tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/innovation-2086/articlesInnovation – The Conversation2024-03-22T16:20:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254062024-03-22T16:20:58Z2024-03-22T16:20:58ZIndustrialisation is still vital to economic development but some countries are struggling to reap its benefits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581880/original/file-20240314-28-tax1ga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5920%2C4642&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/industrial-worker-factory-welding-closeup-218715772">SvedOliver/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the US, wrote a wealth of reports that served as building blocks for the country’s economic system. In 1791, during his time as secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton published one of his most important: the <a href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-10-02-0001-0007">Report on the Subject of Manufactures</a>. </p>
<p>It argued that the US needed to develop its manufacturing sector through the use of industrial and trade policy to grow its economy, bolster its military, increase its productivity, and catch up with the industrial and technological powerhouse of the time, Great Britain. </p>
<p>Hamilton died in 1804. But US policymakers, led by Henry Clay, followed Hamilton’s advice. Throughout the 19th century, the US succeeded in its mission of catching up with Great Britain and eventually became the world’s technological superpower.</p>
<p>It’s important that we remember Hamilton’s report. It’s a reminder of how thinking and strategising for economic growth and international competitiveness was changing. It was changing to a mindset that national sovereignty, economic development, international competitiveness and productivity growth are achieved through industrialisation. </p>
<p>But this long-established relationship between economic prosperity and industrialisation is now starting to change. So-called “megatrends” (technological, economic, societal and ecological trends that have a global impact) are changing traditional ideas of technological progress and, as a result, the way countries look to develop their economies. </p>
<p>My book <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-future-of-the-factory-9780198861584?cc=gb&lang=en#">The Future of the Factory</a> investigates how four megatrends are changing (and not changing) industrialisation and manufacturing-led growth. These megatrends are: the rise of services, digital automation technology, globalisation of production and ecological breakdown.</p>
<h2>Digital technology</h2>
<p>In some ways, megatrends are not changing or diminishing the importance of manufacturing-led development. </p>
<p>Digital services are increasingly seen as an alternative to manufacturing in boosting economic development. But they are not replacing the manufacturing sector as the engine of innovation and productivity growth. The manufacturing sector still scores <a href="https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/155731631771398616/at-your-service-the-promise-of-services-led-development">substantially higher</a> than the service sector on tradeability, innovation potential and spillovers to other parts of the economy.</p>
<p>Digital automation technology has also undoubtedly been disruptive in some sectors and countries. But they are not a significant threat to overall job displacement. This is primarily because automation technology tends to create more jobs than it displaces. </p>
<p>The introduction of the personal computer (PC) is a great example. In the US, the PC <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/jobs-lost-jobs-gained-what-the-future-of-work-will-mean-for-jobs-skills-and-wages">created</a> 15.8 million more jobs than it displaced between 1980 and 2015. Research has also <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/what-happened-to-jobs-at-high-risk-of-automation-10bc97f4-en.htm">found</a> that the countries who faced a higher overall automation risk in the early 2010s experienced higher employment growth than other countries in subsequent years. </p>
<p>It seems we are excessively hyping up the expected impact of new technology on economic organisation, as we have done so many times in the past. Industrialisation and factory-based production remain crucial for economic development and innovation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sat at desks using computers in an office." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581762/original/file-20240313-16-fvu77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The PC has created many more jobs than it has displaced.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-multiracial-workers-sitting-desk-working-1295892817">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Uneven opportunities</h2>
<p>Power asymmetries in the world economy are, however, creating uneven opportunities to reap the benefits from industrialisation. At worst, they are making it harder for developing countries to industrialise altogether. </p>
<p>Transnational corporations based in high-income countries are more powerful than ever. And they often use this power to prevent countries, firms and workers in developing countries from getting a fair share of profits in global production systems. </p>
<p>Apple, for example, doesn’t actually “make” the iPhone. It outsources the production of every single component. But Apple still somehow manages to walk away with over 50% of the final retail price.</p>
<p>By contrast, the firms and workers in developing countries who assemble the iPhone (the most labour intensive part of the process) get <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-future-of-the-factory-9780198861584?cc=gb&lang=en#">less than 1.5%</a> of the final price. Large corporations like Apple also use their power to lobby for international trade agreements to work in their interests. </p>
<p>Additionally, high-income countries refuse to take their fair share of blame for ecological breakdown. They preach green industrial policy to developing countries before putting their own house in order. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00044-4/fulltext">study</a> found that high-income countries were responsible for 74% of global excess resource use between 1970 and 2017, despite accounting for only 15% of the world’s population. By contrast, low-income and lower-middle income countries, which make up around 50% of the world’s population, accounted for a mere 1% of global excess resource use over this period. </p>
<p>Given these developments, our system of international trade needs to be reformed so that it is fair rather than “free”. And developing countries should also have more ecological policy space in their implementation of industrial policy. The burden to deal with ecological breakdown should fall mainly on high-income countries, as these are the countries that got us into this mess.</p>
<h2>The return of industrial policy</h2>
<p>In many ways, Alexander Hamilton’s insights are still timely. Hamilton stressed the urgent need for policymakers to build up manufacturing capabilities to achieve economic growth and development. </p>
<p>This is what the US government is currently doing in an effort to re-industrialise its economy and especially to become more competitive with China. In July 2022, the US Senate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/politics/senate-chips-china.html">passed</a> a historic US$280 billion (£222 billion) industrial policy bill — the largest industrial policy bill in history. </p>
<p>And the US is not the only country actively revamping industrial policy. The global use of industrial policy is at an <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/12/23/The-Return-of-Industrial-Policy-in-Data-542828">all-time high</a> as the world grapples with geopolitical tension and shocks to global supply chains. Although megatrends are changing industrialisation in some ways, they are not changing its importance. </p>
<p>We can also use Hamilton’s insights to understand the nature of competition in the modern world economy. The world economy is vastly different today, but we need to understand, like Hamilton understood, that industrialisation is a competitive game that involves power, politics, dirty play – and even warfare. </p>
<p>If the playing field is level, competition isn’t all that bad. But the global playing field today certainly isn’t level when it comes to the distribution of industrial and technological capabilities. This is one of the main obstacles to economic development in the 21st century.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jostein Hauge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In an era of transformation, manufacturing still matters.Jostein Hauge, Assistant Professor in Development Studies, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2263832024-03-21T22:42:39Z2024-03-21T22:42:39ZNZ is in recession – so far there are few signs the government has a plan to stimulate and grow the economy<p>If you live in New Zealand and you’re feeling poorer, you’re not imagining it.
Stats NZ has revealed the <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/economic-activity-falls-0-1-percent-in-the-march-2023-quarter/">economy was in recession</a> over the second half of last year. GDP fell in the September and December quarters by –0.3% and –0.1% respectively.</p>
<p>Taking into account the record high levels of immigration, Westpac’s most recent <a href="https://www.westpac.co.nz/assets/Business/tools-rates-fees/documents/economic-updates/2024/Bulletins/Economic-Data_Q4-GDP-preview_bulletin_11Mar24.pdf">economic bulletin</a> estimated this may equate to GDP per person having fallen almost 4% from its peak in mid-2022.</p>
<p>What does this mean politically, then, and what can the coalition do about it?
Because the statistics are retrospective, the new government can <a href="https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/pm-christopher-luxon-outlines-government-plan-for-next-100-days-blames-recession-on-labour/">blame the old one</a> – but that won’t satisfy many people for much longer. </p>
<p>The National-led government hasn’t enjoyed a post-election honeymoon. According to an <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-nz/23rd-ipsos-nz-issues-monitor-feb-2024">IPSOS poll</a> in late February, New Zealanders rated the coalition’s performance at 4.6 out of ten – on par with the Labour government (4.7) just before the general election in October 2023.</p>
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<h2>Internal contradictions</h2>
<p>The recession also means reduced tax revenues. Logically, something will have to give when Finance Minister Nicola Willis puts the final touches on her first budget, to be delivered on May 30.</p>
<p>Tax cuts – which National has promised – could exacerbate inflation or delay its decline. Although inflation has been coming down, it’s still some way from the target 1–3% range. The December figure was 4.7%.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-100-days-of-tax-policy-bode-well-for-nationals-supporters-others-might-be-worried-225259">The first 100 days of tax policy bode well for National's supporters – others might be worried</a>
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<p>If income is weaker than expected, tax cuts would be paid for by deeper spending cuts, revenues raised elsewhere, or borrowing. The last option lacks credibility, given the way proposed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/26/kwarteng-mini-budget-obr-stock-market-pound">unfunded tax cuts</a> hastened the political demise of the then UK prime minister, Liz Truss, in 2022. </p>
<p>Luxon and Willis have some difficult fiscal decisions to make. And there’s pressure, <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/511978/winston-peters-signals-he-won-t-compromise-on-nz-first-election-commitments">especially from NZ First leader Winston Peters</a>, to honour the coalition agreements. Peters has already made life difficult for Willis by repeating one <a href="https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/350214837/how-big-your-fiscal-hole-national">published estimate</a> of a potential NZ$5.6 billion “gap” between National’s election promises and “current forecasts”.</p>
<h2>Missing innovation and skills policies</h2>
<p>In the meantime, people are struggling to make ends meet and appear to lack confidence in the new government. </p>
<p>According to the IPSOS poll, the National Party has often been seen as more competent than other parties to deal with the economic problems. But National is in coalition with two other partners, both of which expect to see their own policies implemented.</p>
<p>There are incentives for all three parties, however, to convince at least most people they can achieve three closely related aims:</p>
<ul>
<li>deliver a prudent budget</li>
<li>improve economic efficiency and productivity</li>
<li>stimulate innovation and skills.</li>
</ul>
<p>Judgment on the first point should be reserved until we see the budget.</p>
<p>On the second point, the government is passing a law that will allow <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/one-stop-shop-major-projects-fast-track">fast-track consenting</a> for approved projects. The government will also argue that reintroducing 90-day employment trials, for businesses with more than 20 staff, and repealing pay-equity law will help improve investment and hiring.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-wants-to-fast-track-approvals-of-large-infrastructure-projects-thats-bad-news-for-nzs-biodiversity-225790">The government wants to fast-track approvals of large infrastructure projects – that's bad news for NZ's biodiversity</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But the fast-track law is attracting criticism from environmental groups and legal experts for giving <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/512259/the-unprecedented-power-the-government-is-handing-three-of-its-ministers-under-its-new-fast-track-approval-bill">extraordinary powers</a> to ministers. Trade unions strongly oppose the employment law changes.</p>
<p>On the final point, the government seems to have few ideas – least of all how to prepare for the coming wave of AI-driven change. Tertiary education and research and development would be priorities here, but there are no new policy initiatives around trades training and advanced research.</p>
<h2>A lot riding on Budget 2024</h2>
<p>In the meantime, the reinstatement of <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/03/prime-minister-christopher-luxon-says-renters-very-grateful-government-bringing-back-interest-deductibility-for-landlords.html">tax deductibility of interest payments</a> on rental properties does nothing at all to contribute to fiscal prudence, productivity or innovation.</p>
<p>It simply benefits the owners of things that have already been built and sold. And it’s very unlikely to lead to lower rents, contrary to Christopher Luxon’s <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/03/13/renters-very-grateful-for-incoming-landlord-tax-breaks-luxon/">suggestion</a> it would apply “downward pressure” for which renters would be grateful.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/applying-for-a-home-felt-harder-than-applying-for-a-job-nz-private-rentals-wont-solve-need-for-emergency-housing-225459">'Applying for a home felt harder than applying for a job': NZ private rentals won't solve need for emergency housing</a>
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<p>No government can literally “grow the economy” – regardless of the National Party’s <a href="https://www.national.org.nz/national_will_cut_red_tape_to_grow_the_economy">pre-election hype</a>. Economies grow as people produce more efficiently more of the things others are keen to pay for. A government’s actions and policies may either help or hinder the productivity of individuals, firms and the economy as a whole.</p>
<p>The present government’s economic credibility, and hence its political viability, are more seriously in question than would normally be the case so early in its first term. </p>
<p>There are things Luxon and his team can do to turn that around. But people want and need policies that will noticeably boost their material standard of living – sooner rather than later. A lot will depend on Budget 2024.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grant Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With voter confidence already low, the National-led coalition will have difficulty fulfilling pre-election promises while delivering a prudent budget in May.Grant Duncan, Visiting Scholar in Politics, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183312024-02-13T13:20:40Z2024-02-13T13:20:40ZOur robot harvests cotton by reaching out and plucking it, like a lizard’s tongue snatching flies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571200/original/file-20240124-15-t230yk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C6%2C4001%2C2593&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cotton in bloom in Oklahoma.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/field-of-cotton-royalty-free-image/148704945">John Elk/the image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Cotton is one of the most valuable crops grown in the U.S., with a harvest value of <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/cotton-and-wool/cotton-sector-at-a-glance/">some US$7 billion yearly</a>. It is cultivated across a crescent of 17 states stretching <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/cotton-and-wool/cotton-sector-at-a-glance/">from Virginia to California</a> and is used in <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/cotton-and-wool/cotton-sector-at-a-glance/">virtually every type of clothing</a>, as well as in medical supplies and home goods such as upholstery. </p>
<p>Cotton grows inside a hard, fibrous case called a boll. About 100 days after planting, the bolls mature and split open, revealing thousands of fluffy white fibers inside. Each boll contains 20 to 40 seeds with fibers attached to them, which is why the cotton plant’s fruit is called seed cotton. </p>
<p>Picking cotton manually, as is still done in some <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cotton-production-by-country">major producing countries</a>, is a meticulous task. Workers have to bend to reach the bolls and can hurt their hands on <a href="https://libguides.nybg.org/c.php?g=1003078&p=7264406">hard, dry parts of the plants</a>. To harvest the seed cotton, they have to grab and twist it to separate it from the boll without leaving fiber behind. </p>
<p>Starting in the 1930s, cotton farmers in the U.S. shifted from manual labor to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/cotton-harvester">large, heavy harvesters</a>. Now the industry is entering a new stage that promises to be more efficient and precise. </p>
<p>I am an engineer and have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AGlJEMQAAAAJ&hl=en">nearly 20 years of research experience</a> working on agricultural machinery. My current focus is on agricultural robotics and automation. During my Ph.D. program at Mississippi State University, I worked with <a href="https://www.abe.msstate.edu/people/faculty/j-alex-thomasson/">Alex Thomasson</a>, who heads the <a href="https://www.abe.msstate.edu/">agricultural and biological engineering department</a> and the <a href="https://www.aai.msstate.edu/">Agricultural Autonomy Institute</a>, to develop a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2023.107943">robotic cotton harvester</a> that picks cotton with less damage to the product and the soil where it grows.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man stands in front of a cotton field, next to a wheeled machine with a computer screen on top and wires hanging from it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571202/original/file-20240124-23-258u5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mississippi State University engineering professor Hussein Gharakhani with a prototype robotic cotton harvester.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hussein Gharakhani</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why use robotics?</h2>
<p>Cotton farmers have economic, environmental and agricultural reasons to want a better option for harvesting. Traditional mechanical harvesters can be up to 14 feet long and weigh more than 30 tons. They remove cotton effectively without damaging the plants but also can cause problems. </p>
<p>One issue is prolonged fiber exposure. Cotton bolls don’t all mature at the same time; the first open bolls in a field may wait for up to 50 days to be picked, until more bolls around them ripen. </p>
<p>Another challenge is that harvesting machines compact the soil as they roll over it. This makes it harder for water and fertilizer to penetrate down to plant roots. And the machines cost roughly US$1 million apiece but are used for only two to three months each year. </p>
<p>Robotics is a potential solution that farmers are already using for other crops, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-022-09913-3">fruits and vegetables</a>. Harvesting robots use cameras and sensors to detect when crops are ready to pick and can remove them without damaging the plant. </p>
<p>For cotton, robotics offers more targeted picking of bolls that are ready to harvest. It produces better-quality cotton fiber by picking seed cotton as soon as the bolls open, without leaving it exposed to the weather. The robot targets the seed cotton and avoids touching other parts of the plant. </p>
<p>With robotic picking, cotton farmers <a href="https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/cotton/scheduling-defoliation/">don’t need to use defoliants</a> to remove leaves from the plants prior to harvesting, which is a common practice now. And small, nimble robots don’t compress the soil as they move over it, so they help maintain soil health.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large green machine drives through a cotton field with a man riding on an observation deck. The harvester is more than twice the man's height." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571208/original/file-20240124-17-ekvdtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mechanical harvester picking cotton in Alabama in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2myChzr">Katie Nichols/Alabama Extension/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A bioinspired ‘picking hand’</h2>
<p>Our work focuses on designing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2022.100043">an end-effector for robotic cotton harvesting</a>. An end-effector is a robotic hand that enables the robot to interact with other objects. Ours is a three-fingered version designed for delicate and efficient cotton picking. It draws inspiration from nature, mimicking the hunting prowess of a lizard.</p>
<p>Each finger is a 3D-printed structure that contains a moving belt with pins attached to it. The pins help the hand grasp and pull in the seed cotton. Like a lizard <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3oh73amxQo">snatching prey with its sticky tongue</a>, our end-effector’s three fingers approach the seed cotton delicately. On contact, the cotton fibers stick to the machine’s fingers, much as an insect sticks to a lizard’s tongue. </p>
<p>Next, the hand retracts quickly, like the lizard’s tongue. The end-effector keeps working to “swallow” the seed cotton, transferring it out of the plant. As the harvester picks and transfers seed cotton out of the plant, the end-effector touches parts of the cotton boll with remaining seed cotton multiple times to pick as much as possible.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IztKk3E7zSc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A robotic harvester picks cotton in a field test.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To pick cotton efficiently, our robot has to do three things: detect bolls that are ready for harvest, determine exactly where they are located in a three-dimensional space and pick the cotton.</p>
<p>The robot uses a deep-learning algorithm that we have trained to recognize open bolls on cotton plants. It uses a stereovision camera to calculate their 3D spatial coordinates, which it transfers to the robotic arm. A control algorithm monitors each cotton boll to ensure that the robot picks as much seed cotton as possible. </p>
<h2>Testing and results</h2>
<p>So far, we have tested the robotic cotton harvester in <a href="https://youtu.be/WnzJNlSS5iU?si=HkSDbRiQp3Y-HSUj">the laboratory</a> and in <a href="https://youtu.be/IztKk3E7zSc?si=8iC9gVI3wfXZktPf">cotton fields</a>. The detection system found 78% of ripe cotton bolls; the localization system calculated 3D coordinates for 70% of the detected bolls; and the picking system successfully harvested 83% of these bolls. Overall, the robot picked about 50% of the cotton bolls that were within its reach. </p>
<p>Our harvester picked cotton at a speed of 8.8 seconds per boll. If we can decrease this required time to 0.3 seconds and increase the robot’s efficiency to pick at least 90% of the cotton bolls it can reach, by optimizing the system and adding more arms on a robot, a fleet of 50 robots could harvest a cotton field as quickly as a mechanical harvester, with a comparable yield.</p>
<p>To improve the robot’s overall performance, we plan to adopt better artificial intelligence algorithms, improve our system’s camera and add another degree of movement to the robotic arm – for example, enabling the end-effector to rotate – to increase its dexterity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman wearing a sun visor and with a cloth bag slung around her waist bends over plants in a cotton field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571214/original/file-20240124-23-1cp4yw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman picks cotton at a plantation in Birlik, Uzbekistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-uzbek-woman-picks-cotton-buds-at-a-cotton-plantation-in-news-photo/1236076112">Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We see great potential for our robot in major cotton-producing countries such as China, India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, where cotton is currently picked by hand, often <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34844992">by women and children</a> and sometimes <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/regulatory-crackdown-slavery-cotton-supply-chains-wake-up-call-fashion-brands-2023-08-20/">under abusive conditions</a>. One way to make this technology available for small farmers in low-income countries would be to make smaller, semi-autonomous robots that would require fewer sensors. Producing higher-value cotton with less damage to plants and soil could improve life for millions of people who earn their livings raising this global crop.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218331/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hussein Gharakhani receives funding from Cotton Incorporated, a nonprofit research and marketing company that works to improve demand for and profitability of cotton.</span></em></p>Cotton is one of the world’s largest crops and is harvested with large, heavy machines. Robotic harvesting could yield higher-quality cotton with less damage to plants and soil.Hussein Gharakhani, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158662024-01-16T13:41:32Z2024-01-16T13:41:32ZCongress is failing to deliver on its promise of billions more in research spending, threatening America’s long-term economic competitiveness<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569192/original/file-20240114-27-122rn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=107%2C116%2C5883%2C3871&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Federal funding was essential to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakMalaysia/581dec54b4fa47c1a85266ebf75aadff/photo?Query=covid%20mrna%20vaccine&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=248&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=NaN&vs=true">AP Photo/Vincent Thian</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/government-shutdown-debate-fuels-house-republican-civil-war-1859677">battle to keep the government open</a> may feel just like the crisis of the day. But these fights pose immediate and long-term risks for the U.S. </p>
<p>The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars every year to support fundamental scientific research that is mostly conducted at universities. For instance, the basic discoveries that made the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2023/press-release/">COVID-19 vaccine possible</a> stretch back to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02483-w">early 1960s</a>. Such research investments contribute to the health, wealth and well-being of society, <a href="https://new.nsf.gov/tip/updates/nsf-pilot-assess-impact-strategic-investments-regional-jobs">support jobs and regional economies</a> and are vital to the U.S. economy and national security.</p>
<p>If Congress can’t reach an agreement, then a temporary government shutdown <a href="https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/01/new-turmoil-over-possible-government-shutdown/393314/">could happen on Jan. 19, 2024</a>. If lawmakers miss a second Feb. 2 deadline, then <a href="https://www.aaas.org/news/what-fiscal-responsibility-act-means-rd-funding">automatic budget cuts</a> will hit future research hard. </p>
<p>Even if lawmakers <a href="https://ww2.aip.org/fyi/the-week-of-january-8-2024">avoid a shutdown</a> and pass a budget, America’s future competitiveness could suffer because federal research investments are on track to be <a href="https://fas.org/publication/fy24-chips-short-7-billion/">billions of dollars below</a> targets Congress set for themselves less than two years ago.</p>
<p><a href="https://public.websites.umich.edu/%7Ejdos/">I am a sociologist</a> who studies how <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26387">research universities contribute to the public good</a>. I’m also the executive director of the <a href="https://iris.isr.umich.edu/">Institute for Research on Innovation and Science</a>, a national university consortium whose members share data that help us understand, explain and work to amplify those benefits. </p>
<p>Our data shows how endangering basic research harms communities across the U.S. and can limit innovative companies’ access to the skilled employees they need to succeed. </p>
<h2>A promised investment</h2>
<p>Less than two years ago, in August 2022, university researchers like me had reason to celebrate. </p>
<p>Congress had just <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/09/fact-sheet-chips-and-science-act-will-lower-costs-create-jobs-strengthen-supply-chains-and-counter-china/">passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act</a>. The “science” part of the law promised <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02086-z">one of the biggest federal investments</a> in the <a href="https://www.nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a> – America’s premier basic science research agency – in its 74-year history.</p>
<p>The CHIPS act authorized US$81 billion for the agency, promised to double its budget by 2027 and directed it to “address societal, national, and geostrategic challenges for the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ167/PLAW-117publ167.pdf">benefit of all Americans</a>” by investing in research.</p>
<p>But there was one very big snag. The money still has to be appropriated by Congress every year. Lawmakers haven’t been good at doing that recently. The government is again poised to shut down. As lawmakers struggle to keep the lights on, fundamental research is likely to be a casualty of political dysfunction. The budget proposals released so far <a href="https://fas.org/publication/fy24-chips-short-7-billion/">fall $5 billion to $7.5 billion short</a> of what the CHIPS act called for in fiscal year 2024. Deal or no deal, science is on the chopping block in Washington. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=380%2C171%2C7799%2C4831&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569123/original/file-20240112-29-o5dds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A lag or cut in federal research funding would harm U.S. competitiveness in critical advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-in-a-stem-class-at-the-lab-developing-a-royalty-free-image/1348130740?phrase=research%20lab%20ai">Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Research’s critical impact</h2>
<p>That’s bad because fundamental research matters in more ways than you might expect. </p>
<p>Lagging research investment will hurt U.S. leadership in critical technologies like artificial intelligence, advanced communications, clean energy and biotechnology. Less support means less new research work gets done, fewer new researchers are trained and important new discoveries are made elsewhere. </p>
<p>But disrupting federal research funding also directly <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-feels-the-pain-of-science-research-budget-cuts-75119">affects people’s jobs, lives and the economy</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://nyuscholars.nyu.edu/en/publications/proximity-and-economic-activity-an-analysis-of-vendor-business-tr">Businesses nationwide thrive</a> by selling the goods and services – everything from pipettes and biological specimens to notebooks and plane tickets – that are necessary for research. Those vendors include high-tech startups, manufacturers, contractors and even Main Street businesses like your local hardware store. They employ your neighbors and friends and contribute to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-federal-budget-funds-scientific-research-its-the-economy-that-benefits-80651">economic health of your hometown and the nation</a>. </p>
<p>Nearly a third of the $10 billion in federal research funds that 26 of the universities in our consortium used in 2022 directly <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/spending_report/15114/53a139385e/5293dc024f/ne">supported U.S. employers</a>, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>A Detroit welding shop that sells gasses many labs use in experiments funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense and Department of Energy. </li>
<li>A Dallas-based <a href="https://www.beckgroup.com/projects/texas-university-systems-national-center-innovation-advanced-development-manufacturing/">construction company</a> that is building an advanced vaccine and drug development facility paid for by the Department of Health and Human Services.</li>
<li>More than a dozen Utah businesses, including surveyors, engineers and construction and trucking companies, working on a <a href="https://utahforge.com/">Department of Energy project</a> to develop breakthroughs in geothermal energy.</li>
</ul>
<p>When Congress’ problems endanger basic research, they also damage businesses like these and people you might not usually associate with academic science and engineering. Construction and manufacturing companies earn more than $2 billion each year from <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/new-vendor-report/15115/24ae1564e6/3be59f6032/ne">federally funded research</a> done by our consortium’s members.</p>
<h2>Jobs and innovation</h2>
<p>Disrupting or decreasing research funding also slows the flow of STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – talent from universities to American businesses. Highly trained people are essential to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.aac5949">corporate innovation</a> and to U.S. leadership in key fields, like AI, where companies depend on hiring to secure <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-industry-of-ideas-measuring-how-artificial-intelligence-changes-labor-markets/">research expertise</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, federal research grants paid wages for about 122,500 people at universities that shared data with my institute. More than half of them were students or trainees. <a href="https://irisweb.isr.umich.edu/reports/employee-report/15110/e656278fea/1c4bfff4a0">Our data shows</a> that they go on to many types of jobs, but are particularly important for leading tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Intel.</p>
<p>More comprehensive numbers don’t exist, but that same data lets me estimate that over 300,000 people who worked at U.S. universities in 2022 were paid by federal research funds. Threats to federal research investments put academic jobs at risk. They also hurt private-sector innovation because even the most successful companies need to hire people with expert research skills. Most people learn those skills by working on university research projects, and most of those projects are federally funded.</p>
<h2>High stakes</h2>
<p>The last shutdown was the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/29/politics/last-federal-government-shutdown-longest-dg/index.html">longest in 40 years</a>, but even short delays in research funding have <a href="https://weiyangtham.com/files/tcps_funding-delays.pdf">big negative effects</a> on the scientific workforce and lead expert researchers to look outside the U.S. for jobs. Temporary cuts to research funding hurt too because they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac046">reduce high-tech entrepreneurship and decrease publication</a> of new findings. </p>
<p>Lasting stagnation or shrinking investments would have even more pronounced effects. Over time, companies would see fewer skilled job candidates, academic and corporate researchers would produce fewer discoveries, and fewer high-tech startups would mean slower economic growth. America would become less competitive in the age of AI. This would make one of the fears that led lawmakers to pass the CHIPS and Science Act into a reality.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it’s up to lawmakers to decide whether to fulfill their promise to invest more in the research that supports jobs across the economy and American innovation, competitiveness and economic growth. Whether the current budget deal succeeds or fails, basic research is on the table and the stakes are high.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Owen-Smith's research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Wellcome Leap. He is executive director of the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS).</span></em></p>The latest government showdown over the budget risks not only a shutdown but jobs, regional economies and America’s competitiveness in AI and other advanced fields.Jason Owen-Smith, Professor of Sociology, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204562024-01-10T17:17:49Z2024-01-10T17:17:49ZHealthy cities aren’t a question of boring or exciting buildings but about creating better public space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568630/original/file-20240110-27-hhywf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Interstate 5 near downtown San Diego, US.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/aerial-view-on-concrete-road-8Nn49K7Snow">Abraham Barrera|Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The US developers of a 300ft glowing orb, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/09/developer-las-vegas-style-sphere-east-london-withdraws-plans">set to be built</a> in the middle of Stratford, east London, and accommodate upwards of 21,500 concert goers, have withdrawn their planning application. </p>
<p>Las Vegas, in the US, already boasts one such venue, known as Sphere. Citing its “extreme” disappointment at London residents not similarly benefiting from what a spokesperson said was its “groundbreaking technology and the thousands of well-paying jobs it would have created”, Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) has decided the British capital is not one of the forward-thinking cities it aims to work with.</p>
<p>Campaigners have responded with glee, not least because, in response to concerns over the proposed structure’s potential noise and light pollution, developers had initially suggested they invest in blackout curtains. “Residents would be served far better by building social housing on the site,” a representative for Stop MSG Sphere London <a href="https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/campaigners-call-for-rejected-msg-sphere-site-to-be-turned-into-social-housing-84023#:%7E:text=London%20mayor%20Sadiq%20Khan%20ruled,negative%20impact%20on%20local%20residents%E2%80%9D.">reportedly said</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Quite how a city both caters to its residents’ needs and sustains its economy is an enduring debate. The tension is between innovation aimed at boosting investment (in this instance, in the entertainment industry) and what urban geographer <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/917-waste-and-the-city">Colin McFarlne</a> terms the “right to citylife”. </p>
<p>Projects like the Sphere sit on one extreme end of what gets built in a city. The British designer Thomas Heatherwick recently highlighted what he sees as another extreme, though no less harmful: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/oct/19/demand-interestingness-thomas-heatherwick-rails-against-boring-buildings">“boring buildings”</a>. </p>
<p>In his new book, Humanise – a Maker’s Guide to Building Our world, Heatherwick <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/312740/humanise-by-heatherwick-thomas/9780241389799">says</a> “bland architecture” causes stress, illness, loneliness, fear, division and conflict. Research shows, however, that more than individual buildings, how the city is planned as a whole variously harms or improves people’s lives. </p>
<h2>The city as a complex system</h2>
<p>The physical and social environment of any given city are just two contributing factors in the complex system that shapes residents’ wellbeing. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00047-X/fulltext">Public health research</a> has found a positive, non-linear relationship with a higher prevalence of mental health problems in more urbanised countries, particularly for anxiety disorders. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People ice-skating outdoors in a city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568627/original/file-20240110-25-bcyhld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Copenhagen: public space is the very essence of urban life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/people-on-ice-field-during-daytime-wCP9Mk0iisU">Brian Kyed|Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mental health problems now account for over a third of the total burden of disease in adolescents in urban settings. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02238-9/fulltext">Research</a> shows that, for young people (a significant proportion of urban populations), health and wellbeing constitute major determinants in their future life prospects. </p>
<p>In Humanise, Heatherwick ignores this complexity. The book is a collection of thoughts, ideas, visuals and reflections on the role of contemporary architecture and architects. In it, the designer suggests that the world is facing a “global epidemic of inhuman buildings” and suggests a list of what to do and what not to do to achieve the reverse: “interesting buildings”. </p>
<p>Heatherwick sees cities as collections of buildings, of architectural objects. The problem here, of course, is that the various aesthetic merits of any given structure can be endlessly debated. </p>
<p>Some of Heatherwick’s arguments (“boring places contribute to division and war”; “boring buildings help to cause climate change”) are plainly simplistic. They also beg the question of who decides what is and what isn’t interesting. </p>
<p>As examples of interesting buildings that bolster people’s wellbeing, he cites, among others, the <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/363164/parkroyal-on-pickering-woha-2">Parkroyal Collection hotel in Singapore</a> and the <a href="https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/edgewood-mews-housing-london-north-circular-road-peter-barber-architects">Edgewood Mews housing project</a> in Finchley, north London for their generosity. </p>
<p>The first, he says, is “enthusiastic to share its wonder with everyone” and the second offers “more than minimum to the world”. </p>
<p>To me, though, these are extravagant architectural statements of capitalist power (the Singaporean hotel) and an over-designed fortress building (London’s Edgewood housing project).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An overhead view of greenery in a city next to a road." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568626/original/file-20240110-15-tzarot.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Singapore’s Parkroyal Collection hotel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/aerial-view-of-cars-on-road-RG7jGL8wkCs">Meric Dagli/Unsplash</a></span>
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<h2>Recognising the importance of public space in cities</h2>
<p>In the early 1900s, the German sociologist and philosopher, Georg Simmel, <a href="https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/bpl_images/content_store/sample_chapter/0631225137/bridge.pdf">hailed</a> the advent of a new urban condition. Compared to rural life, he said, the metropolis made people more individualistic, prioritised capitalist modes of production and intensified sensory exposure. As a result, he said: “Instead of reacting emotionally, the metropolitan type reacts primarily in a rational manner”. City dwellers were, Simmel said, less sensitive and further removed from “the depths of personality”.</p>
<p>Mid-20th century architects and planners further explored the socio-psychological damage wrought by urban expansion in the post-war era. In his 1971 book, <a href="https://www.udg.org.uk/publications/udlibrary/life-between-buildings-using-public-space">Life Between Buildings</a>, Danish architect and urban planner Jan Gehl underlined how, more than architecture, urban space itself had the potential to either harm or affirm social interactions. </p>
<p>The capitalist logic underpinning modernist urban planning was harming residents. More and more people were living in high-rise buildings. Open, green spaces were commodified. Private transport was prioritised. Gehl thought it was precisely in these daily situations, where people move between home and work and play, that cities should both “function and provide enjoyment”. </p>
<p>In over-emphasising the design of exciting buildings, Heatherwick overlooks this: that it is between and around buildings that you find the essence of urban life. </p>
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<img alt="A construction site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568628/original/file-20240110-28-5mjtu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Architectural objects in themselves cannot tackle the issues city residents face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/aerial-view-photography-of-building-zaxoaZVazCs">Ricardo Gomez Angel|Unsplash</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Towards_Cosmopolis.html?id=GzdsRAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Research shows</a> that urban policies have evolved since the 1970s, largely to try to shape cities for the better and to ensure better accessibility, better quality and diversity of housing, open spaces, more reliable infrastructure and more robust services. </p>
<p>After joining the World Health Organisation’s <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/groups/who-european-healthy-cities-network">healthy cities initiative</a> in 1987, Copenhagen developed a holistic urban policy. This included walkable streets, public transportation, diverse housing opportunities, more pointed social policies around ideas of community and using taxation to encourage smoking control. Nearly four decades on, the Danish capital <a href="https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/1f3e2ab5-70f8-4a9a-85e6-6c9fda88a426/1/s11524-023-00798-9.pdf">continues to be upheld</a> as one of the world’s healthiest cities. </p>
<p>However “good” or “interesting” architecture might be, it cannot tackle poverty, social exclusion and public health on its own. But even <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanwpc/article/PIIS2666-6065(23)00125-6/fulltext">high-rise buildings</a> can make a difference to people’s lives if they’re well designed and well regulated. How the built environment is shaped as a whole is crucial.</p>
<p>In denying MSG planning permission for a London Sphere, city authorities have prioritised residents’ concerns over private investment. Everyone benefits from public space and infrastructure being seen as public goods, not commodities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Haim Yacobi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From lit-up orbs to bland office blocks, cities are full of buildings that people do or do not like. What really shapes how they live – for better or for worse – is urban planning.Haim Yacobi, Professor of Development Planning, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197952023-12-29T11:41:17Z2023-12-29T11:41:17ZHow the ‘visionaries’ of Silicon Valley mean profits are prioritised over true technological progress<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566638/original/file-20231219-27-jjf9ep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C31%2C3533%2C1963&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/xiengkhouang-laos-august-24-2023-elon-2351521525">Leefuji/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Technological innovation in the last couple of decades has brought fame and huge wealth to the likes of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. Often feted as geniuses, they are the faces behind the gadgets and media that so many of us depend upon. </p>
<p>Sometimes they are <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/elon-musk-what-are-his-most-recent-controversial-moments-13019651">controversial</a>. Sometimes the level of their influence is <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/05/03/pandoras-box-generative-ai-companies-chatgpt-and-human-rights#:%7E:text=Since%20OpenAI%20released%20ChatGPT%20in,of%20its%20search%20engine%2C%20Bing.">criticised</a>. </p>
<p>But they also benefit from a common <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/the-myth-of-the-brilliant-charismatic-leader">mythology</a> which elevates their status. That myth is the belief that executive “visionaries” leading vast corporations are the engines which power essential breakthroughs too ambitious or futuristic for sluggish public institutions. </p>
<p>For there are many who consider the private sector to be far <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2018/gashc4239.doc.htm">better equipped</a> than the public sector to solve major challenges. We see such <a href="https://openai.com/our-structure">ideology</a> embodied in ventures like OpenAI. This successful company was founded on the premise that while artificial intelligence is too consequential to be left to corporations alone, the public sector is simply incapable of keeping up. </p>
<p>The approach is linked to a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/political-education-silicon-valley/">political philosophy</a> which champions the idea of pioneering entrepreneurs as figureheads who advance civilisation through sheer individual brilliance and determination.</p>
<p>In reality, however, most modern technological building blocks – like <a href="https://qz.com/elon-musks-spacex-and-tesla-get-far-more-government-mon-1850332884">car batteries</a>, space rockets, the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/yes-government-researchers-really-did-invent-the-internet/">internet</a>, <a href="https://time.com/4092375/how-the-government-created-your-cell-phone/">smart phones</a>, and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/gps/">GPS</a> – emerged from <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929310-200-state-of-innovation-busting-the-private-sector-myth/">publicly funded</a> research. They were not the inspired work of corporate masters of the universe.</p>
<p>And my work suggests <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/ceo-society-9781786990754/">a further disconnect</a>: that the profit motive seen across Silicon Valley (and beyond) frequently impedes innovation rather than improving it. </p>
<p>For example, attempts to <a href="https://corporatewatch.org/vaccine-capitalism-a-run-down-of-the-huge-profits-being-made-from-covid-19-vaccines/">profit from</a> the COVID vaccine had a <a href="https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-021-00763-8">detrimental impact</a> on global access to the medicine. Or consider how recent ventures into <a href="https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/10/13/elon-musk-spacex-signs-up-first-space-tourist-dennis-tito-starship-flight-around-the-moon">space tourism</a> seem to prioritise experiences for extremely wealthy people over less lucrative but more scientifically valuable missions. </p>
<p>More broadly, the thirst for profit means intellectual property restrictions <a href="https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/mdocs/en/wipo_ipr_ge_11/wipo_ipr_ge_11_topic6.pdf">tend to restrict</a> collaboration between (and even within) companies. There is also evidence that short-term <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/rethinking-shareholder-primacy-new-innovation-economy">shareholder demands</a> distort real innovation in favour of financial reward. </p>
<p>Allowing executives focused on profits to set technological agendas can incur public costs too. It’s expensive dealing with the hazardous low-earth orbit <a href="https://www.space.com/starlink-satellite-conjunction-increase-threatens-space-sustainability">debris</a> caused by space tourism, or the complex regulatory negotiations involved in <a href="https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/australia/world%E2%80%99s-first-ai-law-eu-announces-provisional-agreement-ai-act_en">protecting human rights</a> around AI.</p>
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<img alt="Graphic of rubbish surrounding Earth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566645/original/file-20231219-25-c7z0wq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Who pays for the clean up?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-render-space-debris-around-planet-2075749981">Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>So there is a clear tension between the demands of profit and long-term technological progress. And this partly explains why major historical innovations emerged from public sector institutions which are relatively insulated from short-term financial pressures. Market forces alone rarely achieve transformative breakthroughs like space programs or the creation of the internet. </p>
<p>Excessive corporate dominance has other dimming effects. Research scientists seem to dedicate <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-research-funding-peer-review-process#1">valuable time</a> towards chasing funding <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8221522/#:%7E:text=We%20identified%20eight%20corporate%20sectors,increase%20reliance%20on%20industry%20evidence">influenced</a> by business interests. They are also increasingly <a href="https://www.macfound.org/media/files/a_future_of_failure_-_public_.pdf">incentivised</a> to go into the profitable private sector. </p>
<p>Here those scientists’ and engineers’ talents may be directed at helping advertisers to better keep hold of <a href="https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/attention_economy_feb.pdf">our attention</a>. Or they may be tasked with finding ways for corporations to make more money from our <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/04/shoshana-zuboff-surveillance-capitalism-assault-human-automomy-digital-privacy">personal data</a>. </p>
<p>Projects which might address climate change, public health or global inequality are less likely to be the focus.</p>
<p>Likewise, research suggests that university laboratories are moving towards a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8221522/">“science for profit”</a> model through industry partnerships. </p>
<h2>Digital destiny</h2>
<p>But true scientific innovation needs institutions and people guided by principles that go beyond financial incentives. And fortunately, there are places which support them. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542432/open-knowledge-institutions/">Open knowledge institutions</a>” and <a href="https://www.oecd.org/cfe/empowering-communities-with-platform-cooperatives-c2ddfc9f-en.htm">platform cooperatives</a> are focused on innovation for the collective good rather than individual glory. Governments could do much more to support and invest in these kinds of organisations. </p>
<p>If they do, the coming decades could see the development of healthier innovation ecosystems which go beyond corporations and their executive rule. They would create an environment of cooperation rather than competition, for genuine social benefit.</p>
<p>There will still be a place for the quirky “genius” of Musk and Zuckerberg and their fellow Silicon Valley billionaires. But relying on their bloated corporations to design and dominate technological innovation is a mistake. </p>
<p>For real discovery and progress cannot rely on the minds and motives of a few famous men. It involves investing in institutions which are rooted in democracy and sustainability – not just because it is more ethical, but because in the the long term, it will be much more effective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Bloom does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How corporate dominance holds us all back.Peter Bloom, Professor of Management, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2172512023-12-20T21:13:38Z2023-12-20T21:13:38ZClimate change solutions require collaboration between politicians, scientists and entrepreneurs<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/climate-change-solutions-require-collaboration-between-politicians-scientists-and-entrepreneurs" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9932965/canada-climate-action-economy-poll/">Most Canadians agree</a> something should be done about climate change. Yet, even though there is tremendous pressure on politicians to <em>do something</em>, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/discontent-eu-green-deal-climate-change-backlash/">widespread discontent</a> usually follows whatever action they may take. </p>
<p>How can governments balance the desire for climate action with the usual discontent that follows any major climate regulation? Looking to the past reveals key insights.</p>
<p>Half a century ago, the depletion of planetary natural resources was also a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/712926">major concern</a>, alongside the perceived <a href="https://www.library.dartmouth.edu/digital/digital-collections/limits-growth">implications this would have for economic growth</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed in 1990, the biologist Paul Ehrlich <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/02/magazine/betting-on-the-planet.html">lost his famous bet against economist Julian Simon</a> when he predicted ten years earlier that prices of raw materials would increase over the long-term due to limited supply and increased demand. This outcome did not come to pass.</p>
<p>At the same time, the reverberations of the government-supported <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1970/borlaug/biographical/">work of biologist Norman Borlaug</a>, who helped usher in the Green Revolution, were still being felt. </p>
<p>Simply put, gloomy <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/Malthusianism">Malthusian predictions</a> of population collapse overlooked arguably more fundamental factors of human ingenuity and technological innovation — perhaps because their impact is so hard to predict and quantify. </p>
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<p>While natural resources may be limited (and the ecosystems we rely upon are fragile), alternative sources of energy can be perfected and new cultivation methods <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0912953109">can be invented</a>. Governments should remember the work of Borlaug and the insights it provides into promoting innovation when looking to address the climate crisis. </p>
<h2>Taxing carbon</h2>
<p><a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/what-is-climate-change/">Concern about climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions</a> has grown exponentially since Simon and Ehrlich first made their wager in 1980. So much so that the <a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/">2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28)</a> ended with a statement of intent and pledges to move away from fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions.</p>
<p>One commonly discussed mechanism to do so <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/pricing-pollution-how-it-will-work/carbon-pollution-pricing-federal-benchmark-information.html">are carbon pricing schemes</a>, or a carbon tax.</p>
<p>It is <a href="https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/carbon-pricing">generally accepted among economists that carbon pricing schemes</a> such as taxing pollution, subsidizing reductions in pollution, or establishing markets for emission rights, would help reduce emissions. These schemes can easily be justified on the basis that emissions are a textbook example of an “<a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/stantcheva/files/lecture7.pdf">externality</a>,” or a side effect of some economic activity on third parties.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-carbon-tax-on-investment-income-could-be-more-fair-and-make-it-less-profitable-to-pollute-a-new-analysis-shows-why-211485">A carbon tax on investment income could be more fair and make it less profitable to pollute – a new analysis shows why</a>
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<p>Would such a move be effective, though? The available evidence shows that carbon taxes set at reasonable levels have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2011.05.050">limited to sometimes insignificant effect on individual behaviour</a>, although there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abdae9">variations across sectors and countries</a>. </p>
<p>This limited effectiveness, and the fact that Canada only accounts for <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html">1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions</a>, suggests the planned massive increase of this tax by the Canadian federal government would have a very limited effect on global carbon emissions. It might also increase inequalities across the population, as some households <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/carbon-tax-home-heating-oil-1.7015480">will be more impacted</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, substantial increases in carbon taxes to account for the social cost of externalities can permanently antagonize a fraction of the population with regards to climate policies, and even trigger popular protests.</p>
<p>A planned increase in gasoline taxation triggered the widespread <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/03/who-are-the-gilets-jaunes-and-what-do-they-want">“gilets jaunes”</a> protests that paralyzed France for months. The current context is perhaps even more explosive due to high levels of inflation and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-canada-needs-345-million-more-homes-by-2030-to-cut-housing-costs-as/">rising housing costs</a> paired with higher interest rates. </p>
<p>Considering this delicate political balance, it is perhaps not surprising that governments often make bold claims about the importance of mitigating climate change <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/08/citizens-politicians-combat-climate-change-00004590">without actually doing much</a>. </p>
<p>When they take action, as Justin Trudeau’s government did, they are criticized about the negative consequences <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-anti-energy-policies-hurting-canadas-economy-reputation">for the energy sector</a>, public finances and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/bakx-scoc-ruling-1.6995962">the division of power between federal and provincial governments</a>. In the end, their decisions may also depend on <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/trudeau-pulls-carbon-tax-from-home-heating-oil">electoral considerations</a>. </p>
<p>What shall they do? Wise politicians should remember the power of their words and set up proper incentives and infrastructure for the adoption of new technologies. By shaping the public discourse and hinting at future policies, they can direct the attention of scientists and entrepreneurs to specific issues who are better placed to find solutions to environmental problems. </p>
<p>Simply put, the limits of political possibility mean governments can only do so much. It is essential that governments use their power to not just regulate, but incentivize innovation. </p>
<h2>Promoting innovation</h2>
<p>In the next few years, the advancements could be the widespread adoption of solar power, nuclear power, carbon capture and electric cars. In a few decades, it could be <a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/what-is-nuclear-fusion">nuclear fusion</a>, some type of <a href="https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2022/reversing-climate-change-with-geoengineering/">geo-engineering</a>, <a href="https://ftedit.ft.com/Ju3k/mvo1y8xl">space-based solar power</a> or another technology unimaginable today. At least if the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/power-grid-demand-electric-vehicles-1.6440595">electric grid is updated accordingly</a>. </p>
<p>This is something that governments can either hinder or facilitate. Other useful measures include investing in scientific research, as well as science, engineering and business education, and ensuring innovative firms can receive financing by cultivating a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-financial-111914-041825">well-developed financial sector</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-decades-of-research-are-still-needed-before-fusion-can-be-used-as-clean-energy-196758">Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Decades of research are still needed before fusion can be used as clean energy</a>
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<p>Likewise, mechanisms such as carbon taxation may be useful not primarily because of their direct effects on carbon emissions, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abdae9">which are limited</a>, but rather because the signals that they send will spur technological innovation and the phasing-out of existing technologies. Through their words and actions, governments can help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20231000">shape the direction of technological innovation</a>. </p>
<p>To fight climate change and other challenges, the world needs space and support for scientists who will revolutionize the technological environment and more entrepreneurs and financiers to help these technologies reach their full potential.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pierre Chaigneau receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>We look to politicians to provide climate change solutions, but there is only so much they can do. Beyond regulation, governments should remember the key role they play in promoting innovation.Pierre Chaigneau, Associate Professor at the Smith School of Business, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2184142023-12-02T09:16:18Z2023-12-02T09:16:18Z7 food and agriculture innovations needed to protect the climate and feed a rapidly growing world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562358/original/file-20231129-21-s1jmd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C1364&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Managing methane from belching cattle is a top innovation priority.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/48685288911">Lance Cheung/USDA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the first time ever, food and agriculture took center stage at the annual United Nations climate conference in 2023. <a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/food-and-agriculture">More than 150 countries</a> signed <a href="https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15436-2023-INIT/en/pdf">a declaration, committing</a> to make their food systems – everything from production to consumption – a focal point in national strategies to address climate change.</p>
<p>While the declaration is thin on concrete actions to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions, it draws attention to a crucial issue.</p>
<p>The global food supply is increasingly facing disruptions from extreme heat and storms. It is also a major contributor to climate change, responsible for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9">one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions</a> from human activities. This tension is why agriculture innovation is increasingly being elevated in international climate discussions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Women farmers work as rain falls from a storm cloud." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562368/original/file-20231129-17-5px7h6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farmers work in a field during monsoon rains in Madhya Pradesh, India.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tataimitra/9421742217">Rajarshi Mitra via Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At present, agriculture provides enough food for the world’s 8 billion people, although many do not have adequate access. But to feed a global population of 10 billion in 2050, croplands would need to expand by <a href="https://research.wri.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/D_REP_Food_Course2_web.pdf">660,000 to 1.2 million square miles</a> (171 million to 301 million hectare) relative to 2010. That would <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-amazon-land-grab-how-brazils-government-is-clearing-the-way-for-deforestation-173416">lead to more deforestation</a>, which contributes to climate change. Further, some practices widely relied on to produce sufficient food, such as using <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-023-00511-0">synthetic fertilizers</a>, also contribute to climate change.</p>
<p>Simply eliminating deforestation and these practices without alternative solutions would decrease the world’s food supply and farmers’ incomes. Fortunately, innovations are emerging that can help.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://innovationcommission.uchicago.edu/">report released Dec. 2</a>, the <a href="https://innovationcommission.uchicago.edu/">Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture</a>, founded by Nobel-winning economist <a href="https://innovationcommission.uchicago.edu/team/">Michael Kremer</a>, identifies seven priority areas for innovation that can help ensure sufficient food production, minimize greenhouse gas emissions and be scaled up to reach hundreds of millions of people.</p>
<p>I’m an <a href="https://keough.nd.edu/people/paul-winters/">agriculture economist</a> and executive director for the commission. Three innovations in particular stand out for their ability to scale up quickly and pay off economically.</p>
<h2>Accurate, accessible weather forecasts</h2>
<p>With extreme weather leaving crops increasingly vulnerable and farmers struggling to adapt, accurate weather forecasts are crucial. Farmers need to know what to expect, both in the days ahead and farther out, to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhw080">make strategic decisions</a> about planting, irrigating, fertilizing and harvesting.</p>
<p>Yet access to accurate, detailed forecasts is <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w25894">rare for farmers</a> in many low- and middle-income countries.</p>
<p>Our assessment shows that investing in technology to collect data and make forecasts widely available – such as by radio, text message or WhatsApp – can pay off many times over for economies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man stands in a rice field in Mozambique after a storm." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562475/original/file-20231129-23-p7hdej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forecasts by text message can help farmers prepare for extreme weather and time their planting and harvesting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/xavier-paulino-tapera-a-subsistence-farmer-surveys-his-rice-news-photo/1132140855?adppopup=true">Wikus de Wet/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, accurate state-level forecasts of seasonal monsoon rainfall totals would help Indian farmers optimize sowing and planting times, providing an estimated <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w25894">US$3 billion in benefits</a> over five years – at a cost of around $5 million.</p>
<p>If farmers in Benin received accurate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106178">forecasts by text message</a>, we estimate that they could save each farmer $110 to $356 per year, a large amount in that country.</p>
<p>More sharing of information among neighboring countries, using platforms like the World Meteorological Organization’s <a href="https://wmo.int/site/global-framework-climate-services-gfcs">Climate Services Information System</a>, could also improve forecasts.</p>
<h2>Microbial fertilizers</h2>
<p>Another innovation priority involves expanding the use of <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-restore-our-soils-feed-the-microbes-79616">microbial fertilizers</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/fertilizer-prices-are-soaring-and-thats-an-opportunity-to-promote-more-sustainable-ways-of-growing-crops-183418">Nitrogen fertilizer</a> is widely used to increase crop yields, but it is typically made from natural gas and is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18773-w">major source of greenhouse gas emissions</a>. Microbial fertilizers use bacteria to help plants and soil absorb the nutrients they need, thereby <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/farmers-test-microbes-nourish-crops-climate-pressure-grows-costs-rise-2022-02-03/">reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed</a>.</p>
<p>Studies have <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.02204">found that microbial fertilizers could increase legume yields</a> by 10% to 30% in healthy soil and generate billions of dollars in benefits. Other microbial fertilizers work with corn, and scientists are working on more advancements.</p>
<p>Soybean farmers in Brazil have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-021-00618-9">using a rhizobia-based microbial fertilizer</a> for decades to improve their yields and cut synthetic fertilizer costs. But this technique is not as widely known elsewhere. Scaling it up will require funding to expand testing to more countries, but it has great potential payoff for farmers, soil health and the climate.</p>
<h2>Reducing methane from livestock</h2>
<p>A third innovation priority is livestock, the source of <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/cb1922en/cb1922en.pdf">roughly two-thirds</a> of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. With demand for beef projected to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/C2014-0-03542-3">rise 80% by 2050</a> as low- and middle-income countries grow wealthier, reducing those emissions is essential.</p>
<p>Several innovative methods for reducing livestock methane emissions target enteric fermentation, which leads to methane belches.</p>
<p>Adding algae, <a href="https://theconversation.com/feeding-cows-a-few-ounces-of-seaweed-daily-could-sharply-reduce-their-contribution-to-climate-change-157192">seaweed</a>, lipids, tannins or certain synthetic compounds to cattle feed can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1071/AN20295">change the chemical reactions</a> that generate methane during digestion. Studies have found some techniques have the potential to reduce methane emissions by a quarter to nearly 100 percent. When cattle produce less methane, they also waste less energy, which can <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2021.641590">go into growth</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2020-18908">milk production</a>, providing a boost for farmers.</p>
<p>The method is still expensive, but further development and private investment could help scale it up and lower the cost. </p>
<p>Gene editing, either of livestock or the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-01014-7">microorganisms in their stomachs</a>, could also someday hold potential.</p>
<h2>Scaling up agriculture innovation</h2>
<p>The Innovation Commission also identified <a href="http://innovationcommission.uchicago.edu/">four other priorities for innovation</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Helping farmers and communities implement better rainwater harvesting.</p></li>
<li><p>Lowering the cost of <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-ways-ai-can-help-farmers-tackle-the-challenges-of-modern-agriculture-213210">digital agriculture</a> that can help farmers use irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides most efficiently.</p></li>
<li><p>Encouraging production of alternative proteins to reduce demand for livestock.</p></li>
<li><p>Providing insurance and other social protections to help farmers recover from extreme weather events.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>While promising agricultural innovations exist, commercial incentives to develop and scale them up have fallen short, leading to underinvestment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man flies drones to spread fertilizer on a field in Kenya." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562476/original/file-20231129-28-dk66ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Providing farmers with information and technology that can increase their resource efficiency are common themes in agriculture innovation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kenya-airways-employee-controls-an-unmanned-aerial-vehicle-news-photo/1244138316">Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, innovation funding <a href="https://fastercapital.com/content/Investing-in-the-Future--Why-Social-Innovation-Startups-Are-Attracting-Funding.html">has a track record</a> of generating very high social rates of return. This creates an opportunity for public and philanthropic investment in developing and deploying innovations at a scale to reach hundreds of millions of people. Of course, to be effective, any potential innovation must be consistent with – and driven by – national strategies and planned in conjunction with the government, the private sector and civil society.</p>
<p>Two decades ago, global leaders, frustrated that lifesaving vaccines were not reaching hundreds of millions of people who needed them, <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/about-us/partnerships/partners/global-health-partnerships/gavi-alliance">created Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance</a>. They invested billions of dollars to scale up these innovations, helped to immunize over 1 billion children and halved child mortality in 78 lower-income countries.</p>
<p>This year, officials at COP28 are aiming for a similar global response to climate change, food security and agriculture.</p>
<p><em>This article, originally published Dec. 2, has been updated with the declaration’s signatory count as of Dec. 12.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218414/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Winters receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the work on the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture. He is Executive Director of the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture based out of the Development Innovation Lab at the University of Chicago. He also is providing unpaid technical support to the COP28 Presidency Food System Initiative around the Innovation Pillar.</span></em></p>Food systems are increasingly disrupted by climate disasters, while also being a major contributor to climate change. World leaders at COP28 vowed to do something about it.Paul Winters, Professor of Global Affairs, University of Notre DameLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2072022023-11-28T13:41:49Z2023-11-28T13:41:49ZWriting instructors are less afraid of students cheating with ChatGPT than you might think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560814/original/file-20231121-15-b8y2le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C0%2C6895%2C4296&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many educators say they are worried about being unable to keep up with advances in AI.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/robotic-hand-pressing-a-keyboard-on-a-laptop-3d-royalty-free-image/1479076594?phrase=AI%2Bwriting">Guillaume via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When ChatGPT launched a year ago, headlines flooded the internet about fears of student cheating. A pair of essays in The Atlantic decried “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/openai-chatgpt-writing-high-school-english-essay/672412/">the end of high-school English</a>” and the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/chatgpt-ai-writing-college-student-essays/672371/">death of the college essay</a>.“ NPR informed readers that ”<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/26/1151499213/chatgpt-ai-education-cheating-classroom-wharton-school">everybody is cheating</a>.“</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Teen Vogue ventured that the moral panic ”<a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/chatgpt-plagiarism-cheating-students">may be overblown</a>.“</p>
<p>The more measured tone in Teen Vogue tracks better with preliminary findings from our 2023 survey that examined attitudes and feelings about artificial intelligence among college faculty who teach writing. Survey responses revealed that AI-related anxieties among educators around the country are more complex and nuanced than claims insisting that <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-end-of-the-take-home-essay">AI is outright and always bad</a>. </p>
<p>While some educators do worry about students cheating, they also have another fear in common: AI’s potential to take over human jobs. And as far as teaching, many educators also see the bright side. They say they actually enjoy using the revolutionary technology to enhance what they do.</p>
<h2>The survey</h2>
<p>Our 64-item survey included a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2019.1674887">scale of AI anxiety</a> and was conducted March 2-31, 2023. The 99 survey respondents included faculty, writing program administrators and others interested in the teaching of writing. More than 71% worked in the disciplines of English, writing or rhetoric, and the sample represented all types of institutions, from small liberal arts colleges to large research universities and everything in between. </p>
<h2>A complex picture of cheating concerns</h2>
<p>AI anxiety among writing instructors is complicated. While 89% of survey participants feared "misuse” by students, misuse means different things to different people. Specifically, less than half of respondents – 44% – were “concerned” or “very concerned” about students turning to AI to compose entire essays. Only 22% were “very concerned” about students relying on such technologies to “co-write” their essays without providing appropriate attribution.</p>
<p>Additionally, less than half – 42% – reported they were “concerned” or “very concerned” about the need to revise university honor codes and plagiarism policies in light of AI. And only 25% said their institutions should enforce increased plagiarism detection through apps and websites such as <a href="https://www.turnitin.com/">Turnitin</a>.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether respondents had deep worries or mild concerns, only 13% favored any ban on AI entirely in college courses and classrooms. Instead, instructors reported varying levels of anxieties about a range of issues, including learning how to use AI tools and job security.</p>
<p>As one participant wrote, “While I want students to compose original works in my writing courses, I see no reason to ban them from using AI tools at their disposal during the writing process.” </p>
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<h2>Fears beyond cheating</h2>
<p>Survey participants had wide-ranging reactions to the prospects of AI replacing their jobs as writing instructors. At times, their feelings seemed conflicted, depending on the circumstances and conditions described in our survey questions.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://qz.com/1065818/ai-university">some critics have already suggested</a>, there is genuine fear about colleges using AI not as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/sep/06/will-ai-replace-university-lecturers-not-if-we-make-it-clear-why-humans-matter">means to enhance the work of instructors</a>, but instead to replace them. </p>
<p>For instance, more than 54% of respondents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the prospect of AI technology replacing human jobs scared them. And 43% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that they were anxious over the possibility of becoming unable to keep up with advances in AI techniques and products.</p>
<p>The anxiety among tenured and tenure-track faculty was significantly lower than that of adjunct instructors, graduate teaching assistants, instructors and administrative faculty and staff. This implies that college writing instructors who are most likely to fear losing their jobs because of AI are those who are most vulnerable anyway. </p>
<h2>The potential for using AI in writing instruction</h2>
<p>Despite their worries, many respondents reported being eager to use AI writing tools with their students. About 47% said they would “very likely” teach their students how to use AI in brainstorming and idea generation. In fact, some respondents fully embraced the technology as a teaching tool.</p>
<p>“I’m not anxious about AI,” wrote one respondent. “When the computer first entered the writing classroom, there was a fear that it would change writing instruction, which it did. We needed to figure out how to help students use the affordances computers offered. Now, few people would suggest teaching writing without a computer.”</p>
<p>Our survey results suggest that writing instructors see the potential for AI to do much more than write a paper for a student. Sixty-one percent said they were “likely” or “very likely” to use AI in drafting and revision, and 63% were “likely” or “very likely” to use AI to show students how to alter genre, style or tone in their writing.</p>
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<p>To be sure, 46% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that teachers and students could grow dependent on AI. But only 20% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that their own use of AI as a teaching tool would make students become dependent and cause their reasoning skills to deteriorate. </p>
<p>Now that ChatGPT has been available to students for a year, even the headlines in the news are beginning to reflect the opportunities it can offer in the classroom, in addition to the risks. The Washington Post highlighted “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/06/01/students-chatgpt-ai-tools/">all the unexpected ways ChatGPT is infiltrating students’ lives</a>” – including checking for grammar mistakes. The Wall Street Journal spoke to teachers who said they should <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/teachers-ai-classroom-schools-678d7d84">encourage students to learn how to use the tool</a> for its potential in their future jobs. And Time magazine reported on the <a href="https://time.com/6300950/ai-schools-chatgpt-teachers/">extra hand that ChatGPT gives to busy teachers</a> who are continuously making lesson plans. Clearly, students – and teachers – are using AI. The question now is how, why and for what purposes?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Troy Hicks is affiliated as an occasional consultant with Writable, a web-based platform to support writers and the teaching of writing which also includes an AI-enhanced revision assistant. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Ernst does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A survey about college writing instructors’ fears and anxieties about AI demonstrates that student cheating isn’t their only concern. And in fact, many have embraced it as a teaching tool.Daniel Ernst, Assistant Professor of English, Texas Woman's UniversityTroy Hicks, Professor of English and Education, Central Michigan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108442023-11-21T22:25:18Z2023-11-21T22:25:18ZWhy student experiments with Generative AI matter for our collective learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557547/original/file-20231103-21-ejdzmz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=92%2C277%2C5515%2C3144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities are ideal spaces to forge co-operation across research fields, an imperative of developing responsible AI.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-student-experiments-with-generative-ai-matter-for-our-collective-learning" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT based on Large Language Models (LLMs) are revolutionizing the ways we think, learn and work. </p>
<p>But, like some other forms of AI, GenAI technologies have a <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/can-we-open-the-black-box-of-ai-1.20731">black box nature</a> — meaning it’s hard to explain and understand how mathematical models compute their output. </p>
<p>If we as a society are to employ this new technology on a broad scale, we will need to engage in a collective discovery process to better understand how it works and what it is capable of. </p>
<p>As AI experts work on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/TAI.2021.3133846">making AI systems more comprehensible to end users</a>, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67481548">as OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT</a>, navigates leadership shakeups and questions <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-the-conflict-at-the-heart-of-openai/">about its strategic direction</a>, post-secondary institutions have a critical role to play in enabling collective learning about GenAI.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/openais-board-is-facing-backlash-for-firing-ceo-sam-altman-but-its-good-it-had-the-power-to-218154">OpenAI’s board is facing backlash for firing CEO Sam Altman – but it’s good it had the power to</a>
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<h2>Difficult to understand</h2>
<p>For AI systems based on large neural networks with a black box nature, like GenAI, a lack of transparency makes it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-021-00477-0">difficult for people to trust</a> the AI and to rely on it for sensitive applications.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University professor Elizabeth A. Holm <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aax0162">has argued</a> that black box AIs can still be valuable if they produce better results than alternatives, if the cost of wrong answers is low or if they inspire new ideas. </p>
<p>Still, cases of matters gone horribly wrong erode trust, such as when ChatGPT <a href="https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2023/-chatgpt--help-me-make-a-bomb-.html">got tricked into giving instructions to make a bomb</a>, or when it <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/chatgpt-sexual-harassment-law-professor-b2315160.html">accused a law professor of a serious crime he didn’t commit</a>. </p>
<p>This is why researchers working on <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9645355">AI explainability</a> have tried to devise techniques to see into the black box of neural networks. However, the LLMs behind many GenAI tools are just too large and too complex for these methods to work.</p>
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<img alt="A woman sitting at a keyboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557527/original/file-20231103-17-4jqof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Universities should lead learning about different ways to use GenAI.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Fortunately, LLMs like ChatGPT have an interesting feature that previous black box neural networks did not have: they are interactive. Think of it this way: we cannot understand what a person is thinking by looking at a map of the neurons in their brain, but we can talk to them. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-chatbots-can-help-us-rediscover-the-rich-history-of-dialogue-197329">ChatGPT: Chatbots can help us rediscover the rich history of dialogue</a>
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<h2>‘Machine psychology’</h2>
<p>A new field of science is emerging under the label of “machine psychology” to understand how LLMs actually “think.” </p>
<p>New research, yet to be peer reviewed, is examining how these models can surprise us with their emergent capabilities. For example, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.11903">researchers surmised</a> that because with LLMs every new word generated depends on the sequence of words that came before it, asking an LLM to work through a problem step by step may produce better results. </p>
<p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.03262">New studies</a>, not yet peer reviewed, on this “chain of thought” technique and variations of it have shown they improve outcomes. Others suggest LLMs <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11760">can be “emotionally manipulated”</a> by including phrases like “are you sure?” or “believe in your abilities” in prompting. </p>
<p>In an interesting combination of these two methods, Google DeepMind researchers <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.03409">recently found</a> that for a series of math problems, one LLM improved its accuracy significantly when it was prompted with “take a deep breath and work on this problem step-by-step.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpts-greatest-achievement-might-just-be-its-ability-to-trick-us-into-thinking-that-its-honest-202694">ChatGPT's greatest achievement might just be its ability to trick us into thinking that it's honest</a>
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<h2>Collective discovery</h2>
<p>Understanding GenAI is not something only researchers are doing, and that’s a good thing. New discoveries that users have made have surprised even the makers of those tools, in both delightful and alarming ways.</p>
<p>Users are sharing their discoveries and prompts in online communities such as Reddit, Discord and dedicated platforms such as <a href="https://flowgpt.com/">FlowGPT</a>. </p>
<p>These prompts often include “jailbreak” prompts that succeed in getting GenAI tools to behave in ways they are not supposed to. People can trick AI <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/chatgpt-jailbreak-generative-ai-hacking">into bypassing built-in rules</a> — for example, producing hateful content — or <a href="https://asianews.network/chatgpt-can-be-tricked-into-generating-malware-bomb-making-instructions">creating malware</a>. </p>
<p>These rapid advances and surprising outcomes are why some AI leaders <a href="https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/">called for a six-month moratorium</a> on AI development earlier this year.</p>
<h2>AI and learning</h2>
<p>In higher education, an overly defensive approach emphasizing flaws and weaknesses of GenAI or how it allows students to cheat is ill-advised. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-and-cheating-5-ways-to-change-how-students-are-graded-200248">ChatGPT and cheating: 5 ways to change how students are graded</a>
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<p>On the contrary, as <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier">workplaces start to see the benefits of GenAI-powered employees or workplace productivity</a>, they will expect higher education to prepare students. Students’ education needs to be relevant. </p>
<p>Universities are ideal spaces to forge co-operation across research fields, an imperative of developing responsible AI. Universities, in contrast to the private sector, are best positioned to embed their GenAI practices and content within a framework of ethical and responsible practice.</p>
<p>One thing this entails is understanding of GenAI as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13337">an augment, not a substitute, for human judgement</a> and discerning when relying on this is permissable and acceptable. </p>
<p>Educating for GenAI involves developing critical thinking and fact-checking skills, and ethical prompt engineering. It also involves understanding that GenAI tools do not just repeat their training data, and can <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/is-chatgpt-a-better-entrepreneur-than-most">generate new, and high-quality ideas</a> based on patterns in that data.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ChatGPT-and-Artificial-Intelligence-in-higher-education-Quick-Start-guide_EN_FINAL.pdf">ChatGPT and AI for Higher Education UNESCO Quick Guide</a> is a helpful starting point.</p>
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<p>Including GenAI in the curriculum cannot be treated as top-down teaching. Given the rapid development and newness of the technology, many students are already ahead of the professors in their GenAI knowledge and skills. We must recognize this as an era of collective discovery, where we are all learning from each other. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/artificial-intelligence-course-learning-ai-tools-1.6952634">“Generative AI and Prompting” course</a> offered at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, a portion of grades are allocated to posting, commenting and voting on an online “discovery forum” to share their discoveries and experiments.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-using-ai-tools-like-chatgpt-in-my-mba-innovation-course-is-expected-and-not-cheating-198957">Why using AI tools like ChatGPT in my MBA innovation course is expected and not cheating</a>
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<h2>Learning by doing and experimenting</h2>
<p>Lastly, we should be learning how to use GenAI for tackling humanity’s greatest challenges, such as climate change, poverty, disease, international conflict and systemic injustice.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/publications/initial-policy-considerations-for-generative-artificial-intelligence-fae2d1e6-en.htm">powerful nature of this technology</a>, and the fact that we do not fully understand it due to its black box nature, we should do what we can to understand it through interaction and learning by doing and experimenting.</p>
<p>This is not an effort that can be confined to the works of specialized researchers or AI companies. It requires broad participation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohammad Keyhani receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the University of Calgary. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hadi Hemmati receives funding from NSERC, Alberta Innovates and York University. He consults and owns shares in an startup company called NexusDNN. He is an adjunct professor at University of Calgary. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leslie Salgado Arzuaga receives funding from the University of Calgary Eyes High Doctoral Scholarship.</span></em></p>Learning about Generative AI should include supporting collaborative interdisciplinary research and writing ethical prompts to help discover what it can do.Mohammad Keyhani, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of CalgaryHadi Hemmati, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, York University, CanadaLeslie Salgado, PhD Candidate, Communication, Media and Film, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2013412023-09-21T21:56:09Z2023-09-21T21:56:09ZCanada’s participation in the world’s largest radio telescope means new opportunities in research and innovation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548371/original/file-20230914-8809-zchqj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2000%2C1000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's impression of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, the largest of its kind in the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://skao.canto.global/v/SKAOLibrary/album/G20QH?viewIndex=1&column=image&id=m02qd2lp390bd092m1d4a9734g">(SKAO)</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadas-participation-in-the-worlds-largest-radio-telescope-means-new-opportunities-in-research-and-innovation" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Canada is about to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/national-research-council/news/2023/01/canada-announces-intention-to-become-full-member-of-international-skao-radio-astronomy-project.html">become a member</a> of the <a href="https://www.skao.int/en">Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)</a> — the world’s next giant radio telescope. This is a win for all Canadians, not just astronomers. </p>
<p>SKAO is a radio telescope made up of thousands of individual elements over vast areas. Its two remote sites are located, in partnership with <a href="https://www.skao.int/en/partners/429/local-and-indigenous-communities">local and Indigenous communities</a>, in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Karoo">Karoo desert region of South Africa</a> and the traditional lands of the <a href="https://research.csiro.au/ska/location/">Wajarri Yamaji in outback Western Australia</a>. </p>
<p>An international partnership that will operate the observatory includes 16 countries located on five continents.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl895XftKK6","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Radio observations</h2>
<p>Observing the sky with radio telescopes is not just (or even mostly) about looking for aliens. Electromagnetic radiation at radio wavelengths is produced by some of the most interesting and mysterious objects in the universe. These range from the supermassive black holes at the hearts of distant galaxies to pulsars that spin at dizzying rates like the fastest lighthouses, to the baffling explosions that produce <a href="https://www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/observational-research/time-domain-science/fast-radio-bursts/">fast radio bursts</a>. </p>
<p>To detect these faint signals when they reach Earth, we need many sophisticated antennas spread over large geographical areas, and located in places far from human-generated interference. </p>
<h2>Canadian involvement</h2>
<p>Canadian scientists are involved in many international projects, including the <a href="https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland</a> and <a href="https://www.snolab.ca/">SNOLAB underground laboratory in Lively, Ont.</a>. </p>
<p>The Canadian Astronomical Society makes recommendations on telescope participation through a <a href="https://casca.ca/?page_id=11499">decade long range plan</a> in which the professional astronomy community considers its priorities. Full participation in the SKA was the highest priority among large projects of the most recent plan <a href="https://casca.ca/?page_id=11499">that covers 2020 to 2030</a>. </p>
<p>Canada has already been a key partner in <a href="https://www.skao.int/en/partners/prospective-members/388/canada#__otpm0">the SKA project for over 20 years</a>, making contributions to both the technical and scientific designs. There is no other existing or planned telescope like the SKAO, and not participating would have meant that Canadian astronomers would miss out. </p>
<h2>Canadian leadership</h2>
<p>Canadian astronomy, despite its small size, is a world leader. We already conduct research with radio astronomy facilities such as the <a href="https://chime-experiment.ca/en">CHIME</a> experiment near Penticton, B.C., <a href="https://almaobservatory.org/en/home/">Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array</a> in Chile and the <a href="https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/vla">Jansky Very Large Array</a> in New Mexico. Participation in the SKAO will allow us to keep making new discoveries, thanks to one of the largest Canadian investments in astronomy to date.</p>
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<img alt="a blue-lit circular device" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548372/original/file-20230914-19-joy01g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research where the Higgs boson was detected in 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Canada’s membership in the SKAO will allow Canadian companies to bid on shares of the work to be done for this billion-dollar mega science project. <a href="https://www.skao.int/en/partners/prospective-members/388/canada#__otpm5">Technologies developed for the project</a> will include computer hardware for digital signal processing and antenna dishes that can be mass produced of composite materials. These technologies may have applications in other industries. There is also the opportunity to strengthen Canada’s innovation culture and international reputation as a technology leader. </p>
<p>Once at full operation, the SKAO will produce a data firehose: <a href="https://www.skao.int/en/explore/big-data">300 petabytes</a>, or about half a million typical laptop hard drives, per year. Developing the computer hardware and software for processing the SKA data will be another technological win for Canada: the algorithms and know-how needed can be adapted for big data applications elsewhere, from climate modelling to epidemiological research.</p>
<h2>Future generations</h2>
<p>SKAO is not just another radio telescope. Construction will be <a href="https://www.space.com/square-kilometer-array-observatory-construction-begins">completed in 2029</a>, with significant Canadian contributions. Membership in SKAO will also attract and train the next generation of Canadian scientists and engineers. </p>
<p>The excitement of space attracts many youth to STEM careers, and those who choose to study astronomy will have the opportunity to work with cutting-edge hardware and vast amounts of data. Some of those graduates will go on to work in astronomy research, while others will apply their skills to careers in finance, health care or environmental monitoring and protection. This will help build Canada’s capacity for innovation in a technologically driven future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201341/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pauline Barmby receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Space Agency and was co-chair of the Canadian Astronomical Society’s 2020 Long Range Plan panel.</span></em></p>Canada’s partnership in the world’s largest radio telescope, located in South Africa and Australia, creates new opportunities for research, but the benefits go beyond astronomy.Pauline Barmby, Professor, Physics & Astronomy, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140242023-09-21T17:00:08Z2023-09-21T17:00:08ZWhy delaying the ban on petrol and diesel cars won’t slow UK’s shift to electric vehicles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549604/original/file-20230921-19-nud0c8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8256%2C5499&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-electric-car-charger-female-silhouette-1812967387">Husjur02/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UK has delayed its ban on the sale of new cars which burn petrol or diesel in internal combustion engines (ICE) from 2030 to 2035. </p>
<p>In some ways, this is no surprise: the original plan was to ban them from 2040, a deadline <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/15/car-industry-lobbied-uk-government-delay-ban-petrol-diesel-cars">brought forward</a> by the previous prime minister, Boris Johnson, in 2020. The new delay, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/rishi-sunak-confirms-hes-delaying-ban-on-new-petrol-and-diesel-cars-and-boosts-boiler-upgrade-scheme-12965656">confirmed this week by Rishi Sunak</a>, had been <a href="https://www.am-online.com/news/latest-news/2023/03/28/will-uk-follow-eu-by-lifting-2035-diesel-and-petrol-new-car-sales-ban">rumoured</a> in August.</p>
<p>But the decision still sends a confusing message from Sunak’s government, particularly for carmakers who on average take <a href="https://www.cargroup.org/automotive-product-development-cycles-and-the-need-for-balance-with-the-regulatory-environment/#:%7E:text=This%20move%20back%20to%20car,22%25%20faster%20development%20cycle%20than">six-to-seven years</a> to develop new vehicles, and need time to <a href="https://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/news/ford-invest-in-halewood--plant-to-scale-up-electric-vehicle-range">invest in new factories</a> and train workers, as well as make the cars themselves.</p>
<p>For these manufacturers, certainty is key to their business. If they gear up to produce an all-electric fleet and suddenly buyers still want ICE vehicles and they haven’t produced enough, they will have stockpiles of unwanted cars which may have to be <a href="https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/what-happens-to-new-cars-that-dont-sell">sold at a loss</a>.</p>
<p>However, the good news is the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) is already well under way in the UK. Research suggests it may now be unstoppable – regardless of what the government does.</p>
<h2>How new technologies replace old ones</h2>
<p>Any new technology follows a cycle of adoption that is difficult for government intervention to interrupt. The exception is for fast-acting bans, which attempt to immediately remove products deemed dangerous or harmful from a market. A successful example is the UK’s ban on highly realistic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/06/ukcrime.ukguns">imitation firearms</a>.</p>
<p>Grants or other incentives to buy new technologies are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plug-in-grant-for-cars-to-end-as-focus-moves-to-improving-electric-vehicle-charging">somewhat effective at increasing their adoption</a> at first, but these incentives are generally withdrawn once the product is established in a market. </p>
<p>The rate at which new technologies are adopted can usually be mapped on to fairly predictable trajectories. American sociologist Everett Rogers plotted it on an S-shaped curve he called the <a href="https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/sb/behavioralchangetheories/behavioralchangetheories4.html">diffusion of innovations</a>. We can see that this shape holds true for <a href="https://www.asymco.com/2013/11/06/the-diffusion-of-iphones-as-a-learning-process/">smartphones</a>.</p>
<p>A look at the adoption of EVs over time reveals the UK is in <a href="https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/electric-cars/choosing/road-to-electric/">a rapid ramping-up phase</a> that will naturally deliver an almost complete switch to EVs for every new car purchase by the 2030s, regardless of legislation. Already, we have gone from EVs having a less than 0.5% market share in 2016 to <a href="https://www.zap-map.com/ev-stats/ev-market">over 20% in 2023</a>. This trend mirrors that of smartphones, which went from <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/263437/global-smartphone-sales-to-end-users-since-2007/">a few million</a> when the iPhone was released to almost complete market penetration in under a decade – and all without a ban on non-smartphones.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VVXuN2drSpg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An explanation of the law of diffusion of innovation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Phones and cars aren’t a perfect comparison – generally, cars have a longer lifecycle. But the similar pattern in sales growth should still hold true once there is enough data on the EV curve. In fact, there’s a credible risk that ICE motorists will soon face the same problem EV drivers have had in recent years: difficulty refuelling.</p>
<p>While many drivers cite a <a href="https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2020/03/19/lack-of-residential-charges-are-a-major-barrier-to-ev-adoption">lack of chargers</a> as a barrier to buying an EV, as ICE car ownership drops the number of petrol filling stations will drop too. In fact, data suggests their numbers are <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/5992/fuel-and-petrol-stations-in-the-uk/#topicOverview">already declining</a> in the UK.</p>
<p>Another reason the UK ban will not slow the adoption of EVs is the fact <a href="https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/">it is only a part</a> (albeit a significant one) of the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/257653/passenger-car-sales-by-region/">wider European market</a> that generally buys the same specification of vehicle (as opposed to other markets which have differing tastes and products). Most manufacturers will be developing their EVs to meet the whole market’s needs, and many of the countries in that market, such as Ireland, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands, are <a href="https://theicct.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/eu-co2-FS5-jun2021.pdf">sticking to 2030</a>. Norway <a href="https://electrek.co/2021/09/23/norway-bans-gas-cars-in-2025-but-trends-point-toward-100-ev-sales-as-early-as-april/">has picked 2025</a> as its deadline.</p>
<p>If you are a car manufacturer working to a bloc sales model that averages around 2030 (remember, they have been planning on 2030 for the UK too), then you are not going to put resources into producing more of a technology that is being phased out and cannot be sold throughout most of that bloc.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two workers lean over an EV battery pack on a factory assembly line." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549609/original/file-20230921-22-9m2i92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Carmakers are unlikely to pay much heed to the UK’s policy change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/inside-electric-vehicle-battery-pack-shop-2112208565">NamLong Nguyen/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Will this affect buyer preferences?</h2>
<p>It may feel that this kind of anti-climate action will make people think twice about buying an EV. But the reasons that people choose an EV are rarely, if ever, due to phase-out targets. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/travel/articles/32259-why-buy-electric-car?redirect_from=%2Ftopics%2Ftravel%2Farticles-reports%2F2020%2F09%2F30%2Fwhy-buy-electric-car">YouGov survey from 2020</a> stated that 51% bought one for environmental reasons, 31% for lower running costs, and 29% for “future-proofing”. The latter reason may have been driven by a fear of ICE purchases being banned, but it doesn’t explicitly say so. And even if such a concern influenced their decision, it was still outweighed by costs and the environment.</p>
<p>Furthermore, only just behind this motivation, at 25%, was the tax advantage of buying an EV. The government has not given any indication it will lower taxes on ICE cars, so this advantage remains.</p>
<p>While Sunak’s decision to delay the ban may allow some to breathe a sigh of (polluted) relief, all the data and theory in this area indicates that the inevitable switch to EV shows no sign of abating – among consumers or manufacturers.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Stacey receives funding from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).</span></em></p>Research on how people adopt new technologies suggests the transition is now well under way.Tom Stacey, Senior Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2087272023-08-30T12:15:21Z2023-08-30T12:15:21ZWorkers like it when their employers talk about diversity and inclusion<p><a href="https://www.raconteur.net/responsible-business/george-floyd-death-racial-equality/">Many companies have made commitments toward</a> diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in recent years, particularly since the murder of <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/george-floyd-87675">George Floyd sparked</a> weeks of racial justice riots in 2020. </p>
<p>But some of those efforts, such as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/diversity-roles-disappear-three-years-george-floyd-protests-inspired-rcna72026">hiring diversity leaders</a> and <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/host-of-companies-sued-alleging-unmet-diversity-equity-pledges">creating policies to address racial inequality</a>, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/corporate-america-slashing-dei-workers-amid-backlash-diversity/story?id=100477952">have stalled or reversed</a> at the same time as a growing <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/07/21/texas-am-president-resigns-after-conservative-pushback-against-journalism-professor-and-dei/">conservative backlash</a> is threatening to further undermine such initiatives. </p>
<p>Most recently, a June 2023 Supreme Court ruling tossing out affirmative action policies at several universities <a href="https://hbr.org/2023/07/what-scotuss-affirmative-action-decision-means-for-corporate-dei">has prompted businesses and advocates to worry</a> that similar corporate efforts to improve the diversity of their workforces may be next. </p>
<p>That would be bad news for companies, because research has shown that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives improve <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0146167210367786">creativity</a>, <a href="https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation">innovation</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00178-6">productivity</a> and <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270813">organizational performance</a>.</p>
<p>What’s more, a majority of workers <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/05/17/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/">say they want their employers</a> to do DEI. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=697eQncAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">My own research</a> in corporate communications suggests how employees communicate their efforts is just as important as having them.</p>
<h2>DEI and the workplace</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-diversity-equity-and-inclusion">Diversity, equity and inclusion</a> are three related values that companies and other organizations use to guide their efforts to create workplaces that are welcoming to people from all walks of life. These values emphasize the respect of individual differences and fair treatment of all people, regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation or other factors.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/12-ways-companies-are-boosting-their-dei.aspx">implementation of DEI measures</a> varies across organizations, with strategies ranging from policies that ensure the fair treatment of workers of color to training and the establishment of <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/effective-employee-resource-groups-are-key-to-inclusion-at-work-heres-how-to-get-them-right">employee resource groups</a>, which are internal communities built around workers’ shared identities or interests. Examples include networks for women, people of color or veterans. </p>
<p>While strategies may vary, DEI is in wide use across corporate America. <a href="https://www.hrdive.com/news/2022-fortune-companies-dei/627651/#:%7E:text=As%20of%20at%20least%20July,to%20diversity%2C%20equity%20and%20inclusion">Every Fortune 100 company</a> listed some kind of DEI initiative on its website as of July 2022, and a <a href="https://www.hrpolicy.org/insight-and-research/resources/2021/hrpa/12/press-release/">2021 survey</a> found that 82% of chief human resource officers said DEI was their foremost concern. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a woman holding a sign protests outside of the Supreme Court building amid several other affirmative action-related signs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545112/original/file-20230828-26-uerino.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some believe corporate diversity programs will be targeted next after the Supreme Court in June 2023 ended affirmative action in college admissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SupremeCourtAffirmativeAction/30fcf455c5844ff5be44c519266cd4d2/photo?Query=affirmative%20action%20supreme%20court&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=31&currentItemNo=1&vs=true">AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Broad benefits of DEI</h2>
<p>Numerous studies on diversity, equity and inclusion policies have found them to have many positive impacts on corporate performance. </p>
<p>Consulting company McKinsey in May 2020 reviewed data on over 1,000 companies in 15 countries and found that the “<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/%7E/media/McKinsey/Featured%20Insights/Diversity%20and%20Inclusion/Diversity%20wins%20How%20inclusion%20matters/Diversity-wins-How-inclusion-matters-vF.pdf">business case for inclusion and diversity is stronger than ever</a>.” </p>
<p>Its analysis showed that in 2019 companies in the top quartile in terms of ethnic and cultural diversity were 36% more likely to report above-average profits than those at the bottom, slightly better than in 2014. And companies with the most gender diversity among executives were 25% more likely to outperform the market, up from 15% in 2014. </p>
<p>A 2019 study that analyzed workforce diversity in the U.S. federal government found that racial diversity <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0091026019848458">is significantly and positively related</a> to organizational performance.</p>
<p>One of the reasons DEI initiatives have a positive impact is because workers appreciate them. For example, a survey conducted in early 2023 found that most employees – 56% – <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/05/17/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/">think it’s a good thing</a> if their company is focused on DEI.</p>
<h2>Talking up DEI</h2>
<p>But my own work suggests that getting many of these benefits from DEI initiatives may depend on how well employers are communicating their efforts to workers. In 2021, colleagues Sunny Qin, Renee Mitson, Patrick Thelen and I <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2023.2222859">conducted an online survey</a> with 657 full-time employees across 27 industries in the U.S. We published the findings in June 2023. </p>
<p>We asked respondents how well they thought their employers communicated around the topic of diversity, including efforts to promote a diverse workforce. We also assessed participants’ engagement in their companies as well as the employees’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8784.2007.00082.x">cultural intelligence</a>, or the ability to interact and adapt across cultures. We then used a statistical technique called <a href="https://www.statisticssolutions.com/free-resources/directory-of-statistical-analyses/structural-equation-modeling/">structural equation modeling analysis</a> to spot relationships between all their answers. </p>
<p>We found that the employees who worked for companies that talked more about their commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment were also more engaged in their work. This was also correlated with higher levels of cultural intelligence, and together they contributed to a more inclusive work environment. </p>
<p>Importantly, we found that this effect was strongest for racial minorities, whose level of engagement was more highly correlated with how well their employer created an inclusive climate than for white people in our survey. </p>
<h2>Valued and included</h2>
<p>Overall, our study supports the notion that employees still value and appreciate their companies’ focus on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. </p>
<p>And as we found, a more diverse and inclusive work environment leads to a more engaged workforce when companies continually communicate about their stance, values and commitment to DEI. Such communications signal to employees that their employers hear their voices and stand with them. </p>
<p>Having a diverse and inclusive workplace isn’t just about checking off boxes. It’s about making sure everyone feels valued and included.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rita Men does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Policies that foster diversity, equity and inclusion have been shown to have many positive operational impacts − including leading to more worker engagement.Rita Men, Professor of Public Relations and Director of Internal Communication Research, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2115982023-08-25T12:27:58Z2023-08-25T12:27:58ZAI scores in the top percentile of creative thinking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544631/original/file-20230824-19-dofq41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4071%2C2986&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Creativity involves generating something new -- a product or solution that didn't previously exist.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/red-apple-on-a-background-of-green-apples-royalty-free-image/536687143?phrase=repeated+objects+with+one+unique+object&adppopup=true">Maestria_diz/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Of all the forms of human intellect that one might expect artificial intelligence to emulate, few people would likely place creativity at the top of their list. Creativity is wonderfully mysterious – and frustratingly fleeting. It defines us as human beings – and seemingly defies the cold logic that lies behind the silicon curtain of machines. </p>
<p>Yet, the use of AI for creative endeavors is now growing. </p>
<p>New AI tools like DALL-E and Midjourney are increasingly part of creative production, and some have started <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html">to win awards for their creative output</a>. The growing impact is both social and economic – as just one example, the potential of AI to generate new, creative content is a defining flashpoint behind the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-hollywood-actors-and-writers-afraid-of-a-cinema-scholar-explains-how-ai-is-upending-the-movie-and-tv-business-210360">Hollywood writers strike</a>.</p>
<p>And if our recent study into the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjoc.2023.100065">striking originality of AI</a> is any indication, the emergence of AI-based creativity – along with examples of both its promise and peril – is likely just beginning. </p>
<h2>A blend of novelty and utiliy</h2>
<p>When people are at their most creative, they’re responding to a need, goal or problem by generating something new – a product or solution that didn’t previously exist. </p>
<p>In this sense, creativity is an act of combining existing resources – ideas, materials, knowledge – in a novel way that’s useful or gratifying. Quite often, the result of creative thinking is also surprising, leading to something that the creator did not – and perhaps could not – foresee. </p>
<p>It might involve an invention, an unexpected punchline to a joke or a groundbreaking theory in physics. It might be a unique arrangement of notes, tempo, sounds and lyrics that results in a new song. </p>
<p>So, as a researcher of creative thinking, I immediately noticed something interesting about the content generated by the latest versions of AI, including GPT-4. </p>
<p>When prompted with tasks requiring creative thinking, the novelty and usefulness of GPT-4’s output reminded me of the creative types of ideas submitted by students and colleagues I had worked with as a teacher and entrepreneur. </p>
<p>The ideas were different and surprising, yet relevant and useful. And, when required, quite imaginative. </p>
<p>Consider the following prompt offered to GPT-4: “Suppose all children became giants for one day out of the week. What would happen?” The ideas generated by GPT-4 touched on culture, economics, psychology, politics, interpersonal communication, transportation, recreation and much more – many surprising and unique in terms of the novel connections generated. </p>
<p>This combination of novelty and utility is difficult to pull off, as most scientists, artists, writers, musicians, poets, chefs, founders, engineers and academics can attest. </p>
<p>Yet AI seemed to be doing it – and doing it well.</p>
<h2>Putting AI to the test</h2>
<p>With researchers in creativity and entrepreneurship <a href="https://www.vm.vu.lt/apie/destytojai/2-uncategorised/637-christian-byrge">Christian Byrge</a> and <a href="https://www.umwestern.edu/directory/christian-gilde/">Christian Gilde</a>, I decided to put AI’s creative abilities to the test by having it take the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/torrance-test">or TTCT</a>. </p>
<p>The TTCT prompts the test-taker to engage in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-unlock-your-creativity-even-if-you-see-yourself-as-a-conventional-thinker-196198">the kinds of creativity required for real-life tasks</a>: asking questions, how to be more resourceful or efficient, guessing cause and effect or improving a product. It might ask a test-taker to suggest ways to improve a children’s toy or imagine the consequences of a hypothetical situation, as the above example demonstrates.</p>
<p>The tests are not designed to measure <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0099">historical creativity</a>, which is what some researchers use to describe the transformative brilliance of figures like Mozart and Einstein. Rather, it assesses the general creative abilities of individuals, often referred to as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0099">psychological or personal creativity</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to running the TTCT through GPT-4 eight times, we also administered the test to 24 of our undergraduate students. </p>
<p>All of the results were evaluated by trained reviewers at Scholastic Testing Service, a private testing company that provides scoring for the TTCT. They didn’t know in advance that some of the tests they’d be scoring had been completed by AI. </p>
<p>Since Scholastic Testing Service is a private company, it does not share its prompts with the public. This ensured that GPT-4 would not have been able to scrape the internet for past prompts and their responses. In addition, the company has a database of thousands of tests completed by college students and adults, providing a large, additional control group with which to compare AI scores.</p>
<p>Our results? </p>
<p>GPT-4 scored in the top 1% of test-takers for the originality of its ideas. From our research, we believe this marks one of the first examples of AI meeting or exceeding the human ability for original thinking. </p>
<p>In short, we believe that AI models like GPT-4 are capable of producing ideas that people see as unexpected, novel and unique. Other researchers are arriving at similar conclusions in <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2303.12003">their research of AI and creativity</a>. </p>
<h2>Yes, creativity can be evaluated</h2>
<p>The emerging creative ability of AI is surprising for a number of reasons. </p>
<p>For one, many outside of the research community continue to believe that creativity <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/yoel_tawil_why_creativity_has_no_definition">cannot be defined</a>, let alone scored. Yet products of human novelty and ingenuity have been prized – and bought and sold – for thousands of years. And creative work has been defined and scored in fields like psychology since at least the 1950s. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.idsa.org/education-paper/exchanging-the-4ps-of-creativity/">The person, product, process, press model of creativity</a>, which researcher Mel Rhodes introduced in 1961, was an attempt to categorize the myriad ways in which creativity had been understood and evaluated until that point. Since then, the understanding of creativity has only grown. </p>
<p>Still others are surprised that the term “creativity” might be applied to nonhuman entities like computers. On this point, we tend to agree with cognitive scientist Margaret Boden, who has argued that the question of whether the term creativity should be applied to AI is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v30i3.2254">philosophical rather than scientific question</a>. </p>
<h2>AI’s founders foresaw its creative abilities</h2>
<p>It’s worth noting that we studied only the output of AI in our research. We didn’t study <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-dall-e-2-and-the-collapse-of-the-creative-process-196461">its creative process</a>, which is likely very different from human thinking processes, or the environment in which the ideas were generated. And had we defined creativity as requiring a human person, then we would have had to conclude, by definition, that AI cannot possibly be creative. </p>
<p>But regardless of the debate over definitions of creativity and the creative process, the products generated by the latest versions of AI are novel and useful. We believe this satisfies the definition of creativity that is now dominant in the fields of psychology and science.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the creative abilities of AI’s current iterations are not entirely unexpected. </p>
<p>In their now famous proposal for the <a href="https://home.dartmouth.edu/about/artificial-intelligence-ai-coined-dartmouth">1956 Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence</a>, the founders of AI highlighted their desire to simulate “every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence” – including creativity.</p>
<p>In this same proposal, computer scientist Nathaniel Rochester <a href="http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/dartmouth/dartmouth.html">revealed his motivation</a>: “How can I make a machine which will exhibit originality in its solution of problems?” </p>
<p>Apparently, AI’s founders believed that creativity, including the originality of ideas, was among the specific forms of human intelligence that machines could emulate.</p>
<p>To me, the surprising creativity scores of GPT-4 and other AI models highlight a more pressing concern: Within U.S. schools, very few official programs and curricula have been implemented to date that specifically target human creativity and <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en">cultivate its development</a>. </p>
<p>In this sense, the creative abilities now realized by AI may provide a “<a href="https://www.space.com/10437-sputnik-moment.html">Sputnik moment</a>” for educators and others interested in furthering human creative abilities, including those who see creativity as an essential condition of individual, social and economic growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211598/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erik Guzik does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers had college students and AI take a standardized test in creative thinking, and all of them were scored by trained evaluators who didn’t know in advance that some had been completed by AI.Erik Guzik, Assistant Clinical Professor of Management, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2105862023-08-07T12:42:18Z2023-08-07T12:42:18ZRe-imagining democracy for the 21st century, possibly without the trappings of the 18th century<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540545/original/file-20230801-17-mlvhwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C58%2C6490%2C3434&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If people were dropped into a new situation tomorrow, how would they choose to govern themselves?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/metaverse-virtual-reality-futuristic-web3-internet-royalty-free-image/1399085756">Just_Super/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine that we’ve all – all of us, all of society – landed on some alien planet, and we have to form a government: clean slate. We don’t have any legacy systems from the U.S. or any other country. We don’t have any special or unique interests to perturb our thinking. </p>
<p>How would we govern ourselves?</p>
<p>It’s unlikely that we would use the systems we have today. The modern representative democracy was the best form of government that mid-18th-century technology could conceive of. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially.</p>
<p>For example, the mid-18th-century democracies were designed under the assumption that both travel and communications were hard. Does it still make sense for all of us living in the same place to organize every few years and choose one of us to go to a big room far away and create laws in our name?</p>
<p>Representative districts are organized around geography, because that’s the only way that made sense 200-plus years ago. But we don’t have to do it that way. We can organize representation by age: one representative for the 31-year-olds, another for the 32-year-olds, and so on. We can organize representation randomly: by birthday, perhaps. We can organize any way we want.</p>
<p>U.S. citizens currently elect people for terms ranging from two to six years. Is 10 years better? Is 10 days better? Again, we have more technology and therefor more options.</p>
<p>Indeed, as a <a href="https://www.schneier.com/">technologist</a> who studies complex systems and their <a href="https://www.schneier.com/books/a-hackers-mind/">security</a>, I believe the very idea of representative government is a hack to get around the technological limitations of the past. Voting at scale is easier now than it was 200 year ago. Certainly we don’t want to all have to vote on every amendment to every bill, but what’s the optimal balance between votes made in our name and ballot measures that we all vote on?</p>
<h2>Rethinking the options</h2>
<p>In December 2022, I organized a <a href="https://www.schneier.com/iword/2022">workshop</a> to discuss these and other questions. I brought together <a href="https://www.schneier.com/iword/attendees/">50 people</a> from around the world: political scientists, economists, law professors, AI experts, activists, government officials, historians, science fiction writers and more. We spent <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2022/12/reimagining-democracy.html">two days talking</a> about these ideas. Several themes emerged from the event.</p>
<p>Misinformation and propaganda were themes, of course – and the inability to engage in rational policy discussions when people can’t agree on the facts. </p>
<p>Another theme was the harms of creating a political system whose primary goals are economic. Given the ability to start over, would anyone create a system of government that optimizes the near-term financial interest of the wealthiest few? Or whose laws benefit corporations at the expense of people?</p>
<p>Another theme was capitalism, and how it is or isn’t intertwined with democracy. And while the modern market economy made a lot of sense in the industrial age, it’s starting to fray in the information age. What comes after capitalism, and how does it affect how we govern ourselves?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An overhead view shows a busy road between buildings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540555/original/file-20230801-37936-oma1fj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artificial intelligence may be good at smoothing traffic flow – but is it good at governing?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/view-from-above-of-road-in-chinatown-at-twilight-royalty-free-image/1336925675">Busà Photography, Moment via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A role for artificial intelligence?</h2>
<p>Many participants examined the effects of technology, especially artificial intelligence. We looked at whether – and when – we might be comfortable ceding power to an AI. Sometimes it’s easy. I’m happy for an AI to figure out the optimal timing of traffic lights to ensure the smoothest flow of cars through the city. When will we be able to say the same thing about setting interest rates? Or designing tax policies? </p>
<p>How would we feel about an AI device in our pocket that voted in our name, thousands of times per day, based on preferences that it inferred from our actions? If an AI system could determine optimal policy solutions that balanced every voter’s preferences, would it still make sense to have representatives? Maybe we should vote directly for ideas and goals instead, and leave the details to the computers. On the other hand, technological solutionism <a href="https://www.publicbooks.org/the-folly-of-technological-solutionism-an-interview-with-evgeny-morozov/">regularly fails</a>.</p>
<h2>Choosing representatives</h2>
<p>Scale was another theme. The size of modern governments reflects the technology at the time of their founding. European countries and the early American states are a particular size because that’s what was governable in the 18th and 19th centuries. Larger governments – the U.S. as a whole, the European Union – reflect a world in which travel and communications are easier. The problems we have today are primarily either local, at the scale of cities and towns, or global – even if they are currently regulated at state, regional or national levels. This mismatch is especially acute when we try to tackle global problems. In the future, do we really have a need for political units the size of France or Virginia? Or is it a mixture of scales that we really need, one that moves effectively between the local and the global?</p>
<p>As to other forms of democracy, we discussed one from history and another made possible by today’s technology.</p>
<p><a href="https://harvardpolitics.com/sortition-in-america/">Sortition</a> is a system of choosing political officials randomly to deliberate on a particular issue. We use it today when we pick juries, but both the ancient Greeks and some cities in Renaissance Italy used it to select major political officials. Today, several countries – largely in Europe – are using sortition for some policy decisions. We might randomly choose a few hundred people, representative of the population, to spend a few weeks being briefed by experts and debating the problem – and then decide on environmental regulations, or a budget, or pretty much anything.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/organizer-sandbox/liquid-democracy-true-democracy-for-the-21st-century-7c66f5e53b6f">Liquid democracy</a> does away with elections altogether. Everyone has a vote, and they can keep the power to cast it themselves or assign it to another person as a proxy. There are no set elections; anyone can reassign their proxy at any time. And there’s no reason to make this assignment all or nothing. Perhaps proxies could specialize: one set of people focused on economic issues, another group on health and a third bunch on national defense. Then regular people could assign their votes to whichever of the proxies most closely matched their views on each individual matter – or step forward with their own views and begin collecting proxy support from other people.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A stone marked with regular indentations." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540546/original/file-20230801-23-ljeulp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This item, called a kleroterion, was used to randomly select people for jury service in ancient Athens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AGMA_Kleroterion.jpg">Marsyas via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who gets a voice?</h2>
<p>This all brings up another question: Who gets to participate? And, more generally, whose interests are taken into account? Early democracies were really nothing of the sort: They limited participation by gender, race and land ownership. </p>
<p>We should debate lowering the voting age, but even without voting we recognize that children too young to vote have rights – and, in some cases, so do other species. Should future generations get a “voice,” whatever that means? What about nonhumans or whole ecosystems?</p>
<p>Should everyone get the same voice? Right now in the U.S., the outsize effect of money in politics gives the wealthy disproportionate influence. Should we encode that explicitly? Maybe younger people should get a more powerful vote than everyone else. Or maybe older people should.</p>
<p>Those questions lead to ones about the limits of democracy. All democracies have boundaries limiting what the majority can decide. We all have rights: the things that cannot be taken away from us. We cannot vote to put someone in jail, for example. </p>
<p>But while we can’t vote a particular publication out of existence, we can to some degree regulate speech. In this hypothetical community, what are our rights as individuals? What are the rights of society that supersede those of individuals?</p>
<h2>Reducing the risk of failure</h2>
<p>Personally, I was most interested in how these systems fail. As a security technologist, I study how complex systems are subverted – <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393866667">hacked, in my parlance</a> – for the benefit of a few at the expense of the many. Think tax loopholes, or tricks to avoid government regulation. I want any government system to be resilient in the face of that kind of trickery.</p>
<p>Or, to put it another way, I want the interests of each individual to align with the interests of the group <a href="https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2023/05/rethinking-democracy-for-the-age-of-ai.html">at every level</a>. We’ve never had a system of government with that property before – even equal protection guarantees and First Amendment rights exist in a competitive framework that puts individuals’ interests in opposition to one another. But – in the age of such existential risks as climate and biotechnology and maybe AI – aligning interests is more important than ever.</p>
<p>Our workshop didn’t produce any answers; that wasn’t the point. Our current discourse is filled with suggestions on how to patch our political system. People regularly debate changes to the Electoral College, or the process of creating voting districts, or term limits. But those are incremental changes. </p>
<p>It’s hard to find people who are thinking more radically: looking beyond the horizon for what’s possible eventually. And while true innovation in politics is a lot harder than innovation in technology, especially without a violent revolution forcing change, it’s something that we as a species are going to have to get good at – one way or another.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Schneier does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The modern representative democracy was the best form of government mid-18th-century technology could invent. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially.Bruce Schneier, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038322023-08-07T12:40:44Z2023-08-07T12:40:44ZWhat’s the difference between a startup and any other business?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536333/original/file-20230707-19-h3ttvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C45%2C5089%2C2743&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Between 2012 and 2021, funding to U.S. tech startups jumped to $344 billion.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/diverse-team-of-professional-businesspeople-meeting-royalty-free-image/1363104989?phrase=start+ups&adppopup=true">gorodenkoff/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>What’s the difference between a startup and a business, and is one better than the other? – Aditya, age 16, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>All startups are businesses, but not every business is a startup.</p>
<p>Nearly <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/new-business-applications-a-state-by-state-view">100,000 new businesses</a> were formed each week in the United States in 2022. But what sets a startup apart? </p>
<p>As a professor of marketing and innovation who has worked at several startups, including Netflix in its early days, I can share some of the differences between a startup and a more traditional business.</p>
<h2>Startups are inventing something new</h2>
<p>A traditional business generally has an established solution to a known problem and has not developed anything particularly new. </p>
<p>For example, a new sushi restaurant in your neighborhood may be a new business, but it is by no means a startup. However, if a new local company had developed a device that automated sushi-making and tried to get sushi restaurants to try it, that would be a startup. The restaurant is simply trying to satisfy the neighborhood’s needs for sushi, whereas the device company is trying to change all sushi restaurants with its new method.</p>
<p>A startup is centered on an innovation that has never been brought to market before. This could be a product or service, a technology, a process, a brand, or even a new business model. Generally, they have big industry-changing goals about disrupting the market leader or current customer behavior. </p>
<p>Think Uber, an inventive startup that originally operated in San Francisco. It built off the time-tested taxi model – a business – and created a unique ride-sharing app that had never existed previously.</p>
<h2>The goals of startups</h2>
<p>Regardless of their product and location, the main focus of a startup is to figure out if there is a need for their product. </p>
<p>Startups are trying to find and optimize a <a href="https://www.coursera.org/articles/target-market">target market</a> for their new solution. Who would value and buy what they have developed? Startups often think they have a good picture of who would like what they are building, but they’re not always right. </p>
<p>For example, I headed marketing nearly a decade ago at relationship-focused tech startup <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/27/compass-acquires-contactually-a-crm-provider-to-the-real-estate-industry/">Contactually</a>. When Contactually began to promote its services, it aimed for small businesses in several industries, thinking that the product met needs equally across all of them. But subsequently we found out that our offering worked particularly well for real estate agents and brokers, and we started to put all efforts into meeting this group’s needs exclusively.</p>
<p>Part of identifying a target market is establishing a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product/market_fit">product/market fit</a> – the degree to which the innovation satisfies a market need. Startups know they may be on to something when customers from the target market purchase the new solution and are willing to share their positive experiences with others. </p>
<p>Once a startup has passed those stages, it <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/scalability.asp">will try to scale</a>. This means successfully growing the startup so that it’s not limited by funding or staff. For example, once <a href="https://backlinko.com/netflix-users">Netflix launched its streaming platform</a> in 2010, it was able to scale around the globe in an easier and faster manner than if it had stayed with its original DVD-by-mail business model.</p>
<p>Finally, to accomplish the things that would enable it to scale, startups are generally focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13162-021-00197-w">spending time with and learning from their customers</a>. Once they reach a specific size, most businesses focus less on customer learning and more on making the company more efficient. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A team works together in an office." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536329/original/file-20230707-17-lxpvfg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research shows around 90% of startups will fail, while thousands begin each week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/team-of-professionals-work-on-a-project-royalty-free-image/586970675?phrase=start+ups&adppopup=true">Kelvin Murray/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Transitioning into an established business</h2>
<p>Amazon, Netflix, Uber and Airbnb are global powerhouses that began as startups. Successfully growing a startup into a prosperous company is extremely hard. Industry data suggests that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/16/90-of-startups-will-fail-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-10/">90% of startups will fail</a>.</p>
<p>Once established within their market, traditional businesses find themselves with a different challenge: <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-hard-truth-about-business-model-innovation/">running more efficiently</a>. </p>
<p>Startups may be able to rely on funding from different kinds of outside investors while they gain their footing. But an established business needs to run smoothly to make a profit from what it’s selling.</p>
<p>Non-startup companies need to figure out how to manage workers better and run the business in a way that solves the customers’ problems while enabling the company to meet all of its goals. </p>
<p>For a non-startup business, specific goals could be how much money or profit the firm makes, how and where to expand to grow more or faster, how much time it takes to create a product, or how to make more products with the same or fewer resources.</p>
<p>While the focus of a startup is to determine if there is a demand for a new and innovative product, the primary goal of a traditional business is to create an efficient operation that can last far into the future. </p>
<p>With luck, a successful startup, like Uber or Netflix, will scale and grow, eventually evolving into a traditional business – one that some future startup may try to disrupt with a brand-new idea.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daughter works for Maven Clinic after working for CNBC and Morning Brew</span></em></p>Traditional businesses operate with an established solution to a known problem. Startups focus on a product or service no one else provides.Joel Mier, Lecturer of Marketing, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2097612023-07-25T21:04:08Z2023-07-25T21:04:08ZSecondary publishing rights can improve public access to academic research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538372/original/file-20230719-23-7iw20z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C71%2C3952%2C2559&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Making publicly-funded research immediately available for free would mean we all have access to information that could help us understand the world around us.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/secondary-publishing-rights-can-improve-public-access-to-academic-research" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Canada’s federal research granting agencies recently announced <a href="https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/interagency-research-funding/policies-and-guidelines/open-access/presidents-canadas-federal-research-granting-agencies-announce-review-tri-agency-open-access-policy">a review</a> of the <a href="https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/interagency-research-funding/policies-and-guidelines/open-access/tri-agency-open-access-policy-publications">Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications</a>, with the goal of requiring immediate open and free access to all academic publications generated through <a href="https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/interagency-interorganismes/TAFA-AFTO/guide-guide_eng.asp">Tri-Agency</a> supported research by 2025. </p>
<p>To meet this requirement, the Canadian government should empower academic authors through the adoption of <a href="https://www.knowledgerights21.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Secondary-Publishing-Rights-Position-Paper.pdf">secondary publishing rights</a>. These rights would ensure that authors can immediately “<a href="https://www.knowledgerights21.org/statement/secondary-publishing-rights-new-position-statement-from-knowledge-rights-21/">republish publicly funded research after its first publication in an open access repository or elsewhere</a>,” even in cases where this is forbidden by publishers.</p>
<p>Tweaking the <em><a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/Index.html">Copyright Act</a></em> to include such rights would give academic authors the ability to make taxpayer-funded journal articles available to the public through open access upon publication.</p>
<p>Enabling Canada’s research to be openly accessible without barriers will contribute to the public good, helping to foster innovation and discovery.</p>
<h2>Open access policy review</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/research-public-funding-academic-journal-subscriptions-elsevier-librarians-university-of-california-1.5049597">Research locked behind paywalls</a> is an impediment to science, innovation and cultural progress. In the past, most research papers would only be accessible to individuals who pay to access research papers or who work or study at universities willing to pay for access. This model is changing, and many publications are now openly available to the public. However, <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/08/11/article-processing-charges-apcs-and-the-new-enclosure-of-research/">authors are increasingly required to pay publishers</a> in order to be published open access.</p>
<p>The current Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications does require that authors make copies of funded journal articles freely available online, but allows for a 12-month embargo period where publishers get exclusive rights to the content and can keep it locked behind a paywall. That can mean significant delays in free access to <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/covid-19-underlines-need-full-open-access">vital research</a>. </p>
<p>The policy review is overdue in Canada. In the <a href="https://www.coalition-s.org/">European Union</a> and the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/08-2022-OSTP-Public-Access-Memo.pdf">United States</a>, governments have committed to immediate open access for publicly funded research. </p>
<p>Canada can learn from the experiences of these other jurisdictions, and create a framework that ensures equitable open access to publicly funded Canadian research.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person inputting payment card details into a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538381/original/file-20230719-23-zpvc0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Locking research behind paywalls impedes scientific innovation and cultural progress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Article processing charges</h2>
<p>In addition to allowing embargo periods, Canada’s current open access policy has fallen short of delivering in key areas and needs to adapt to changes in academic publishing. </p>
<p>For example, the Tri-Agency suffers from <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/cjils/article/view/14149">low rates</a> of compliance with their open access policy when compared to other jurisdictions. OA.Report data shows publications funded by the <a href="https://oa.report/04j5jqy92/">Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada</a> as having only 52 per cent compliance with the policy in 2023 so far. </p>
<p>It is unclear why authors do not comply with the policy. It might be that they misunderstand their obligations or that they simply cannot afford the high <a href="https://guides.library.unlv.edu/c.php?g=901395&p=6486147">article processing charges (APCs)</a> that they might need to pay to publish in their journal of choice. The result is that much publicly funded research remains unavailable to the public.</p>
<p>APCs are fees academic authors pay to be published in open access journals. Authors can be charged fees of <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/critic-at-large/opinion-is-open-access-worth-the-cost-70049">$1,000 up to $13,000</a>. Journals increasingly rely on APCs, making the cost of open access publishing prohibitively expensive for many authors. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.acsi2022.ca/talk/12.butler/">Estimates indicate</a> Canadian academic authors spent at least US$27.6 million on processing charges from 2015 to 2018, <a href="https://theconversation.com/removing-author-fees-can-help-open-access-journals-make-research-available-to-everyone-189675">despite the preponderance of free-to-publish open access journals</a>.</p>
<p>Authors don’t always have funds to cover these fees, and offloading them to university libraries through <a href="https://www.carl-abrc.ca/doc/CARLOAWGLibraryOAFundsFinalReport-Jan%202016.pdf">open access funds</a> or <a href="https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/04/23/transformative-agreements/">transformative agreements</a> is not sustainable and leads to inequitable publishing opportunities between large and small institutions. </p>
<p>In addition, scholars from the Global South have <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2020/05/20/the-commercial-model-of-academic-publishing-underscoring-plan-s-weakens-the-existing-open-access-ecosystem-in-latin-america/">drawn attention</a> to the inequitable nature of APC-based-publishing, while other models of funding open access journals are being extinguished.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people sit at a table with books and laptops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538373/original/file-20230719-28-b6hqk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There must be a framework that ensures equitable open access to publicly funded Canadian research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Secondary publishing rights</h2>
<p>There are clear paths forward that enable more open access. While academic journal publishing is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-science">extremely profitable for publishing companies</a>, the authors, editors and reviewers that form the backbone of the system are <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/6/3/18271538/open-access-elsevier-california-sci-hub-academic-paywalls">rarely compensated</a> for their labour and <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3981756">face challenges negotiating fair publication agreements</a>. </p>
<p>The Canadian Federation of Library Associations has recently proposed one partial solution: to provide <a href="http://cfla-fcab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CFLA-Secondary-Publishing-Rights-and-Open-Access-Position-Statement.docx-1.pdf">secondary publishing rights</a> to academic authors in Canada. The proposal is also endorsed by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries. </p>
<p>Secondary publishing rights have already been implemented in multiple European countries, with perhaps the most notable example being the <a href="https://liberquarterly.eu/article/view/10915/12075#toc">Taverne Amendment</a> in the Netherlands, which has seen the rate of <a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/news-and-events/news-overview/16-11-2022-the-netherlands-takes-another-big-step-towards-100-open-access">open access top 80 per cent</a>. </p>
<p>European countries’ implementations of these rights currently include embargo periods. However, the Association of European Research Libraries has released draft language for secondary rights without an embargo period that would allow for “<a href="https://libereurope.eu/draft-law-for-the-use-of-publicly-funded-scholarly-publications/">lawful self-archiving on open, public, non-for-profit repositories</a>.” </p>
<p>If Canada were to adopt a similar law in conjunction with revising the Tri-Agency policy, we could become a worldwide leader in open access scholarly publications.</p>
<p>Ultimately, more immediate open access at lower costs would mean we all have better access to information that could help us better understand the world around us, whether it is medical information, engineering innovations or new explorations of culture and history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brianne Selman is on the Canadian Federation of Library Associations Copyright Committee.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Swartz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Secondary publishing rights could facilitate immediate open access to publicly funded research and foster global innovation and discovery.Brianne Selman, Scholarly Communications & Copyright Librarian, University of WinnipegMark Swartz, Scholarly Publishing Librarian, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100292023-07-23T12:37:39Z2023-07-23T12:37:39ZChatGPT and Threads reflect the challenges of fast tech adoption<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538784/original/file-20230721-5937-grewc9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5734%2C3828&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Meta’s Threads platform experienced a significant drop in users recently.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Richard Drew)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/chatgpt-and-threads-reflect-the-challenges-of-fast-tech-adoption" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>ChatGPT recently experienced a decline in user engagement for the first time since its launch in November 2022. From May to June, <a href="https://www.similarweb.com/blog/insights/ai-news/chatgpt-traffic-drops/">engagement dropped 9.7 per cent</a>, with the largest decline — 10.3 per cent — occurring in the United States.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Meta’s Threads platform experienced a significant drop in user numbers, going from more than 49 million users on July 7 <a href="https://www.similarweb.com/blog/insights/social-media-news/threads-week/">to 23.6 million active users by July 14</a>. In the same time frame, the average time users in the U.S. spent on the app dropped from a peak of 21 minutes in early July to just above six minutes.</p>
<p>In the tech world, companies are always racing to be the first ones to introduce new innovations, aiming for the “<a href="https://hbr.org/2005/04/the-half-truth-of-first-mover-advantage">first mover’s advantage</a>.” This refers to a firm’s ability to get a head start over competitors by being the first to enter a new product category or market.</p>
<p>However, being a trailblazer doesn’t guarantee an easy ride. While there are perceived benefits, there are also a plethora of challenges that arise. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GtQgl19KIxw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A news story about what the drop in Meta Threads engagement means for the social media app.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The recent declines of Threads and ChatGPT attest to this reality, demonstrating that rapid and widespread acceptance doesn’t necessarily lead to long-term success.</p>
<p>There are a few reasons <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1876767">why a fast adoption isn’t necessarily the key to success</a> including unsustainable growth, inadequate scaling infrastructure and a lack of user retention strategies.</p>
<h2>Unsustainable growth</h2>
<p>The idea of unsustainable growth stems from a platform’s inability to uphold or maintain the quality of the user experience while scaling up at a rapid pace. </p>
<p>This is where the real challenge lies: being able to effectively scale up a product or service. It is precisely at this junction that the concept of unsustainable growth intersects with the Gartner Hype Cycle. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gartner.ca/en/methodologies/gartner-hype-cycle">The Gartner Hype Cycle</a> is a model that shows the stages of emerging technology adoption: from the initial hype and inflated expectations, through disillusionment and skepticism, to practical and mainstream productivity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line graph illustrating that Threads and ChatGPT both had a period of significant hype and inflated expectations, followed by a drop in user interest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538161/original/file-20230719-21-djqajf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A graph illustrating how ChatGPT and Threads fit into the Gartner Hype Cycle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Omar H. Fares and Seung Hwan Lee)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the context of unsustainable growth, products like ChatGPT and Threads appear to have reached the stage known as “peak of inflated expectations,” where the publicity of a new product generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. During this stage, users rapidly adopt the product due to its novelty and the hype surrounding it.</p>
<p>However, this stage often leads to the “trough of disillusionment.” During this stage, the product fails to meet users’ unrealistic expectations, causing a decline in their interest. </p>
<p>It indicates the product’s growth may have outpaced its ability to provide an excellent user experience. Without enhancing the product based on user feedback, declining user engagement will ensue.</p>
<p>This rise and fall underscores the challenge of achieving sustainable growth in the face of rapid adoption. The initial hype often attracts a massive influx of users, but without a clear, scalable strategy for maintaining quality and engagement, platforms can quickly lose their appeal.</p>
<h2>Inadequate scaling infrastructure</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="ChatGPT app icon on a phone screen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538786/original/file-20230721-23883-2x87mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ChatGPT recently experienced a decline in user engagement for the first time this year since its launch in November 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Richard Drew)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a platform’s user base expands at a rapid pace, the question of whether that platform’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adrianbridgwater/2022/07/04/what-does-it-scalability-actually-mean/">infrastructure can scale to the demands of its users</a> becomes critical. </p>
<p>The sudden influx of users that accompanies a successful product launch can be a double-edged sword; it brings a wealth of opportunities for data collection, user feedback and revenue, but also tests the scalability of the platform’s infrastructure. </p>
<p>If the underlying technology, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-022-00176-7">support services or operational strategies</a> are not built to scale, the product might suffer from slow loading times, frequent crashes or a lack of timely customer support — all of which are detrimental to the user experience and a product’s long-term success.</p>
<p>For instance, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, had to limit ChatGPT-4 users to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/05/chatgpt-hidden-cost-gpu-compute/">25 messages every three hours</a> due to infrastructure constraints — even for those with a paid membership. While this helps manage the infrastructure load, it presents a challenge from the user’s perspective.</p>
<p>Users who were accustomed to unlimited interactions with ChatGPT-3 now find themselves paying for a service with limitations. This may inadvertently dampen user engagement and drive some users away, underscoring the delicate balance between managing infrastructure and maintaining user satisfaction.</p>
<h2>Lack of user retention strategies</h2>
<p>One reason why tech businesses struggle to retain users is because they don’t prioritize <a href="https://uxdesign.cc/whats-the-difference-between-user-centred-design-and-design-thinking-99bedfbc7cb">user-centered design</a>. By failing to incorporate user feedback in product development, businesses can end up offering a product that doesn’t meet user needs.</p>
<p>In addition, businesses must provide effective support for users. Insufficient or unclear onboarding may leave users feeling lost and overwhelmed, leading them to abandon the product. In the case of ChatGPT, <a href="https://openai.com/gpt-4">OpenAI provides a basic explanation of platform usage</a>, but users are primarily responsible for exploring it themselves.</p>
<p>Users experiment with prompts <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chatgpt-ask-the-right-question-12d0f035">without a clear understanding of how to generate impactful responses</a>, resulting in uncertainty and frustration. This lack of guidance may contribute to lower engagement rates, as observed in the recent decline.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-could-be-a-game-changer-for-marketers-but-it-wont-replace-humans-any-time-soon-198053">ChatGPT could be a game-changer for marketers, but it won't replace humans any time soon</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Lastly, increasing concerns about <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-is-a-data-privacy-nightmare-if-youve-ever-posted-online-you-ought-to-be-concerned-199283">security threats and privacy</a> have raised questions about how new technologies are protecting their users. The conflict between the need for more personalized experiences and privacy can give rise to a phenomenon called the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1547">personalization-privacy paradox</a>. </p>
<p>As individuals grow increasingly uneasy about how their personal information is stored, the lack of proper regulations can lead to a decline in the use of personalized services or technologies.</p>
<p>While rapid user adoption is a promising start, it doesn’t guarantee long-term success. Striking the right balance between growth and infrastructure scalability, adopting a user-centric approach, maintaining user trust and investing in continuous innovation are the cornerstones for enduring success in the competitive tech landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The recent declines of Threads and ChatGPT attest to the reality that rapid and widespread acceptance doesn’t necessarily lead to long-term success.Omar H. Fares, Lecturer in the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversitySeung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Professor and Associate Dean of Engagement & Inclusion, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2094782023-07-19T18:24:55Z2023-07-19T18:24:55ZMeta’s Threads platform might not be revolutionary, but it poses a challenge to Twitter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537851/original/file-20230717-227854-4fviky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C4500%2C2977&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Threads is the latest social media platform to try to take on Twitter</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/metas-threads-platform-might-not-be-revolutionary-but-it-poses-a-challenge-to-twitter" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The July 5 launch of Threads, <a href="https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/threads-instagram-text-feature">Instagram’s new social media platform</a>, has met with considerable interest. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was quick to report that <a href="https://www.threads.net/t/CuXCjGVrd6R">over 100 million users downloaded the app by the end of its first weekend</a>.</p>
<p>The apparent success of Threads stands in stark contrast to other recent social media apps such as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/16/spill-twitter-alternative/">Spill</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/06/what-is-bluesky-everything-to-know-about-the-app-trying-to-replace-twitter/">Bluesky</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/24/1139079748/leave-twitter-social-networks-mastodon-hive-post">Mastodon and others</a>.</p>
<p>Although Threads has been called <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/07/10/with-100-million-users-in-five-days-threads-is-the-fastest-growing-app-in-history/">the fastest growing app in history</a>, it remains to be seen whether interest will be sustained over the long run.</p>
<p>Threads’ success is by no means assured. The app doesn’t present a radical departure from Twitter’s formula, doesn’t have access to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/05/threads-no-eu-launch/">the European market due to privacy concerns</a>, and faces a <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/07/06/2023/twitter-is-threatening-to-sue-meta-over-threads">potential lawsuit from Twitter</a> which has also introduced <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/technology/elon-musk-takes-a-desperate-swing-at-threads-newfound-popularity">revenue sharing to verified users</a>.</p>
<p>The success of Threads is perhaps less about the features of the app than the recent decisions made by Twitter <a href="https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/mastodon-grows-by-over-200000-overnight-as-riptwitter-trends-1989657/">owner and CTO Elon Musk</a>. Accusations of <a href="https://gizmodo.com/10-times-elon-musk-censored-twitter-users-1850570720">censorship</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/15/elon-musk-changes-twitter-algorithm-super-bowl-slump-report">self promotion</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/16/elon-musk-says-twitter-cash-flow-negative">continued negative cashflow</a> have created an undeniable window of opportunity for would-be challengers.</p>
<p>Unlike Twitter’s other rivals, <a href="https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2023/Meta-Reports-First-Quarter-2023-Results/default.aspx">Meta’s already expansive user base with nearly three billion users</a> means that the curiosity of a small number will allow it to quickly bypass other startups. </p>
<p>Its success will ultimately rest on whether it creates a sustainable niche for itself in the marketplace. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DdlbvCnt0FY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">CBC News looks at how users responded to the launch of Threads.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A complicated process</h2>
<p>Many technologies are branded as ‘innovations’ without any qualification. Innovation is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scv077">process</a>, and one that is defined by showing not telling. Even if a product or idea is novel, if it’s not widely adopted, it does not truly represent an innovation.</p>
<p>Innovation is best understood as an evolutionary process, defined by three features: <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Darwins-Dangerous-Idea/Daniel-C-Dennett/9780684824710">replication, variation and selection</a>. If an idea works, duplicating it should lead to success.</p>
<p>But blindly copying someone else’s idea, concept or technology is insufficient. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150009">Often, the context for replicating ideas typically differs from one situation to the next</a> — if only slightly. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/030631200030002002">Local resources, funding, values and attitudes must be considered</a>. If innovators ignore these differences, novel procedures, products and services will not spread.</p>
<p>Where innovation is ultimately demonstrated is through selection, which can be a conscious or unconscious process. Unconscious adoption involves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)00405-X">blind mimicry</a>, with people copying their peers or those with high status. Conscious adoption involves understanding <a href="https://www.nngroup.com/books/design-everyday-things-revised/">what a technology can and cannot do</a>. This requires more knowledge and time.</p>
<p>The outcome of the selection is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/285870">the creation of a niche</a>, a segment of the social and physical environment. When a product is selected, it is because it fulfils some niche in a market. But that niche might already be occupied.</p>
<h2>Common threads</h2>
<p>Threads is inspired by Twitter and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/threads-twitter-meta-instagram-lawsuit-cloen-f6e993c4597ce15b60cc38fe602b6ce8">replicates some of its features</a>. But Threads’ rapid adoption suggests that it fulfils a niche.</p>
<p>Twitter was launched in July 2006, nearly two decades before Threads. However, <a href="https://time.com/6274774/elon-musk-twitter-u-turns/">Musk’s recent changes to Twitter</a> created space in that niche. </p>
<p>Musk is purportedly a champion of <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/vivatech-elon-musk-announcement/">free speech</a>. While his early <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/11/25/elon-musk-is-restoring-banned-twitter-accounts-heres-why-the-most-controversial-users-were-suspended-and-whos-already-back/?sh=27353a53385b">reinstatement of previously banned users</a> might suggest this, he has gone on to selectively <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/15/23512004/elon-musk-starts-banning-critical-journalists-from-twitter">ban those who questioned him</a> and appointed himself as an arbiter of content, claiming that Twitter will treat the term <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1671370284102819841">“cisgender” as a slur</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/is-threads-the-new-twitter-or-will-it-unravel-social-media-expert-weighs-in">Some have speculated that the catalyst for the release of Threads</a> was Twitter’s recent <a href="https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/twitter-vs-instagram-threads">decision to throttle — or limit access to — posts</a>. Following its launch, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/17/threads-limits-twitter/">Threads was also forced to impose such limits, citing spam attacks</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a composite photo of two men" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538149/original/file-20230718-9911-jjoey5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, and Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, are seemingly in competition for users’ attention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, Stephan Savoia)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a history of technological niches creation and competition. In <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/27/17510908/apple-samsung-settle-patent-battle-over-copying-iphone">the decade-long smartphone wars</a>, Apple sued Samsung for “<a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/797851/iphone-samsung-galaxy-poor-copy.html">blatant copying</a>.” Samsung <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/apr/22/samsung-apple-lawsuits-smartphones">counter-sued Apple</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nokia-corp-apple-patent-idUSKBN14A228">Nokia followed suit</a>. Apple also sued Microsoft <a href="https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/blog/1988-apple-sues-microsoft/">over allegedly copying display elements</a>. And <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9310.2007.00488.x">Chinese technology firms have historically been notorious for copying the products of other companies</a>.</p>
<p>While innovators and firms can create a niche, they open the door for other variants.</p>
<h2>Old problems, new threads?</h2>
<p>A major selling point for Threads is that it wants to avoid the divisive politics that have made social media a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2021.1976070">caustic, polarized environment</a>. It is not clear how this can be accomplished in practice, as <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/11/06/1011769/social-media-moderation-transparency-censorship/">content moderation is exceedingly difficult</a>. </p>
<p>While content moderation seems like a reasonable solution to the ills of social media, <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/content-moderation-is-terrible-by-design">it faces many problems</a>. </p>
<p>The debates — and tensions — associated with free speech, cannot be solved by the intentions or actions of any one company, industry leader or government.</p>
<h2>A continuing thread</h2>
<p>It is unlikely that Twitter will go the way of ossified social media platforms like <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2011/01/14/why-facebook-beat-myspace/">MySpace any time soon</a>.</p>
<p>For the foreseeable future, <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/technology/twitter-employee-explains-why-threads-app-poses-a-real-threat-to-elon-musk">competition between the social media giants</a> will prevail, with each defined by its own market share. Indeed, Instagram’s CEO noted that “<a href="https://www.threads.net/@mosseri/post/CuZ3LjhNl0m">the goal is not to replace Twitter</a>.”</p>
<p>What is left unaddressed in this debate is whether or not social media in its current form is <a href="https://doi.org/10.26438/ijcse/v5i10.351354">beneficial for society</a>. </p>
<p>Greater care must be taken to ensure that <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Ethical-Artificial-Intelligence-from-Popular-to-Cognitive-Science-Trust/Schoenherr/p/book/9780367697983">the social and ethical implications of these technologies</a> are part of the adoption process by individuals and society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jordan Richard Schoenherr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the marketplace of ideas, for an app or product to be considered successful, it must be widely adopted for it to represent an innovation.Jordan Richard Schoenherr, Assistant Professor, Psychology, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2091222023-07-10T21:17:55Z2023-07-10T21:17:55Z‘Responsibility washing’ is as bad for health innovation as greenwashing is for sustainability. Here’s how to stop it.<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536677/original/file-20230710-14032-s67dyv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C5973%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Giving innovators the right tools and guidance can set a new path for responsible health innovation for products from concept to disposal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While Apple CEO Tim Cook believes “<a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a40823587/guest-editor-tim-cook/">the future is responsible innovation</a>,” management scholars <a href="https://doi.org/10.1142/8903">warned of a trend of “responsibility washing” nearly a decade ago</a>. Time, unfortunately, has proven them right. Over the past few months, generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have become the latest technology to raise concerns <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ai-arms-race-highlights-the-urgent-need-for-responsible-innovation-200218">of responsibility washing</a>. </p>
<p>Much like <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2022/01/be-on-the-lookout-for-greenwashing.html">greenwashing tarnished sustainability efforts</a> before the establishment of standards and norms (such as the <a href="https://www.iso.org/iso-14001-environmental-management.html">ISO 14001 environmental management standards</a>), responsible innovation (RI) is threatened by responsibility washing. </p>
<p>Just as greenwashing creates a misleading guise of environmental responsibility for a product or organization, responsibility washing creates the impression of RI without making discernible efforts to address important social responsibility issues like health equity, affordability and sustainability.</p>
<p>RI aims to <a href="https://econpapers.repec.org/bookchap/wsiwsbook/8903.htm">reduce the negative impacts of innovations on users and society</a> by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.05.008">transforming how innovations are developed</a>. But the lack of a standard definition of RI, practical tools or clear assessment criteria and methods can lead to responsibility washing an innovation, whether intentionally or not.</p>
<p>New health technologies raise complex economic, social and environmental risks and harms in addition to clinical safety and efficacy concerns. That’s why our research team of RI experts tackles responsibility washing in this sector.</p>
<h2>How does responsible innovation apply to the health sector?</h2>
<p>Readers may wonder: Why does the health sector need RI? Health innovations are highly regulated to limit risks and harms. Their purpose is to save lives and make people feel better. Good technologies are developed with clinicians and patients to better meet their needs. Aren’t they already responsible?</p>
<p>In 2015, our team of Canadian and Brazilian researchers set out to better understand how RI applies to the health sector in both mature and emerging economies. This included: </p>
<ul>
<li>conducting a comprehensive review of research; </li>
<li>interviewing over 85 experts in fields such as entrepreneurship, engineering, industrial design and health technology assessment; </li>
<li>conducting a four-year case study with small- and medium enterprises, and </li>
<li>implementing a collaborative process with experts to derive practical guidance. </li>
</ul>
<p>This research led to the Responsible Innovation in Health (RIH) framework, which aims to foster “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3151-2">high quality and safe health innovations that also: strengthen health system equity, provide more value to users, use fewer resources, are good for the environment, and are economically viable</a>.” </p>
<p>RIH brings together five areas of value, each defined by a specific goal and responsibility attributes (or elements) that extend beyond clinical safety and efficacy standards: population health value, health system value, economic value, organizational value and environmental value.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Text chart defining five values: Population health value, Health system value, Economic value, Organizational value and Environmental value." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536137/original/file-20230706-15-mrj726.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Responsible innovation includes five values, each defined by a specific goal and responsibility attribute that extend beyond clinical safety and efficacy standards.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(In Fieri)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition to clearly defining RI for the health sector, our team developed a tool that informs design decisions, and an assessment tool that measures the degree of responsibility of a health innovation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3151-2_3">RIH Design Brief</a> is a practical tool for innovators that explains how to integrate the nine RIH responsibility attributes throughout the innovation’s lifecycle: ideation, design, development, commercialization and end-of-life disposal. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3151-2_8">RIH Assessment Tool</a> then measures the extent to which each responsibility attribute is fulfilled. This tool was <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2018.10.007">validated by international experts</a> and was confirmed <a href="https://doi.org/10.34172%2Fijhpm.2020.34">reliable</a> through an <a href="https://www.statology.org/inter-rater-reliability/">inter-rater agreement assessment</a>. </p>
<p>Both the design brief and the assessment tool rely on the four-level rating scales for each attribute, where “A” represents a high level of responsibility and “D” indicates that there are no particular signs of responsibility. </p>
<p>For example, let’s take a closer look at the rating scales of inclusiveness and of eco-responsibility — two issues rarely addressed by health technology assessments. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535824/original/file-20230705-19007-uvqkob.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The assessment tool uses a four-level rating scale, where A represents a high level of responsibility and D indicates that there are no particular signs of responsibility.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(In Fieri)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Inclusiveness is measured by assessing whether the innovation team formally consulted with a diverse group of people who may be affected by the technology, and explained how that group’s input was integrated into the design. Formal methods include both consultation (such as surveys) and engagement methods (such as round tables). </p>
<p>Eco-responsibility is measured by examining the number of key lifecycle stages where the innovation team applied eco-responsible practices, <a href="https://doi.org/10.34172%2Fijhpm.2020.34">including raw material sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535825/original/file-20230705-19-o89vfm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eco-responsibility is measured by looking at the number of lifecycle stages where the innovation team applied eco-responsible practices, such as raw material sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(In Fieri)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building a responsible health innovation path</h2>
<p>By integrating RIH attributes during the concept, design and development stages of an innovation, innovators can ensure that the key economic, social and environmental responsibility issues raised by their health innovation are identified and tackled in a measurable way. </p>
<p>This is a complex process, so the RIH Design Brief offers practical guidance with an original design-thinking tool called the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3151-2_2">Responsible Design Compass</a>. A multidisciplinary <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-3151-2_6">toolbox</a> also indicates where innovators can work towards RIH goals using existing tools, such as <a href="https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/applying-human-factors-and-usability-engineering-medical-devices">FDA’s human factors engineering</a>, <a href="https://www.designkit.org/methods/photojournal.html">IDEO’s photojournal</a> or <a href="https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/programs-and-tools/b-impact-assessment/">B Corp’s impact assessment</a>.</p>
<p>Once the innovation is completed and ready for use, policymakers, health-care managers, investors, technology transfer offices, philanthropic foundations and patient groups can apply the RIH Assessment Tool to inform investment, purchasing or implementation decisions.</p>
<p>The goal of RIH is to prevent responsibility washing by setting a new path for responsible health innovation. It provides the tools and practical guidance for innovators to be accountable to users and society from ideation through end-of-life disposal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pascale Lehoux receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Her research group is supported by the Fonds de la recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQ-S).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hudson Silva and Lysanne Rivard do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New health technologies raise complex economic, social, environmental and safety concerns. Just as greenwashing tarnished sustainability efforts, ‘responsibility washing’ threatens health innovation.Lysanne Rivard, Senior Research Advisor, Center for Public Health Research, Université de MontréalHudson Silva, Senior Research Analyst, Fieri Research Program on Responsible Innovation in Health, Université de MontréalPascale Lehoux, Professor of Health Management, Evaluation and Policy, Université de MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053482023-07-10T20:22:24Z2023-07-10T20:22:24ZAre you an observer, promoter, connector or influencer? 4 ways to harness social media for innovation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536105/original/file-20230706-25-qms22u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C186%2C4810%2C3176&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a business context, 'open innovation' means going beyond a company's internal knowledge and capabilities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Cottonbro Studio)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are you eager to steer your career, team or organization toward uncharted territory? Or do you aspire to solve complex societal problems through innovation? It turns out that the most successful innovators <a href="https://hbr.org/2000/05/building-an-innovation-factory-2">aren’t solitary geniuses</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, they excel by “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198785972.001.0001">spanning boundaries</a>” — moving beyond a given particular niche to access different forms of knowledge, communities, interest groups or disciplines.</p>
<p>Successful innovators also<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2016.1240068"> maintain an “open” mindset</a>, connecting with diverse sources of knowledge beyond their immediate networks. Openness, in the context of <a href="https://store.hbr.org/product/open-innovation-the-new-imperative-for-creating-and-profiting-from-technology/8377">innovation</a>, entails relying not just on internal knowledge and capabilities, but also incorporating external knowledge and sharing internal knowledge with the outside world. </p>
<p>Innovators and businesses can use social media in different ways to drive openness, and ultimately foster innovation.</p>
<h2>Success due to openness</h2>
<p>Numerous ground-breaking innovations owe their success to adapting ideas based on different contexts. Consider:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the <a href="https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/moving-assembly-line.html">assembly line technology</a> for making cars, which Henry Ford observed and adapted from visiting meat packing facilities;</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/mclaren-technology-innovation">operational innovations</a> in pharmaceutical facilities that are learned from Formula One race car teams;</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/may/24/interview-james-dyson-vacuum-cleaner">Dyson bagless vacuum</a> that was inspired by the cyclone in a sawmill.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men with hands on an old model of a car from the 1890s." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536107/original/file-20230706-15-b3kcp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Henry Ford, right, stands with his first car built in 1892, seen here in 1936.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1060.0242">Research</a> demonstrates that individuals skilled in effectively connecting with diverse sources of knowledge beyond their immediate networks possess a better capacity to identify and solve problems, develop innovative solutions and thrive amidst complexity and change.</p>
<h2>Collaboration with external expertise</h2>
<p>As a business school professor studying innovation, with colleagues I have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2020.07.001">researched</a> social media as a technology that allows people to cross boundaries, and to enhance personal and organizational impacts.</p>
<p>Consider <a href="https://www.thisforthat.biz/p/the-deal-that-forever-changed-music">Apple’s collaboration with major music labels</a>, which culminated in the launch of the revolutionary iTunes Store, transforming music distribution and consumption.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman choosing from Swiffer products in a store aisle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536108/original/file-20230706-17-norwp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Procter & Gamble’s Swiffer duster emerged through company employees collaborating with people beyond the company.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nati Harnik, FILE)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) achieved notable success by developing a platform <a href="https://www.ideaconnection.com/interviews/00070-Connect-Develop-with-Procter-Gamble.html">for P&G employees to collaborate with individuals, companies and research institutes</a> around the world. Its successes include Swiffer dusters and Glad ForceFlex garbage bags.</p>
<p>By tapping into external expertise and ideas, P&G accelerated innovation and efficiently introduced radical new products to the market.</p>
<h2>Leveraging social media</h2>
<p>Social media platforms allow people and organizations to cross boundaries in two ways: to discover, assess and acquire new sources of knowledge, and to learn how to adapt and use the new knowledge for innovation projects.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/research/researchers/marcel-bogers">Marcel Bogers</a>, a professor of open and collaborative innovation, I developed a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2022.05.001">framework</a> comprising four social media approaches: observer, connector, promoter and influencer. </p>
<p>These approaches are ways to effectively span boundaries and engage in different levels of open innovation. They extend beyond mere marketing and empower innovators and their organizations to expand their networks, foster knowledge exchange and enhance learning.</p>
<h2>Observer approach</h2>
<p>The observer approach represents the most passive and limited form of openness. It involves using social media to monitor trends and events, ensuring comprehensive information coverage and up-to-date knowledge. </p>
<p>While this approach primarily focuses on framing and investigating innovation possibilities, it serves as a stepping stone toward other approaches. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alapshah/2018/09/12/a-social-media-and-sentiment-analysis-of-nike-what-does-it-mean-for-future-purchase-intent/">Nike used social media</a> to observe public opinion and behaviour toward NFL player Colin Kaepernick who knelt during the national anthem at the start of NFL games <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53098516">to protest racial injustice</a> in the United States. </p>
<p>The information from this observation then guided Nike’s related branding and product development activities <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/30/business/nike-colin-kaepernick-nfl-just-do-it/index.html#">related to its endorsement of Kaepernick</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A face on a large billboard and the Nike swoosh logo framed by palm trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536110/original/file-20230706-7970-lp6k41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Colin Kaepernick’s face in a Nike ad in 2018, in San Francisco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Connector approach</h2>
<p>Building upon the observer approach, the connector approach is less passive and more open. It goes beyond monitoring and involves actively finding, connecting with and conversing with stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and potential partners. </p>
<p>This engagement is vital for framing, developing and promoting activities. Using online platforms, NASA formulated and announced challenges for optimizing human health and performance in spaceflight. </p>
<p>These challenges connected NASA scientists to a diverse array of expertise, both amateur and professional, resulting in innovations such as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/data-driven-forecasting-of-solar-events-challenge-0/">better forecasting of solar storms</a>.</p>
<h2>Promoter approach</h2>
<p>The promoter approach is more active, using social media to gain visibility and recognition for innovators and their work. It revolves around broadcasting rather than listening, effectively conveying innovation progress and standing. </p>
<p>However, it must be executed appropriately to avoid appearing as innovation narcissism. For instance, <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_ca/elon-musk">Tesla CEO Elon Musk</a>, who now <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/musk-twitter-sale-1.6632491">also owns Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/08/trump-and-elon-musk-are-dangerous-narcissists-tailored-to-2022-america">has faced criticism for using Twitter</a> to promote and help increase the value of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122112">Dogecoin</a>, the cryptocurrency Tesla accepts for its pioneering direct purchase of cars.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A main in suit seen raising his hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536106/original/file-20230706-24-3ggm28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elon Musk has faced criticism for his promoter approach. Musk departs from the Justice Center in Wilmington, Del., in July 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Influencer approach</h2>
<p>The influencer approach is the most active and open of the four. It involves leveraging social media to network, frame problems and opportunities, investigate, disseminate information and assess impact. </p>
<p>Influencers actively engage with those who experience and tackle societal challenges, to develop and champion innovation to address these challenges. </p>
<p>Clothing and outdoor gear company <a href="https://medium.com/@asmithherriott/patagonia-strives-and-accomplishes-to-deliver-valuable-content-on-social-media-platforms-41c8d21b5e6a">Patagonia</a>’s YouTube channel hosts a video entitled “Why Patagonia is Fighting for Public Lands.” The company influences by using social media to showcase and get feedback on its actions and product innovations.</p>
<h2>Multiple approaches over time</h2>
<p>Boundary-spanning innovators serve as knowledge brokers, adept at sourcing, evaluating and applying adaptable knowledge to society’s problems. These innovators may adopt multiple approaches concurrently or transition between them over time. </p>
<p>Each approach offers distinct benefits. While the observer and connector approaches can yield incremental benefits, for ground-breaking changes, all four approaches are necessary at different stages to discover and harness novel resources, knowledge and collaborations.</p>
<h2>Don’t neglect risks</h2>
<p>Given the power of using social media to cross boundaries and connect with new sources of knowledge, these approaches also come with risks, especially the promoter and influencer approaches. </p>
<p>Musk has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jun/01/elon-musk-insider-trading-dogecoin-lawsuit">faced legal problems</a> from promoting Dogecoin. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.006">Gillette shaver advertisement</a> that called out toxic masculinity resulted in highly split opinion online and little innovation value.</p>
<p>So when using social media to drive innovation, make sure you are guided by a worthy innovation mission, and don’t neglect rigor, integrity and nuance before you open up your innovation to the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian McCarthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Innovators and businesses can use social media in different ways to drive learning across spheres and interest groups, and ultimately to foster innovation.Ian McCarthy, W.J. VanDusen Professor of Innovation & Operations Management, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2068622023-06-15T03:44:16Z2023-06-15T03:44:16ZBuilding in the same old ways won’t end the housing crisis. We need innovation to boost productivity<p>Have we reached peak affordable-housing-debate in Australia? Or is it a case of that old mountaineering saying: the fog is thickest just before the summit?</p>
<p>As someone who has been involved in building innovation for the past decade, what strikes me about the current debate is not its height, but its flatness. By this I mean how something as complex as housing can be reduced to one or two issues of the moment. Is the key to ending our housing woes really just “supply”? And will the Albanese government’s new $A10 billion <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/julie-collins-2022/media-releases/housing-australia-future-fund-draft-legislation">Housing Australia Future Fund</a> (HAFF) solve that problem?</p>
<p>Yes, this flatness is inherent to politics, but if we don’t attempt to unflatten the problem we’ll be stuck in the very public game of housing affordability “Whac-A-Mole” for quite some time. It goes something like this: release more land … ease planning restrictions … end NIMBY-ism … rent freeze … build-to-rent … early access to super … negative gearing … prefab housing … developer greed … skills shortage … gentrification … supply-chain disruption … inclusionary zoning … capital gains tax reform … industrial action … and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>So much froth for so little beer. So how do we build the industry’s productivity and capacity? The answer is the same as it has been in every other sector: the building industry desperately needs to innovate.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-deliver-enough-affordable-housing-and-end-homelessness-what-must-a-national-strategy-do-207120">To deliver enough affordable housing and end homelessness, what must a national strategy do?</a>
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<h2>But what about the new housing fund?</h2>
<p>The federal government says its new fund will provide <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/22/what-is-labors-10bn-social-housing-fund-and-will-it-be-torn-down-by-parliament">A$500 million a year</a> to build much-needed social housing. The opposition <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-11/housing-australia-future-fund-senate-vote/102327244">says</a> this will fuel inflation. The Greens are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-04/greens-offer-compromise-to-break-housing-stalemate/102438258">demanding more direct funding</a> of housing (at first $5 billion a year, now reduced to $2.5 billion) and a rent freeze.</p>
<p>Is the new fund inflationary? Yes and no.</p>
<p>Unless the bill is coupled with measures that increase the industry’s productivity and capacity, it will be inflationary. The industry <a href="https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/home-building-faces-a-shallow-20-per-cent-decline-20220524-p5ao0y">lacks the capacity</a> to build as many dwellings as the market needs, or the extra <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/julie-collins-2022/media-releases/housing-australia-future-fund-draft-legislation">30,000 social and affordable homes</a> the government says the fund will deliver in the first five years. Remember, property prices are <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/proptrack-data-reveals-possible-new-peak-in-property-prices-in-2024/news-story/cb0c457834d995d6d1b3fcc6d72694df">just off an all-time high</a>, with construction costs up by more than <a href="https://napierblakeley.info/quantity-surveying/2022-napier-blakeley-construction-costs-datacards/">50% over the past decade</a>.</p>
<p>To meet our housing targets, we need to find new ways of building more with less.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-government-tackles-housing-crisis-on-3-fronts-but-theres-still-more-to-do-198509">Albanese government tackles housing crisis on 3 fronts, but there's still more to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Supply is only one piece of the puzzle</h2>
<p>The problem with seeing housing provision solely as a matter of “supply” (read “funding”) is that this accounts for only one phase of the process. It takes more than dollars to deliver a building. We must address all the phases: development, design, construction, operation and, after all that, end of life. </p>
<p>If we don’t do that, we won’t solve the root problems. And we risk missing opportunities ripe for innovation. </p>
<p>Let’s consider some innovative ideas for each of the building phases.</p>
<h2>Development</h2>
<p>New business and ownership models are needed. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>housing-as-a-service (HaaS) – the space between short-term rental and long-term hotels, which suits mobile or itinerant populations and which AirBnB is increasingly exploiting </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/reinventing-density-how-baugruppen-are-pioneering-the-self-made-city-66488">co-housing</a> – residents band together to develop housing themselves or with help from an agent, such as <a href="https://www.nightingalehousing.org">Nightingale</a> or <a href="https://cohousing.com.au/services/">others</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/build-to-rent-could-be-the-missing-piece-of-the-affordable-housing-puzzle-82320">build-to-rent</a> – instead of building to sell to residents or investors, housing is retained for the purpose of renting it out, with recent <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/julie-collins-2022/media-releases/billions-boost-social-and-affordable-rental-homes">federal tax changes</a> supporting this approach</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.afr.com/property/residential/rent-to-own-a-home-can-anyone-do-it-in-australia-20220214-p59w70">rent-to-buy</a> – residents have the right to buy (progressively or outright) their rental housing</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/affordable-home-ownership-scheme-offers-a-pathway-out-of-social-housing-102635">shared equity schemes</a> – a way for buyers to own a more “affordable” fraction of the home and get a foot in the door.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ev1tveSD23M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Co-housing developments are increasingly common.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/build-to-rent-is-seen-as-affordable-but-its-yet-to-help-those-most-in-need-194623">Build-to-rent is seen as affordable, but it's yet to help those most in need</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These alternative approaches will change the calculus of property development. Let’s not aim to centralise housing development. Rather, we should crowd-source it to as many organisations as possible.</p>
<p>A final area for innovation in the development phase is <a href="https://ministers.dss.gov.au/transcripts/11426">planning</a>. We can use <a href="https://building4pointzero.org/projects/eplanning-and-eapprovals-scoping-study/">digital tools</a> to make the planning system more transparent and efficient.</p>
<h2>Design</h2>
<p>Make houses more efficient. Australian houses are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/that-s-a-crazy-amount-of-floor-area-top-architect-on-boom-in-big-homes-20220107-p59mla.html">among the world’s largest</a> even though <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2023/mar/a-new-measure-of-average-household-size.html">households are shrinking</a>. As the Swedish saying goes: “The cheapest square metre is the square metre you don’t build!”</p>
<p>Make houses <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-more-flexible-housing-for-21st-century-lives-102636">more flexible</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/people-want-and-need-more-housing-choice-its-about-time-governments-stood-up-to-deliver-it-122390">diverse</a>. Housing could then <a href="https://theconversation.com/life-in-lockdown-has-shown-us-our-houses-need-to-work-harder-for-us-138307">accommodate different uses</a>, such as home offices or sublettable units, and various family structures and sizes, including extended families.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=219&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531059/original/file-20230609-17-975cto.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=275&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Building the world’s largest houses strains construction capacity and adds to housing costs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-want-and-need-more-housing-choice-its-about-time-governments-stood-up-to-deliver-it-122390">People want and need more housing choice. It's about time governments stood up to deliver it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Construction</h2>
<p>Develop new building systems and supply chains. We need faster, cheaper and higher-quality ways of building. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A production line in a factory producing modular housing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531550/original/file-20230613-8848-c47rc9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Modular housing – made here in Lindbäcks’ Factory in Luleå, Sweden – can cut construction times and costs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mathew Aitchison</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast to building on site from the ground up, prefabricated, modular or industrialised house-building happens in factories. These approaches could increase capacity, <em>on top of</em> traditional approaches.</p>
<p>More people, more people, more people: the industry needs a new generation with different skill sets. </p>
<p>Up entering Swedish and German house-building factories, it is clear these are more inclusive workplaces. A key benefit of industrialised building is it promotes greater workforce participation. These are the diverse and high-skill jobs of the future.</p>
<h2>Operation</h2>
<p>Improve building performance through better development, design and operation of housing. Occupants won’t be left with unaffordable “utility timebombs” with high running costs.</p>
<p>Make houses more durable and easy to maintain. Well-designed and well-built housing can be used for decades past current buildings’ “use-by” dates. Longer-lived buildings will help to plug the holes in the leaky bucket of housing provision.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-lemon-law-to-make-all-the-homes-we-buy-and-rent-more-energy-efficient-204369">We need a 'lemon law' to make all the homes we buy and rent more energy-efficient</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>End of life</h2>
<p>An increased focus on decarbonisation and sustainable use of resources will enable new approaches to reusing and recycling building materials.</p>
<p>Re-using existing and obsolete buildings for new housing – adaptive re-use – is another way to provide more housing. </p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>Innovations like these could be applied tomorrow to help us do more with less.</p>
<p>A final challenge to government: as we prepare to spend billions on building housing across the country, is it too outlandish to imagine we could invest a mere 1% of those vast sums in innovation programs? Innovation can deliver the increases in building productivity and capacity that Australia so badly needs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206862/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathew Aitchison receives funding from the Department of Industry’s CRC Program.</span></em></p>Without innovation in all five building phases, the industry won’t have the capacity to meet market demands or to deliver the social and affordable housing the government is promising.Mathew Aitchison, Professor of Architecture and CEO of Building 4.0 CRC, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060442023-06-04T11:19:10Z2023-06-04T11:19:10ZEmotional intelligence is the key to more successful entrepreneurs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528673/original/file-20230526-19-mrzmx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C7%2C4376%2C2754&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Entrepreneurship flourishes when individuals in a society possess higher levels of well-being, adaptability, self-control and sociability.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Entrepreneurs have a key role to play in achieving the United Nations <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda">2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development</a>. This action plan, which has been adopted by all UN member countries, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/agenda-2030.html">including Canada</a>, was created to tackle today’s “most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges.”</p>
<p>While governments play a central role in achieving these goals, non- and for-profit organizations can accelerate this progress through innovation. That is where entrepreneurs — anyone who starts or owns a business — come into the picture.</p>
<p>Canada has <a href="https://www.gemconsortium.org/news/canada-performance-strong-compared-to-peers-in-latest-gem-global-report">one of the highest levels of entrepreneurial activity</a> among developed nations and was recently <a href="https://poll2019.trust.org/">ranked the best in the world for social entrepreneurship</a>. Social entrepreneurship focuses on addressing social issues such as poverty, illiteracy and discrimination.</p>
<p>To maintain its position as an entrepreneurial nation, Canada must continue to foster innovation. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-023-00775-1">Our recent research</a> on how emotional intelligence at the societal level impacts entrepreneurship can help Canada, and other nations, accomplish this.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1649261928877891584"}"></div></p>
<h2>About the study</h2>
<p>Using entrepreneurial activity data from the <a href="https://www.gemconsortium.org/">Global Entrepreneurship Monitor</a> in 24 countries, our study found that entrepreneurship flourishes when individuals in society possess higher levels of well-being, adaptability, self-control and sociability.</p>
<p>These are characteristics of societal emotional intelligence — a measure of the collective emotional intelligence of a particular society. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/per.416">Emotional intelligence</a> refers to the ability of an individual to recognize and understand their own emotions, as well as the emotions of others, and use this knowledge to make decisions. </p>
<p>At the societal level, emotional intelligence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397120938690">plays a vital role in addressing challenges</a> present at different stages of the entrepreneurial process, such as idea generation, planning the launch, and growth of an enterprise.</p>
<p>However, the degree to which each characteristic of emotional intelligence impacts entrepreneurship <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12289">depends on the type of entrepreneurship</a>.</p>
<h2>Fostering commercial entrepreneurship</h2>
<p>Our research found three characteristics of societal emotional intelligence are more likely to foster commercial entrepreneurship: hedonic well-being, adaptability and self-control. Commercial entrepreneurship leads to innovation that contributes to a country’s economic growth by generating wealth.</p>
<p><strong>1. Hedonic well-being</strong> </p>
<p>Hedonic well-being is one of two types of perceived well-being. It refers to an individual’s perception of their own life satisfaction, happiness, optimism and self-esteem. </p>
<p>Hedonic well-being can help individuals navigate challenging situations that arise when working as an entrepreneur by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2003.08.001">providing them with a sense of control</a> over their situation. </p>
<p>Individuals with high levels of hedonic well-being are more likely to have characteristics associated with successful commercial entrepreneurs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman looking content as she types on an open laptop at a desk in an office." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528674/original/file-20230526-11640-wyl36y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Individuals with high self-esteem are better at navigating challenging situations as they arise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Adaptability</strong> </p>
<p>Individuals with high levels of adaptability are open to new information, willing to let go of preconceived notions and capable of adjusting to new or challenging situations.</p>
<p>An individual’s ability to adapt in the face of adversity sets them apart as exceptional. Individuals that are very successful <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1976-26087-000">often possess higher levels of adaptability</a>.</p>
<p>In the context of commercial entrepreneurship, having a high degree of adaptability <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.09.002">allows entrepreneurs to navigate uncertainty</a> and adapt to changes in the business environment.</p>
<p><strong>3. Self-control</strong></p>
<p>Self-control is a mental process that helps individuals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252">align their thoughts and behaviours with their goals</a>, particularly during periods of adversity. </p>
<p>Self-control is beneficial for commercial entrepreneurs, as it encourages them to be mindful of the strategies needed to keep their goals in line with the ever-changing business environment. </p>
<p>Because self-control is valuable for managing commercial enterprises, societies that have more individuals with higher levels of self-control are more likely to facilitate commercial entrepreneurship.</p>
<h2>Fostering social entrepreneurship</h2>
<p>Our research found two characteristics of societal emotional intelligence are more likely to foster social entrepreneurship: eudaimonic well-being and sociability. Social entrepreneurship, as previously mentioned, leads to innovation that addresses social issues.</p>
<p><strong>1. Eudaimonic well-being</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.4.719">Eudaimonic well-being</a> refers to an individual’s perceived autonomy, self-acceptance, sense of purpose and ability to manage their environment.</p>
<p>The characteristics associated with eudaimonic well-being motivate individuals to make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.034">greater contributions to the welfare of others</a> through social entrepreneurship. </p>
<p>While the characteristics of eudaimonic well-being are essential for both types of entrepreneurship, societies with higher levels of eudaimonic well-being tend to foster an environment more conducive for social entrepreneurship.</p>
<p><strong>2. Sociability</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/sociability">American Psychological Association defines sociability</a> as the tendency “to seek out companionship, engage in interpersonal relations, and participate in social activities.” </p>
<p>Sociability <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00019.x">has three facets</a>: social awareness, emotional management and assertiveness. It plays a more significant role in social entrepreneurship, so societies with a larger amount of individuals with this trait are more likely to facilitate social entrepreneurship.</p>
<h2>Fostering emotional intelligence</h2>
<p>Entrepreneurship in Canada, both commercial and social, needs to flourish to help the country meet its sustainable development goals. For this to happen, Canada should implement strategies to build emotional intelligence among its entrepreneurs. </p>
<p>One way Canada could do this is by investing in programs to monitor, assess and diagnose ways to improve emotional intelligence among entrepreneurs. </p>
<p>In addition, given that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.01.010">emotional intelligence can be developed with training</a>, businesses and innovation hubs should develop emotional competencies among their entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>Finally, Canada should implement education curriculum focused on developing emotional intelligence in students to shape their entrepreneurial behaviours. By equipping students with emotional intelligence skills, Canada will nurture a generation of entrepreneurs ready to create wealth, tackle social challenges and create positive change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Etayankara Muralidharan receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saurav Pathak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fostering emotional intelligence in entrepreneurs could help Canada meet its sustainable development goals.Etayankara Muralidharan, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of International Business, Marketing, Strategy & Law, MacEwan UniversitySaurav Pathak, Associate Professor, Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & MaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2065112023-05-31T12:35:38Z2023-05-31T12:35:38ZRemembering South Africa’s “Grand Geek” Barry Dwolatzky - engineer and programming pioneer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528576/original/file-20230526-21-3xadfe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Professor Barry Dwolatzky was passionate about innovation in all that he did.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wits University</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To some of his former students, Professor Barry Dwolatzky was the “Grand Geek” – a name of which he was very proud. But Barry, who passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa on 16 May 2023, was much more than a computer geek. He was also a leader and a visionary in the field of software engineering in South Africa.</p>
<p>At the time of his passing he was 71 years old. He was by then retired from academia and held the title of Emeritus Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), where he spent much of his career. </p>
<p>But he didn’t really slow down: he remained the director of the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), a role he’d held since 2007. During the COVID lockdown in 2020, he started a podcast called <a href="https://iono.fm/c/4965">Optimizing – Leading Africa’s Digital Future</a> and produced eight episodes. He also wrote an autobiography called <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/future/stories/looking-ahead-from-a-life-of-new-beginnings.html">Coded History – My Life of New Beginnings</a>, which was launched in November 2022.</p>
<h2>A pioneer in programming</h2>
<p>An alumnus of the School of Electrical and Information Engineering at Wits University, Barry graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1975. He then started a master’s degree, which he converted to a PhD.</p>
<p>After obtaining his PhD in 1979, he did post-doctoral research at the University of Manchester’s Institute of Science and Technology and at Imperial College in London. Thereafter, he worked as a senior research associate at the GEC-Marconi Centre in the UK.</p>
<p>I first met Barry in 1989 when he returned to South Africa as a senior lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering at Wits. I was an undergraduate in his class that year. When I returned to Wits in 1998, he was my MSc supervisor and, when I was appointed as a lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering, we were colleagues and friends.</p>
<p>When he joined the School, there was only one programming course, Engineering Applied Computing, taught to second-year electrical, civil and mechanical engineering students. Barry identified the growing importance of programming and information technology in engineering fields before anyone else in South Africa really had. Today, the School of Electrical & Information Engineering’s curriculum contains two second-year programming courses and a third-year course that is compulsory for all electrical and information engineering students. Barry was instrumental in introducing all these courses.</p>
<p>He was also the driving force behind the school’s name change: “Information Engineering” was added in the year 2000 with the introduction of a software stream that would be distinct from the electrical engineering stream.</p>
<p>The idea didn’t come from the blue. Talking to people in various companies, Barry realised that most of the school’s graduates went into the information and communications technology (ICT) sector rather than into the classical electrical engineering fields like electrical generation, transmission and distribution, high voltage engineering and control engineering. </p>
<p>That’s what prompted the development and introduction of the software stream. At that time, computers were becoming more common in many industries and the mobile phone sector was starting to take off.</p>
<h2>Software to drive development</h2>
<p>In the late 1980s, the then CEO of Eskom, South Africa’s national electricity utility, announced a mass roll-out of electrification called Electricity for All. Between 1990 and 2000, about 2.5 million houses were connected to the national grid. At that time, Barry started working on a software programme that would assist engineers in planning the electrification of townships, historically black urban residential areas. </p>
<p>A number of postgraduate students under his supervision worked on aspects of this software. He <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/624520">called the program CART</a> (Computer-Aided Reticulation of Townships). In 1997, he took a year-long sabbatical and worked full time on CART, developing it into a viable commercial product that was used to aid in the design of the electrification of many townships.</p>
<p>In 2005, Barry launched the <a href="https://jcse.org.za/">Joburg Centre for Software Engineering</a>. He became its director in 2007. It was the work he did through the centre that established him as an important thought leader in the software and IT space. Among other things, the centre hosted masterclasses with world renowned software experts.</p>
<h2>Innovation champion</h2>
<p>In 2012, Barry identified some old buildings owned by Wits University in Braamfontein, a high-rise downtown area of Johannesburg, as an ideal site for an innovation hub. Many people speak fondly of how Barry took them into a derelict disco with only the light from his mobile phone and enthusiastically explained how this was going to be a tech co-working space. He raised funding and transformed the rundown buildings into the innovation hub that is today one of the university’s flagship projects.</p>
<p>It is called the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct. <a href="https://tshimologong.joburg/">Tshimologong</a> (a seTswana word for “place of new beginnings”) provides a space for digital start-ups, as well as training in digital technologies, and is used as a co-working space. Barry was Tshimologong’s first director and was honoured for this visionary project with the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Research and Teaching in 2016. </p>
<p>Even after retiring, Barry remained committed to and driven by the idea of innovation. He worked alongside Wits University’s deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Lynn Morris, to establish the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/innovation/wits-innovation-centre/">Wits Innovation Centre</a>. It was launched on 17 April 2023. </p>
<p>He passed away in a Johannesburg hospital on 16 May with his wife Rina and his children Leslie and Jodie at his side.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206511/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Estelle Trengove does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many speak fondly of how Barry Dwolatzky took them into a derelict disco and enthusiastically explained the tech co-working space he envisioned there.Estelle Trengove, Associate professor in electrical engineering, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2043732023-05-21T20:00:30Z2023-05-21T20:00:30ZWe solve problems in 30 days through ‘research sprints’: other academics can do this too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527145/original/file-20230519-17-1xstuj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C5982%2C3898&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Skye Studios/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of our series on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/universities-accord-big-ideas-137143">big ideas for the Universities Accord</a>. The federal government is calling for ideas to “reshape and reimagine higher education, and set it up for the next decade and beyond”. A review team is due to finish a draft report in June and a final report in December 2023.</em></p>
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<p>Picture a world where academic research is fast, practical, and beneficial to everyone involved. </p>
<p>In reality, making university research practical, which typically requires working with industry, can take many years. By that time, it might be too late for it to be of benefit.</p>
<p>Research has been singled out as a key priority for the upcoming Universities Accord. The review team <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/australian-universities-accord-panel-discussion-paper">has called for advice</a> on “more effective” collaboration between universities and industry to solve “big challenges”. </p>
<p>We are a <a href="https://www.qut.edu.au/research/centre-for-future-enterprise">research group</a> of academics with years of industry experience in global corporations, designers who have worked on everything from airplane cabin controls to wooden sunglasses, and early career researchers, hoping to see their work address problems that matter.</p>
<p>We have devised an approach to make university and industry collaboration effective. </p>
<h2>Why traditional research needs a makeover</h2>
<p>We have seen it way too many times: academia and industry often struggle to collaborate well. </p>
<p>Traditional academic research <a href="https://theconversation.com/cracks-in-the-ivory-tower-is-academias-culture-sustainable-8294">can be slow</a>, focusing on advancing knowledge and peer recognition, while freely sharing results. </p>
<p>In contrast, industry research is driven by commercial dynamics and seeks practical solutions to real-world problems as quickly as possible. Often this is done in secret to protect potential profits.</p>
<p>This difference in goals, interests, approaches, incentives and timeframes leads to unique challenges when academics and industry partners work together. </p>
<p>But ultimately, the two need one another. To achieve impact in the real world, universities need to work with industry to implement their research. And industry benefits from academic research, as it is not constrained by traditional ways of thinking and timeline pressures.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-way-more-phd-graduates-than-academic-jobs-heres-how-to-rethink-doctoral-degrees-203057">Australia has way more PhD graduates than academic jobs. Here's how to rethink doctoral degrees</a>
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<h2>Introducing research sprints</h2>
<p>We started doing “<a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/display/book/9781802203134/book-part-9781802203134-13.xml">research sprints</a>” in 2015. </p>
<p>We drew inspiration from the “<a href="https://www.thesprintbook.com">design sprint</a>”, which began at Google. The idea is to build and test a prototype in just five days. </p>
<p>We committed to having all our research projects embrace this same philosophy. We were also guided by “<a href="https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-thinking">design thinking</a>”, which means we prioritise humans and think first and foremost about the people we are researching for and how the research can meet their needs, while of course ensuring research rigour. </p>
<p>We learned (the hard way) that five days is not enough to ensure research rigour. So our sprints are now always 30 days long – not a day shorter, not a day longer. This pace is bearable for academics and acceptable for industry.</p>
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<img alt="Writing on a clear whiteboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527146/original/file-20230519-21-e904y9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">We discovered five days to do a research sprint is too short, but 30 workds for academics and industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kvalilik/Unsplash</span></span>
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<h2>This is how we do it</h2>
<p>In our research sprints, we bring together researchers, industry partners, end-users and stakeholders to tackle specific problems and develop practical solutions.</p>
<p>First, we work side-by-side with the industry partner to define the problem, collecting data to understand user and stakeholder needs. Then we brainstorm and co-design solutions, and select the best ones. This is where we tap into our academic research.</p>
<p>After this, we create prototypes and test them with end-users. Finally, we provide the solution to the client for implementation. </p>
<p>But there’s no “handover” – we literally lock ourselves in the same room with partner organisations during each sprint. We’re down in the trenches, rather than up in the ivory tower.</p>
<h2>40 sprints so far</h2>
<p>Since 2015 we have done about 40 research sprints. Our clients have included state government agencies, local government departments, financial service providers, and manufacturers. </p>
<p>Our projects have included designing superannuation services for gig economy workers, a “<a href="https://kjr.com.au/research/digital-maturity-model/">digital maturity benchmark</a>” service (which measures an organisation’s digital impact) for a consultancy, or the first version of the Queensland government’s <a href="https://launchpad.business.qld.gov.au/">Business Launchpad</a>, which helps start and run a small business.</p>
<p>We were also involved with one of the banks that initiated the <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/banks-launch-digital-fraud-reporting-exchange-595867">Digital Fraud Reporting Exchange</a>, which shares victim information, not just the perpetrator data.</p>
<p>We also run sprints for government policy. We co-created the Queensland government’s <a href="https://www.chde.qld.gov.au/digitaleconomy">Digital Economy Strategy</a> during a research sprint.</p>
<p>Research sprints have a high success rate. In about 63% of cases, the client organisations have implemented or are working on implementing our solutions. </p>
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<h2>Where do research sprints work best?</h2>
<p>Of course, there are times when sprints will not work. Academic research often takes time, and there are situations where expecting results in 30 days is a pipe dream. </p>
<p>Some research questions are also simply of no interest to industry. And that’s OK.</p>
<p>We understand it and carefully focus only on introducing industry-academia collaboration where it makes sense. For us, this is “the first mile” and “the last mile” of research.</p>
<p>We recently ran a <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/centre-for-future-enterprise/hdr-sdg-sprint/2023-hdr-design-sprint-tackling-decarbonisation/">research sprint</a> with almost 40 PhD students as participants and five partner organisations. Now the students have a much better understanding of the potential impact of their research. And this “first mile” sprint gives them the necessary motivation to continue their work.</p>
<p>The “last mile” is where we translate mature research work into industry-relevant solutions. Most of our commercial research work happens there. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-and-research-are-the-core-functions-of-universities-but-in-australia-we-dont-value-teaching-203657">Teaching and research are the core functions of universities. But in Australia, we don't value teaching</a>
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<h2>How can we get more academics to ‘sprint?’</h2>
<p>The current academic model does not encourage effective collaboration with industry. There are no incentives for academics when their research is implemented. There are no benefits for demonstrating alignment of research with problems industry recognises as important. </p>
<p>When a researcher publishes a paper in a respectable journal, it directly translates to their chances to be promoted, and often leads to additional funds from the university. Successful collaboration with industry should lead to exactly the same type of rewards: career growth and research budget.</p>
<p>Regardless of incentives being present or not, our experience shows once academics have had a chance to participate in a research sprint, they never look back. </p>
<p>How can we make sure more academics are engaging in research sprints? We think we should start by giving every higher degree research student a chance to participate in a research sprint as part of their academic training.</p>
<p>This means every young academic would begin their career by understanding how to make research fast, practical, and beneficial to everyone involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204373/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marek Kowalkiewicz received funding from some of the organisations mentioned in this article while running research sprints with them. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivano Bongiovanni received funding from some of the organisations mentioned in this article while running research sprints with them. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Townson received funding from some of the organisations mentioned in this article while running research sprints with them. </span></em></p>Traditional university research needs a makeover and we’ve worked out a way to do it.Marek Kowalkiewicz, Professor and Founding Director of QUT Centre for the Digital Economy, Queensland University of TechnologyIvano Bongiovanni, Lecturer in Information Security, Governance and Leadership / Design Thinking, The University of QueenslandPeter Townson, Senior Designer, Chair in Digital Economy, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.