportunity to make a difference in our community. The MI is based in Alexandria and we want to be part of the community. ACT for Alexandria provides an amazing array of services, from scholarships to leadership training. ACTion Alexandria is where the idea of community engagement meets the newest technological innovations.”

New Research: Tracking Progress of Large-Scale Public Sector Projects

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Director Kevin Desouza employs sentiment analysis for tracking the progress of large-scale public sector projects from public documents

Kevin Desouza has co-authored a paper with Sandeep Purao and Jonathan Becker, both based at the College of Information Science and Technology at Penn State University, which analyzes the using sentiment analysis. The paper titled “Investigating Failures In Large-Scale Public Sector Projects With Sentiment Analysis” will appear in a special issue of e-Service Journal.

The research aims to determine early indicators of when large-scale public sector projects begin to go off the rails. Using historical analysis of the IRS Business Systems Modernization, a project that has already spanned a decade and consumed more than $3 billion, the paper explores quantifying stakeholder Sentiments and Confidence from documents, with a view to exploring how such measures may offer early indications of project progress and assist managers to prevent undesirable future outcomes.

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