Intrapreneurship: India Management
In the October issue of India Management, published by the All India Management Association, I have an article on the art and science of intrapreneurship.
Posts
Data Governance – Cutter Business Technology Journal
An article I co-authored with Gregory S. Dawson (Arizona State University) and James S. Denford (Royal Military College of Canada) appears in the current issue of the Cutter Business Technology Journal.
We focus our article on a fundamental organizational question: in a medium-to-large organization, should data governance be centralized or decentralized (or, possibly, federated)? There are pros and cons for both centralization and decentralization. The overall business strategy needs to be considered: in some conglomerates of disparate business lines, there may be little commonality to the information being managed by the various divisions. However, decentralization still causes duplication of effort and risks inconsistencies across the enterprise. The authors give concrete examples that link the IT governance modality — centralized or decentralized — with performance outcomes. They generally favor a centralized model and provide the reader with specific recommendations on how to centralize data governance in organizations and how to implement this model successfully.
The article is available here.
Seminar – Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australia
I will deliver a seminar at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet next week.
The Public Sector in a World of Autonomous Systems
Emerging technologies are fundamentally impacting and transforming all aspects of our society. I am particularly concerned with how technological innovations impact 1) the design of our public institutions, 2) the apparatuses through which we shape, implement, and evaluate public policies, and 3) our governance frameworks for public goods. All indications suggest that we are moving toward a world where autonomous systems will dictate how we interface and interact with other agents and objects in our society. We can take advantage of emerging technologies to make our societies more livable, just, resilient, and sustainable. We need bold imagination and action to shape the future we want. This talk will outline how the public sector can take a leadership role in the design, development, and deployment of autonomous systems.
September 26, 2018: 13.30-14.30
Blockchain Research
Our recent research on blockchain continues to be published on Brookings TechTank. See below for links to recent articles:
- How China’s local governments and academia propel blockchain business
- Is China leading the blockchain innovation race?
- How blockchain could improve election transparency
- Blockchain and U.S. state governments: An initial assessment
Collaborators: Chen Ye, Kiran Kabtta Somvanshi, Xiaofeng Wang
External coverage: ZDNet
Unpacking Complexities of Mega-Scale Public Sector IT projects – Systèmes d’Information et Management
Isabelle Fagnot, Chen Ye, and I have a paper in the current issue of Systèmes d'Information et Management.
Mega-scale information technology (IT) projects in the public sector are significant undertakings operating within an ecosystem of stakeholders, resources, and constraints. The track record of these projects is abysmal. Employing an ecosystems lens, we study three failed mega-scale public sector IT projects: the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Virtual Case File (VCF), the U.S.federal government’s HealthCare.gov project, and Great Britain’s National Programme for IT (NPfIT). A forensic analysis of these projects was conducted employing the Qualitative Media Analysis (QMA) methodology. The findings suggest several stakeholders in a public IT project assume roles analogous to different types of species in an ecosystem, with the public agency sponsoring the project as the keystone species. Specifically, the findings show that the public agency is susceptible to failure in hiring key personnel with proper knowledge and experience, and failure in responding to early signals alerting the impending implosion of the project ecosystem. In addition, flawed relationships between the public agency and contractors, and flawed relationship between the legislature and the public agency also contributed significantly to project failure.
Systèmes d'Information et Management (French Journal of Management Information Systems) is the major French language journals addressing information systems intended for organization management.
Startup Village 2018 – Moscow, Russia
I am looking forward to visiting Moscow to deliver a keynote at the Startup Village 2018. Hosted by the Skolkovo Foundation in collaboration with the Foundation’s partners, Startup Village is the largest startup conference for technology entrepreneurs in Russia and the CIS countries. Since its launch, Startup Village has proven itself to be a unique platform where startup founders and innovators meet successful entrepreneurs, investors, large technology corporations, and representatives of city administration to discuss technological trends, ideas, and the nurturing of the next generation of Russian entrepreneurs. This global event annually brings together thousands of participants from all over the world, hosting more than 15,000 participants within two days in 2017.
Mechanics for the Future – Salzburg Global Forum
Credit: Salzburg Global Seminar/Ela Grieshaber.
I am looking forward to participating in the Mechanics for the Future: How Can Governments Transform Themselves? session at the Salzburg Global Forum.
Governments worldwide are under pressure to meet complex needs as populations age, countries urbanize, and technology transforms lives and work. They have lead responsibility to prepare their societies for a radically changing world, yet face shrinking budgets and declining trust in the public sector. The machinery of government has changed, requiring governments to transform themselves, both in terms of the methodology they use and the people needed to implement the change. What is the role of government in driving innovation? How can countries and cities learn from each other? How can governments recruit and retain the best people in public service with the right skills? How can governments better harness the market, and strengthen constructive partnerships with civil society and the private sector? What types of public communication work best to rebuild public trust?
See here for a list of attendees.
As part of the meeting, I will be leading a discussion on the potential for advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to transform how we govern. We will employ a case study that I co-authored with Richard T. Watson (Regents Professor and the J. Rex Fuqua Distinguished Chair for Internet Strategy, University of Georgia). The case study takes place in a country, Intelligensia, and is focused on deploying AI systems to modernize the national healthcare system and improve quality of life outcomes.
Volcker Alliance Report – Preparing Tomorrow’s Public Service
The Volcker Alliance released their Preparing Tomorrow's Public Service report. I was honored to serve as member of the advisory committee for this important project.
Distinguished Nonresident Research Fellow – China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
I have accepted a three year appointment as a Distinguished Nonresident Research Fellow at the China Institute for Urban Governance (CIUG) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). I am looking forward to working with colleagues at SJTU to launch new research endeavors that advance urban innovation.
Related:
- (October 2017) Story on the Global Cities Forum hosted by CIUG
- (October, 2016) Story in ChinaDaily.com on the creation of CIUG.
Cutter Business Technology Journal – Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence
New article in Cutter Business Technology Journal with Lena Waizenegger (Auckland University of Technology) and Gregory S. Dawson (Arizona State University)
9 Recommendations for Designing, Developing, Deploying, and Refining Cognitive Computing Systems
This article draws your attention to the design, development, deployment, and refinement of cognitive computing systems (CCSs). While CCSs are deployed in a variety of fields yielding benefits exceeding expectations, there are also major failures. Lack of appreciation for the differences inherent in developing a CCS versus a traditional software system is key to these failures. To assist in developing successful CCSs and to derive benefits from them, the authors offer a set of nine key recommendations based on their examination of over two dozen systems. They conclude that CCSs will be a dominant technology that will permeate all business operations for the foreseeable future.