Tag Archives: technology

Fon: sharing your Wi-Fi

March 11, 2018 meganschupp Leave a comment

Introduction: the rise of the sharing economy

Nowadays, the sharing economy has become a worldwide phenomenon. It has come in many different forms, in many different industries. One can share, exchange, trade, swap; one can do this with cars, housing, clothing, etc. (Habibi, Davidson & Laroche 2016). Many startups are creative in continually thinking of new ways to participate in the sharing economy. Well-established companies in the sharing economy, such as Airbnb, Uber and Zipcar, can be used as an example by newer startups; either by following them in what has gone well, or by being cautious in what went wrong for them in the past.

Industries that can be innovated in, by utilizing the sharing economy, seem to be endless. As such, a startup called Fon, is a pioneer in Wi-Fi sharing, managing 21 million hotspots globally (Fon Wireless, Ltd., 2018). You might have already seen this name in the past, either consciously or unconsciously, in the list of the Wi-Fi signals on your phone, laptop, tablet, or any other device. Actually, as I am writing this post, there is currently a Fon signal on my laptop.

In the Netherlands, Fon has partnered up with KPN (Fon Wireless, Ltd., 2018). But partnerships are just a part of Fon’s business model. Are you interested in getting to know more about what Fon exactly is? Then continue reading.

Fon: a wireless network

So, what exactly is Fon, and what does it do? Fon is a wireless network, aiming to create a global network of wireless access to Wi-Fi, based on Wi-Fi routers, that members should own and share with one another. There are two separate ‘signals’ coming from Fon’s Wi-Fi router, the Fonera, where one is meant to be used by the owner of the router, and the other is meant to be used by the members of the Fon community, who are in the neighborhood looking for a Wi-Fi signal. Due to these separate signals, privacy issues do not pose a concern. (McGarry, 2013)

One can buy the Wi-Fi router from Fon’s own branded routers, the Fonera, offering free lifetime membership, but most of the hotspots provided by Fon are coming from the partnerships it has with broadband providers. As mentioned earlier, for example in the Netherlands, Fon has partnered up with KPN (Fon Wireless, Ltd., 2018).

The Fon for members app

To enhance convenience for its customers, Fon has also created an app for its members, offering several utilities. This app is not available in all countries, so to partly overcome this issue, Fon has set up other versions of the app for which they collaborate with other brands. On the app, members can, for example, check their own profile, and open a map that shows all available hotspots in the area. (Fon Wireless, Ltd., 2018)

What about its revenue model?

Interestingly, Fon is a not for profit company (Schriber, 2018). When purchasing a router, you become a member and you pay the price of the router, after which you are offered free lifetime membership. The Wi-Fi sharing of Fon is enabled by the software it has developed.

Fon is continuously aiming to expand, however this has unfortunately not been easy in every part of the world (Ricknäs, 2015). Its strategy to expand is often via partnering up with local broadband providers. In January 2014, Fon raised $14 million in funding, which it wanted to use for expansion in the United States. However, expansion in the United States did not seem easy for them (Ricknäs, 2015).

One drawback of the service is its limited Wi-Fi signal, making the service better suitable to dense, urbanized areas (Jackson, 2016). As such, have a look at the map below, where it can be seen that the service is much more used in denser countries, such as the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Nevertheless, if Fon mostly focuses on denser, more urbanized areas, it can definitely remain a strong player in the market. In current times where data usage is continuously increasing and access to the Internet is almost becoming a hygiene factor in developed countries, Fon can fill a gap in the market, as constant access to Wi-Fi is not yet globally covered.

A factor that Fon has to take into account that could work against them, is the increasing global availability and the reducing costs of data on your phone. For example, roaming within Europe has recently become free of charge (Europa, 2018). This causes less people searching for a Wi-Fi signal, because they might just as well use the data on their phone.

References

Europa. (2018). Roaming in the EU. [online] Available at: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/internet-telecoms/mobile-roaming-costs/index_en.htm [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018]

Fon Wireless, Ltd. (2018). Fon is the global WiFi network. [online] Available at: https://fon.com [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018]

Habibi, M.R., Davidson, A. and Laroche, M., 2017. What managers should know about the sharing economy. Business Horizons, 60(1), 113-121.

Jackshon, M. (2016). 1 in 3 Home Broadband Routers to Double as Public WiFi Hotspots by 2017. [online] Available at: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2016/01/1-in-3-home-broadband-routers-to-double-as-public-wifi-hotspots-by-2017.html [Accessed 11 Mar. 2018]

McGarry, C. (2013). Sharing with strangers: Fon wants to be the Zipcar of Wi-Fi. [online] Available at: https://www.techhive.com/article/2056719/sharing-with-strangers-fon-wants-to-be-the-zipcar-of-wi-fi.html [Accessed 10 Mar. 2018]

Ricknäs, M. (2015). Fon keeps adding WiFi Hotspots but struggles to crack the US. [online] Available at: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2942552/fon-keeps-adding-wifi-hotspots-but-struggles-to-crack-the-us.html [Accessed 11 Mar. 2018]

Schriber, B. (2018). Understanding Fon Wi-Fi Hotspots. [online] Available at: http://internet-access-guide.com/understanding-fon-wi-fi-hotspots/ [Accessed 11 Mar. 2018]

Articles

Personalized e-learning is on its way and we should be prepared

February 18, 2018 meganschupp Leave a comment

Personalization

With the rise of digitalization has come the rise of digital personalization. Personalization has been existent for a couple of years now, in different kinds of industries, such as retail, cars and even perfumes (Randall, Terwiesch & Ulrich 2005). This means companies and researchers also already had quite some time to learn about both the benefits and the drawbacks of personalization. However, the drawbacks are harder to overcome nowadays, since the use of personalization has already been implemented on such a big, global, scale. Think, for instance, about privacy concerns that could have at least partly been prevented if legislation was set in place in time. However, we can all understand that it is hard to act upon potential drawbacks in advance if there is no prior experience whatsoever.

Nevertheless, it is always a good idea to be cautious and critical about upcoming trends such as personalization, before blindly implementing them without thinking about any potential consequences, either negative or positive. This means, foreseeing any potential drawbacks, as well as keeping in mind what you would like to reach as a goal by pursuing a trend such as personalization.

Personalized e-learning

Ashman et al. (2014) have presented a detailed discussion regarding personalization, but not in the field of, e.g., e-commerce, where it is already widely implemented, but rather in the field of e-learning. Personalization in e-learning is still in its beginning phase and therefore not yet widely implemented. Thus, the authors act in advance on warning e-learning providers and educational institutions on the potential drawbacks of the personalization of e-learning, including recommendations on how to overcome them, before it is too late. Especially since educational institutions are increasingly using such models as a way to gain as much as new students as possible, to increase their income, risking to lose their initial, most important goal out of sight: to enhance the quality of education. (Ashman et al. 2014)

But why is personalization of e-learning initially needed, then? The authors acknowledge where institutions’ interest in personalization of e-learning is coming from. E-learning is an upcoming trend on its own already to overcome the lack of time and resources to facilitate an increasing number of students globally. However, students might feel disenfranchised and their individual learning needs might become neglected by the use of e-learning. To overcome this issue, educational institutions are starting to implement the personalization of e-learning. However, then again, personalization comes with its setbacks.

Setbacks

The three main setbacks discussed by Ashman et al. (2014) are privacy concerns, serendipity issues and deskilling problems. The authors discuss these three setbacks in great detail. Privacy concerns is a recurring issue surrounding the topic of data gathering in general, which is also needed for personalization. Serendipity issues are about the reduced ability to learn and understand different beliefs, cultures and lifestyles, or to learn ‘out of your comfort zone’, as personalization leads to the targeted student to only be presented information that fits within his/her field of interest. Lastly, students can be deskilled in the sense that they do not learn how to critically assess and evaluate the information that they are given, as with personalization they are presented the results that most closely fit their needs, so they stop looking further very quickly. The authors emphasize, in order to overcome these issues, it is important to inform students about what and how data is gathered about them, and to give them the opportunity to control what information is presented to them. Additionally, they advise a clear and thorough understanding by e-learning providers and educational institutions of why personalization in e-learning is needed and what can be achieved by it, for which thorough experimentation is required.

In their paper, several universities, such as Harvard, St. Gallen and Ontario, are used as an example, from which data is analyzed very extensively by Google Analytics. Google Analytics tracks staff and students on the websites of the universities. This enhances the concern of privacy, as the user ID’s were visible.

Opportunities

Despite these discussed setbacks, the authors do see great value in personalized e-learning as “the system is genuinely able to interact with users, recognize when they need assistance and guide them to the appropriate information or educational activity” (Ashman et al., 2014). Unfortunately, the authors of this paper focus solely on education in well-established economies, which is only a small part of the world. It would be interesting to see the possibilities of personalized e-learning being enforced globally, and thus in poorer areas, too. Interestingly, founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife, are planning to donate 99% of their Facebook shares to invest in, amongst other things, personalized learning. He mentioned:

“Students around the world will be able to use personalized learning tools over the internet, even if they don’t live near good schools. Of course it will take more than technology to give everyone a fair start in life, but personalized learning can be one scalable way to give all children a better education and more equal opportunity.” (Strauss, 2015)

Let’s see what the future holds for us and the upcoming generations regarding a transformation in education, not only in well-established, advanced countries, but also in countries limited in access to good education. Although the negative consequences should not be forgotten and be acted upon well in advance…

References

Ashman, H., Brailsford, T., Cristea, A. I., Sheng, Q. Z., Stewart, C., Toms, E. G., & Wade, V. (2014). The ethical and social implications of personalization technologies for e-learning. Information & Management, 51, pp. 819–832.

Randall, T., Terwiesch, C., & Ulrich, K.T. (2005). Principles for user design of customized products. California Management Review, 47(4), 68. Links to an external site.

Straus, V. (2015). A primer for Mark Zuckerberg on personalized learning — by Harvard’s Howard Gardner. The Washington Post.

Business Case

Stronger together! How co-creation unveiled image recognition applications.

February 18, 2018 eleonoretezenas Leave a comment

A short story of image recognition applications for long-established businesses

What does image recognition evoke to you ? Tesla’s automatic pilot mode ? Google’s automated image organization or Facebook’s face recognition system ?

All these applications are state-of-the art image recognition applications but yet they might not be the more profitable ones. Traditional business are often considered as laggard when it comes to technologic innovation but they actually carry the most added-value applications for computer vision. From automatic quality control to predictive maintenance, deeply-rooted companies are operated by many simple but repetitive tasks than can easily be automated with computer vision. But why don’t we hear about them ?

Long-established companies are facing many challenges to adapt their operations to computer vision technology. Often handicapped by their unsexy corporate images, they don’t attract talented data scientist and fall behind to develop AI applications. For this reason, many solution-provider companies started to offer a variety of off-the-self image recognition API. But once again, this approach was not satisfying. Most APIs had a too much restricted scope and performed poorly once used in the business environment.

In response to the lack of success of these APIs, more and more image recognition API providers companies are pivoting towards custom image recognition applications and it might finally be the right approach to bring AI into traditional companies’ operations. In order to tailor each system to business needs, it appeared that a strong collaboration is required between solution providers and clients. Therefore, it is relevant to present this new approach with the spectrum of value co-creation.

Co-creation principles of real-world image recognition applications

1. Custom, the system will be

As mentioned above, custom applications proved to be more way more efficient to solve businesses’ problems. Image recognition applications are systems that take in input an image and give an information about it on output. This information can be a tag (eg : there is a dog in this image) or an object localization for instance. They are highly specific to each company and therefore need to be adapted every time.

2. Client’s image, you will use

To ensure satisfying performances, each applications should be build with customers images. By that, I mean that later on the application’s system will predict information from specific images and the model used in production should be be created with extremely similar images. I won’t go into details but keep in mind, that AI learn by examples and the more relevant the examples are, the more accurate the results will be. Be careful, some images can be qualified as personal data and has to respect personal data directives.

3. Involved, your client have to be

Unlike some others IT applications, defining requirement specifications won’t be enough to build a custom applications. Customers should be involved during the whole process in order to ensure that the final application match correctly the operations. For instance, if one company wish to automate quality control, it will need to define what tags are the best to represent the different type of defect on spare parts.

4. Labelling, your client will be in charge of

Finally, in cases where the customer is the expert, the only way to create custom systems implies to put client at work. As briefly mentioned before, to build image recognition model you need to show as many example as possible. To do so, you need to annotate every images with its corresponding tags and some tags requires an expertise only possessed by operators. For instance, there is a lot of excitements around automatic cancerous cell detection on medical images. To create an auto-diagnosis system, doctors need to teach algorithm to differentiate sane and cancerous of cells and it requires a specific annotation expertise that cannot be outsourced.

Information asymmetry has inhibited computer vision applications’s development as traditional companies have struggled to understand how it could benefit their business and AI companies to uncover potential use cases for them. Establishing co-creation relationship to build image recognition application might finally allows a faster integration of AI in traditional businesses.

Deepomatic, making vision AI accessible to every businesses

Let’s illustrate how these principles can be applied to a business model. French start-up deepomatic edits a software platform enabling businesses to build custom image recognition system. Starting from simple licence plan to more project-based sales, the start-up offers support to guide clients from use case ideation to application deployment. The relationship between them and their clients is structured around step by step meetings to define scope and tags, to collect images etc. The platform they designed helps to manage dataset and performance but also bridge deepomatic’s actions to its client’s. As it is possible to improve system’s performances over time, deepomatic designed the software as a human-in-the-loop platform : once in production, the system can still return images where the system is unconfident and client’s experts can annotate again and deploy a new version. This way, system can evolve over time to match operational changes and represent a strong example of a dynamic and customized product.

For more information about deepomatic’s platform, click here.

References

deepomatic’s website : https://www.deepomatic.com/

Saarijävi et al (2013), “Value co-creation: theoretical approaches and practical implications”, European Business Review

Kohtamäki, Rajala (2016), “Theory and practice of value co-creation in B2B systems”, Industrial Marketing Management

Business Case

GoMetro – Real Time Passenger Data for Public Transportation Systems

February 18, 2018 tedbolsius Leave a comment

Cape Town, South Africa.

Three million commuters use the metro rail on a daily basis in South Africa. The underdeveloped public transportation system has frequent delays, however there are no notifications of cancellations or changes in the schedule due to the fact that there are no sources of real time travel information. The South African startup, GoMetro, provides commuters with mobile services through the mobile web, apps, socials networks and sms-services and thereby they connect transit operators with commuters who are at the center of the platform. Commuters in their turn log on to the platform and share their real time location, stops, delays and any cancelations. In return GoMetro can provide and exchange real-time arrival and departure information, current locations of vehicles, early notifications of operational breakdowns and travel disruptions of the public transportation system. Hereby, GoMetro, transit operators and commuters co-create value through the sharing of real time data information creating a platform using a customer-centric approach.

Although GoMetro started in South African cities with underdeveloped transportation systems, the scope of the business model reaches much further. Personal mobile devices are being used and have changed information distribution paradigms, however they have not yet been used in the public transportation domain (Nunes, Galvao and Cunha, 2014). When consumers interact with service providers, in this case GoMetro, a win-win situations is created. This business model incorporates three different roles for the commuters in the co-creation of value; they need to use the information, provide real time information and validate given information (Nunes, Galvao and Cunha, 2014). This business model can be used in many different countries and cities, as the use of mobile devices has risen substantially over the recent years and will continue to do so (Emarketer.com, 2018).

The three parties involved in the platform of GoMetro are the commuters, the transit companies and GoMetro itself, each creating value with each other as to create joint profitability. The commuters create value through sharing the real time travel data and use the travel data of others, thereby creating value for the platform as a whole. The transit companies can provide incentives such as discounts on travel fares for the commuters, as to incentivize them to share their travel data. GoMetro contributes by the creation of the platform and bringing all users together so they can co-create value, in return they make money through advertisements on the platform. The creation and development is done in cooperation with Intel, who provide technical support and insights. All these elements are linked to the customer-centricity of the platform and the interaction between the parties creates joint profitability for all players involved.

The institutional environment GoMetro faces in South African cities has been positive ever since GoMetro started with the idea. With millions of people commuting each day in South Africa and many cannot afford a car themselves, efficient public transportation could be a lifesaver. GoMetro helps to improve the efficiency and commuters adopt the platform in large numbers, as already near to a million people are registered users. Looking at the support the company is getting from both governmental institutions as well as private companies the platform seems to be beneficial for all. Increasing the use of public transportation in the big South African cities helps to reduce the use of private cars, air pollution and frees up space in the cities, as less cars enter the urban areas. All these elements contribute to a more efficient infrastructure of large cities. Having no legal boundaries or complications, makes the institutional environment even more advantageous for the platform of GoMetro.

One drawback is the issue of privacy concerns. Sharing real time personal travel information reveals where you are at a given moment in time and this captures valuable information which can also be used for undesirable purposes. Consumers have to consider whether sharing their real time travel data is worth the costs of sharing private information with the platform. As long as the benefits outweigh the costs, the platform has a sustainable business model and a bright future (Karwatzki et al., 2017).

The extent to which the business model of co-creating value by customers sharing their real time travel information with a platform can reach is yet to be determined. The need for a more efficient public transportation system and the willingness of commuters to share their real time travel data are the least requirements for the business model to succeed. ‘As cities grow, they are in need of a flexible mobility platform to service their mobility needs’ (Justin Coutzee, Founder of GoMetro, 2016). Big cities in Africa, Asia and the Middle East are likely to adopt such business models as they want to improve the way people move within their urban areas.

References:

Nunes, A., Galvao, T. and Cunha, J. (2014). Urban Public Transport Service Co-creation: Leveraging Passenger’s Knowledge to Enhance Travel Experience. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 111, pp.577-585.

Emarketer.com. (2018). Mobile Phone, Smartphone Usage Varries Globally – eMarketer. [online] Available at: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Mobile-Phone-Smartphone-Usage-Varies-Globally/1014738 [Accessed 13 Feb. 2018].

Karwatzki, S., Dytynko, O., Trenz, M. and Veit, D. (2017). Beyond the Personalization–Privacy Paradox: Privacy Valuation, Transparency Features, and Service Personalization. Journal of Management Information Systems, 34(2), pp.369-400.

Articles, News

Philips HealthSuite: Digital Revolution

February 13, 2018 374199dv Leave a comment

Healthcare Management Will Never Be The Same
Today people are more connected in more places than ever and we are becoming more active participants in our own health. At the same time healthcare providers are looking for deeper clinical insights and actionable information to make better decisions and improve patient outcomes. A digital revolution in healthcare might take place by the innovative launch of an online healthcare platform initiated by Philips. The Philips HealthSuite is an open platform of service capabilities and tools designed to inspire and enable the development of next generation connected health and wellness innovation. Imagine a mobile app paired with connected health devices that allows people managing diabetes to capture and monitor their diet, glucose, insulin and more, all from their smart phone. The same data can be shared with their healthcare providers so that they 1) get a better insight into the medical conditions 2) get reminders and alerts for medication and testing 3) have a program to support the persons individual treatment plan and 4) a curated social community of others managing diabetes. Unlike other cloud computing platforms, HealthSuite is purpose-build for healthcare. It’s health optimized infrastructure allows seemless integration with existing heath enterprise ecosystems (Philips.nl, 2018).

Philips HealthSuite Business Model
The highly innovative business model is based on connecting multiple stakeholders: pharmaceutical companies, patients and care professionals. Main goal is to establish and strengthen this medical network by digital connected devices from Philips.

Where are the revenues coming from?
Both pharmaceutical companies, patients and care professionals pay for using the online HealthSuite platform. Moreover, they have to buy the digital connected devices from Philips in order to be connected to the network. This is how Philips will mainly increase its revenue streams.
What value is delivered to which markets?
Philips’ main goal is to deliver customer value to people who need medical care, e.g. elderly or people with certain diseases. These customers will get more personalized care which they can monitor by themselves and which results in a more efficient treatment. After all, this treatment will be less stressful for patients since they are now able to stay in their own environment at home instead of going to the hospital. Patients thus get more personalized care which is the main value that Philips delivers to them.
Secondly, Philip’s delivers value to the other side of the healthcare sector, i.e. the healthcare providers. By delivering an online platform and highly innovative infrastructure, it becomes less time-consuming for healthcare providers to monitor and treat their patients. Healthcare providers share their knowledge via the HeathSuite platform and can communicate with patients easier. Healthcare providers thus get more chance on sharing knowledge, provide efficient treatments and could thus increase their positive impact on patients via the digital platform.
What costs are involved in delivering that value?
Philips has to invest in research and development of digital connected devices and the online platform infrastructure. Another important cost item is the security of customer data which is very vulnerable in healthcare. Philips thus needs to invest in 1) improving the platform and innovating its products and 2) monitoring the data streams in order to protect data leakage.

Figure 1. HealthSuite Platform Stakeholders (Philips.com, 2018)

Theoretical Point-Of-View
Following Grönroos & Voima (2013), customer value creation depends on product and service interrelationships and product and service bundling. This resource integration-based view implies that customer satisfaction partly depends on its overall goodness of fit (Solomon and Buchanan, 1991). The Philips HealthSuite Platform does connect multiple stakeholders by providing a highly interactive platform where all stakeholders are connected and where both medical devices (products) and medical care (services) are bundled together. For example, a patient can monitor its own treatment at home while doctors can follow his or her results digitally. When needed, doctors can communicate with the patients and can provide them some extra treatments, such as medicines. Doctors will then switch to pharmacists via the platform to connect them with patients. In this case, Philips delivers customer value by interrelating products and services and bundling them together.
Following Karwatzki et al. (2017), individuals’ privacy valuation is a strong inhibitor of information provision in general. Following this line of reasoning, service providers need to align their service designs with consumers’ privacy preferences. Although Philips HealthSuite Business Model might be valuable in terms of revenues and costs, there is an important risk to consider. Medical data in healthcare industry is very sensitive and vulnerable. Patients may feel scared by sharing their personal data on such a highly intensive network. How will Philips elaborate on these dangers?

Figure 2. Patient Relationship Management (Philips.com, 2018)

Call-to-action
A digital revolution in healthcare might take place by the innovative launch of an online healthcare platform initiated by Philips. Although this might be beneficial for many different stakeholders and delivers great customer value, we need to consider the ethical and legal dilemma’s of this revolution and protect customer privacy.

Are you curious?
In collaboration with Radbout University, Philips designed a digital application where patients can monitor their own diabetes and are able to share their results with professional doctors and other patients. The following video illustrates a prototype that could help patients with type-1 diabetes. Link to YouTube Video: HealthSuite Philips

Bibliography
Grönroos, C., & Voima, P. (2013). Critical service logic: making sense of value creation and co-creation. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 41(2), 133-150.

Karwatzki, S., Dytynko, O., Trenz, M., & Veit, D. (2017). Beyond the Personalization–Privacy Paradox: Privacy Valuation, Transparency Features, and Service Personalization. Journal Of Management Information Systems, 34(2), 369-400. doi:10.1080/07421222.2017.1334467.

Solomon, M. R., & Buchanan, B. (1991). A role-theoretic approach to product symbolism: mapping a consumption constellation. Journal of Business Research, 22(March), 95–109.

https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/innovation/about-health-suite

http://www.smarthealth.nl/trendition/2014/10/13/radboud-en-philips-werken-samen-aan-open-cloud-gebaseerd-zorgplatform/

Author
Daan Verpalen, Student MSc. Business Information Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management, 2018 (studentnumber: 374199)

Business Case

NASA: Crowdsourcing the Universe

February 12, 2018 485772ed Leave a comment

NASA has always been considered a symbol of scientific progress. Its task, the study of the universe, is without doubt something that requires a lot of work, from all of us. NASA is aware of this and has taken one of its first steps into its own new frontier: Crowdsourcing. Since 2011, NASA has been using crowdsourcing to help them solve some of the problems that arise on the International Space Station (ISS), from coming up with solutions regarding the difficulties of astronauts exercising in space, to searching for new planets. All these crowdsourced initiatives, framed as challenges, draw people from all over the world, and to date, more than a dozen platforms exist to host the challenges.

In the past, NASA’s aversion to crowdsource has primarily been a result of its culture. NASA Senior Policy Advisor Amy Kaminski declared that “The greatest challenge the use of crowdsourcing methods at NASA has endured is in their relative newness and lack of familiarity within most of the agency. Scientists and engineers at NASA are used to particular ways of doing R&D, and this usually entails doing work within the agency or having it done by groups within academia or industry via grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Crowdsourcing involves opening up the R&D participant base, which introduces uncertainty even while opening new and exciting possibilities for finding solutions to problems of interest and accelerating research work”. However, NASA’s initial mental closure began to evolve with the arrival of both private space companies and the rapidly growing ambitions of politicians to reach the stars.

The New Crowdsourcing Frontier

In 2014, NASA Deputy Chief Technologist Jim Adams stated “NASA recognizes that crowdsourcing presents an extraordinary opportunity to inspire the development of transformative solutions by offering a means to engage with non-traditional sources of innovative ideas, all in a remarkably cost-effective way”. Adding to this, Steve Rader, Deputy Manager of the Centre of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) at NASA, explained “If you have large crowds of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people in communities, it is likely that you actually have within those communities some very valuable high-skilled folks. The idea is that somebody who can solve your very difficult problem often does not have traditional experience”. In fact, a main reason why crowdsourcing works so well is that a lot of the time, solutions are found by people who do not have the same area of expertise as the problem.

Some of NASA’s biggest crowdsourcing initiatives were related to its desire to know more about the Solar System. For example, their lunar instruments crowdsourcing campaign focused on NASA’s desire to better understand the Moon. Similarly, its Mars campaign, aimed at college students, was designed to find resources on Mars. It started with the Mars Forum, which used IdeaScale’s technology to engage the crowd and develop ideas while answering questions. As it progressed, college students could build and submit their own robots that were able to autonomously perform mining tasks. These are just a few examples of the several crowdsourcing projects undertaken by NASA.

The last and still ongoing initiative, hosted by crowdsourcing program Zooniverse, is the hunt for Planet Nine – the large, mysterious body thought to lurk at the edge of our solar system –. Ordinary people have now joined the search, and they have made some very interesting findings. Through the project, dubbed “Planet 9 Search”, space enthusiasts and astronomers alike are given access to thousands of images taken by ANU’s SkyMapper telescope. Their task is to find anything that appears to move against the mostly motionless background of distant stars. In just three days, about 21,000 volunteers examined more than 100,000 images and classified more than 5 million objects. This is work that would have taken an astronomy PhD student four years, according to ANU astronomer Brad Tucker.

“Planet 9 Search” Project Advertisement

Why NASA Crowdsources

Crowdsourcing can reduce costs, speed up project timelines, tap into crowd intelligence and creativity, and engage citizens at all levels of corporate and government processes. Many large corporations such as Microsoft, GE, AT&T, eBay, IBM, Apple and Sun (West 2003) and government agencies such as NASA (Lakhani, 2013), are increasing investment in crowdsourced solutions to gain the potential value of crowdsourcing as an open innovation platform, to both drive cost efficiencies and overcome resource constraints. Specifically regarding NASA, one of the aspects that makes all of this possible is that, while solving most problems requires significant scientific knowledge, the problem itself requires minimal integration into NASA’s internal operations.

How NASA uses crowdsourcing is enlightening. It allows NASA to try several different ideas at once and sort through those that work and those that do not. If you give it a thought, NASA has the kind of challenge that would make any person cringe: Get humanity beyond the sphere of Earth and explore the universe. And as if this was not enough, it all has to be done on a budget entirely controlled by politicians. This often means they get only one opportunity at constructing something, and adding to the pressure, if that device fails, the lives of astronauts could be at risk. So crowdsourcing lets them look carefully at ideas, both conventional and unique, and lets them narrow it down to the ones that work. With respect to the intellectual property (IP) of such ideas, organizers of challenges will sometimes reserve all rights to the IP of the knowledge/technology generated from the competition and applicants are always encouraged to read the terms and conditions of a challenge.

NASA’s crowdsourcing efforts are not just about finding the best idea, but also getting some of the best talent the country has to offer. It is no secret government agencies can have trouble getting the best and brightest people, and these competitions offer a look at some of the finest minds out there. Moreover, in addition to the value of ideas and talent, announcing winners and prizes is often used as a promotional and marketing tool for the organization, as it provides “good news” stories to share on Social Media. Even participants that do not win may see an increased investment in the company as a result of feeling a part of the process.

Example Tweet (Space Apps is a NASA incubator innovation program)

From a contributor’s perspective, NASA’s crowdsourcing initiatives are appealing not only because of cash prizes, but also because they are designed towards building relationships with its contributors, possibly also offering some of them an employment contract at NASA. As teams compete not just for the cash purse, but also for the associated validation, prestige, and satisfaction that result from solving important problems, challenges can incentivize significant additional investment, leveraging the award’s impact. According to several contributors, the real reward is helping NASA solve a space/engineering problem and gaining critical thinking and skills that are highly sought by employers.

It is therefore clear that there is a lot other firms can learn from NASA’s crowdsourcing. It is much more than just a way to get external ideas: Innovation strategy can truly transform an organizational culture. As a matter of fact, to conclude, it can boldly be stated that crowdsourcing has been “one small step for its innovation strategy, one giant leap for NASA”.

References

“Crowdsourcing Innovation at NASA: Q&A with Amy Kaminski.” Dialogue Review (2017). Retrieved from http://dialoguereview.com/crowdsourcing-innovation-with-nasa-q-and-a/

Day, J. “How NASA is Crowdsourcing its Innovation Strategy.” Ideascale (2017). Retrieved from https://ideascale.com/24571/

Dodgson, L. “How to get involved with NASA: Crowdsourcing ideas for Mars houses, robots, and space poop.” Business Insider Nederland (2016). Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.nl/how-to-get-involved-with-nasa-2016-11/?international=true&r=UK

Ford, Robert C., Brendan Richard, and Michael P. Ciuchta. “Crowdsourcing: A new way of employing non-employees?.” Business Horizons 58.4 (2015): 377-388.

“Implementation of Federal Prize Authority, Fiscal Year 2013 Progress Report.” (2014). Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/fy2015_competes_prizes_report.pdf

Kaplan, S. “Citizen scientists may have located candidates for Planet Nine.” The Washington Post (2017). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/04/citizen-scientists-may-have-located-candidates-for-planet-nine/?utm_term=.59d019290aa6

Lakhani, K. “The crowd as an innovation partner: Lessons from NASA, Harvard Medical School, and beyond.” Presentation at the TopCoder Roadshow, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (2013)

Pearson, D. “NASA’s Crowdsourcing Is Out Of This World.” (2015). Retrieved from https://smbp.uwaterloo.ca/2015/10/nasas-crowdsourcing-is-out-of-this-world/

“Problem Solving Approaches at NASA: Challenges, Prize Competitions, and Crowdsourcing.” Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/content/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing-advance-nasa-s-mission-and-outreach

West, J. “How open is open enough?: Melding proprietary and open source platform strategies.” Research policy, 32.7 (2003): 1259-1285

Articles

The Insurance Industry Is Taking Advantage of the Sharing Economy

March 10, 2017 adeschamps93 Leave a comment

The so-called ‘sharing economy’ has benefited numerous consumers through the value it has added to their lives. Companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Lyft, to name just a few, have taken advantage of the digital technologies humans have developed over the years. However, consumers are not the only benefactors of the sharing economy, the insurance industry has developed products and services specifically catered to its unique characteristics, most notably in the ride-sharing sector, where insurance providers have taken advantage of liability concerns occurring in such ‘sharing’ activities (Traum, Vol. 14:511).

One of the first products developed, the “Metronome”, came from a collaboration between Uber and MetroMile. The device tracks the vehicle of a Transport Network Company (TNC) driver, and is embedded in the Uber application (Traum, Vol. 14:511). It only turns on and activates the required insurance plan when drivers are engaged in TNC services. When the driver is not carrying a passenger, or hasn’t accepted a ride, any liabilities arising from an accident are covered by his own insurance. This product considers both the professional and personal roles of Uber drivers. In a similar fashion, a new plan from Farmers Insurance, on offer since May 2015, supplements a TNC driver’s personal plan with a premium of eight percent (Traum, Vol. 14:511). Many insurances providers have begun to offer similar services to the ride-sharing industry.

Furthermore, the use of such digital technologies has expanded to mainstream customers’ insurance plans. Some companies have developed a chip to be installed on the vehicle during production. Similarly to the Metronome, this device tracks if a vehicle is in use and offers full coverage, to the extent of the customer’s plan, in the case of an incident. However, when the vehicle is parked and the engine is off, the insurance company provides a more limited plan. This enables insurance firms to offer their customer with a more suited, and personalised service.

In the case of Airbnb and other home-sharing services, the lack of legislative development with regards to the coverages of issues common to such activities (Traum, Vol. 14:511). However, insurance providers are aware of the risks that may arise but have yet to adapt and respond to liability issues specific to the home-sharing industry. Together with national governments and sharing economy companies, insurance providers have to strive towards addressing consumer needs; such as protection issues. Furthermore, innovations in this industry can be translated to insurance plans for the mainstream customer, taking the advantage of newly available digital technologies.

Traum, Vol. 14:511. Sharing Risk in the Sharing Economy: Insurance Regulation in the Age of Uber. Cardozo Pub. Law, Policy & Ethics J.

Business Case

Making Money in Making Playlists

March 10, 2017 373396fk Leave a comment

In the current streaming industry, it is very hard for startups to fight against the giants like Spotify and Apple Music. Moreover, it is almost impossible to maintain a music streaming company. This is also what the founders of Kollekt.fm ran into. These two entrepreneurs started their business in 2013 while they were studying and founded a platform that transformed links to music into playlists. They soon found out that they did not have an efficient business model; their revenue model did not work properly. It was too hard to offer the service in a profitable way.

When the founders hit rock bottom, they encountered one of the frequent users of their service. He told them that he was a dj and made money from developing the playlists for coffee rooms in Amsterdam. This gave the founders new motivation. They went from shop to shop in Amsterdam and did market research about the shops’ music facilities. Eventually, the founders came up with the idea of Atmosphere, which is a service that connects shops and hospitality businesses to musicians. For a 15% commission, Atmosphere makes sure that the shops get personalized playlist which match the brand image of the companies. In this way, the company was able to make money from making playlists. However, the requirements to join the platform are strict. Only unique music curators are allowed to develop the playlists, since the company wants to maintain its high quality service. The main goal for the coming period is a collaboration with an establish jazz musician or dj, in order to raise more brand awareness.

Nowadays, approximately 20 firms are already using Atmosphere. The customers vary from supermarkets to restaurants, from clothing stores to work spots spread over more than 100 locations. The fee for the service is €30,- on a monthly basis which can be extended with €15,- for an offline streaming cabinet and for €300,- extra the company develops a custom-made website for their clients which contain all of their playlists.

Efficiency criteria

Currently, retailers are trying to distinguish themselves from competition by creating a clear brand image. The in-store experience is very important for customers. In developing customer centric playlists, the companies establish their brand image. This is an important strength in the business model of Atmosphere.
Streaming music in shops is not free, the retailers have to pay a licensing fee for copyrights. Atmosphere is aware of this legal aspect and even anticipates to this by offering their clients the service to arrange this for them to avoid difficulties.

In conclusion, I think that Atmosphere has a bright future ahead. The perseverance of the founders seems to pay off and as the company raises more awareness, the customer base will continue to grow. The streaming business will keep rising and Atmosphere must try to rise along. If the company succeeds to eventually found a community to collect playlists, the possibilities are endless.

Sources:

Tsekouras, D. (2016), Lecture 1: Introduction to value co-creation, Rotterdam School of Management.

https://getatmosphere.com/

https://fd.nl/morgen/1191244/geld-verdienen-met-playlists-maken-dat-idee-sloeg-aan

Business Case

Introducing the future of fashion with Coded Couture

March 9, 2017 459622sk Leave a comment

“We’re about to change the fashion industry by bringing the customer’s personality into the design process through data technology”. – Aleksander Subosic, co-founder of Ivyrevel.

Finding unique clothing can be difficult; custom-made clothing is usually not affordable and designing your own piece requires design experience, which most people lack. Ivyrevel, part of the H&M Group and the world’s first digital fashion house, partnered up with Google to solve this issue by combining couture with data technology. Together, they created the Data Dress: “A personalized dress designed entirely based on a user’s context signals” (Brook, 2017).

How does it work?

First, install the app and select an occasion e.g. party, gala or business, and a style for the dress. Then, simply carry your phone wherever you go (which you probably already do) and the app will use Snapshot API to learn from your daily activities, with your permission. During seven days, the app will capture context signals and ask you to confirm certain the data to ensure that it corresponds with your lifestyle. By doing all of the aforementioned, you become part of the value creation process. Finally, the data is passed through an algorithm that creates a virtual custom-made dress, ready for you to purchase.

Will customers buy the Data Dress?

According to a survey by Bain & Company, +/-30% of shoppers were interested in designing their own clothing. Furthermore, they found that unique products lead to lower return rates and create a deeper connection between shoppers and retailers (Wiggers, 2017). Thus, there is a potential market for the data dress.

Efficiency criterion

This video, shows that Kenza lives in Stockholm where it is -2°C and that she visited a fancy restaurant. Therefore, the app made her a black velvet dress with crystal details, reflecting her lifestyle. This shows that consumers will get a truly unique, on-trend, and custom-made dress. Additionally, consumers become part of revolutionizing the way we look at fashion. For fashionistas interested in technology this is the ideal combination, and it allows them to be early adopters within their community.
Ivyrevel aims to ‘merge fashion creativity with technological innovation.’ (Ivyrevel.com). Thus, by introducing the data dress, Ivyrevel will achieve this goal. Regarding costs, Ivyrevel is not dependent on designers and won’t need to invest much in production, since it already has a clothing line and production facilities. According to Adformatie.nl, the dress will cost €93.
I expect that Google will receive financial resources by allowing Ivyrevel to use its API technology. Additionally, Google enhances its positive reputation regarding technological innovation and receives positive WOM.

Feasibility of Required Reallocations

Currently, the app has launched in closed alpha stage and is being tested by selected global fashion influencers (Brook, 2016). Since not much information is available regarding the specific institutional arrangements and –environment, I will propose a few.

Ivyrevel must consider:

The protection of consumers’ privacy. Consumers are responsible for granting tracking permission and Ivyrevel will not share their information with other parties.
Safe payments within the app.
Production processes that are carried out under ethic conditions.

It is important that Ivyrevel makes clear arrangements for these kinds of issues to prevent problems from arising.