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I-Open, Civic Forums and Building Collaborative Communities

I-Open, Civic Forums and Building Collaborative Communities 

The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) is a not-for-profit economic development organization based in Ohio with a national reach. We connect to business, academic, government and civic leaders interested in learning more about Open Source Economic Development. I-Open offers Training, Coaching, and Workshops on Strategic Doing, Civic Forums, Social Network Mapping, and how to build On-line Communities using Web 2.0 tools. Learn more about I-Open.

Civic forums begin by building open networks to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. The civic forum process encourages new civic collaborations built on trust, mutual respect and accountability. I-Open promotes civic behaviors that overcome fragmentation by focusing on mutual interests, realistic business development opportunities and pragmatic "next steps".

Civic Forums accelerate trusted connections among a region’s extensive research, information, and civic communities. I-Open removes the barriers that stifle "open innovation systems" within regional economies. These innovation systems – sometimes called "clusters" – drive regional prosperity. Civic Forums are not isolated events; they are part of continuous process for reshaping civic leadership and behavior. Read the Civic Forum Overview.

I-Open has partnered with Strategy-Nets (formerly Near-Time)  to accelerate sustainable business development and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship in communities and regions. By bringing together the best practices of Open Source Economic Development with the cutting edge innovations in Web 2.0, you can amplify your efforts, focus your intentions and build your connections. 

Civic Forums offer a new model of civic collaboration for a networked approach to economic and community development.

"We are moving from an industrial economy to an economy based on networks. New business models are emerging. Wealth creation is based on entrepreneurship, "open innovation", and networks of civic relationships. Innovation is the process of translating ideas into private and public wealth and prosperity. Entrepreneurs—both inside and outside existing organizations and inside both the private and non-profit sectors—manage the innovation process. They rely on civic networks to learn, spot opportunities and align resources.  "Open innovation" means that the translation of new ideas into wealth and prosperity by entrepreneurs increasingly takes place outside the four walls of any one organization.  

In our emerging economy, formal or informal civic networks that can efficiently support innovation are critically important to building community and regional prosperity.  Wealth creation, which is now a function of relationships and networks, arises from clusters formed from interconnected organizations, such as businesses, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations.  

To succeed in this economy, we need new ways of coming together so we can continuously explore and find new opportunities based on our existing assets.  We need to define and reinforce new patterns of civic behavior. Building prosperous communities begins in civic spaces where citizens come together to exchange ideas, identify transformative initiatives and move forward.  This civic discipline can emerge most quickly from vibrant, flexible and focused civic forums grounded in the practice of "strategic doing": translating ideas into action quickly.  Within these forums, new conversations generate practical collaborations among civic and business entrepreneurs and their networks of support.  

The speed with which we move our organizations, businesses, communities and regions to the knowledge-based economy will depend on how well we can routinely convene to create new collaborations and identify our new opportunities.  Moving any economy forward requires hundreds of new collaborations that no one individual or organization can "command and control". To support these collaborations, we need simple rules and new disciplines of authentic civic engagement.  We need to build habits of exploring each other’s strengths, identifying opportunities, focusing on practical outcomes, aligning our resources, and measuring our results. In short, we need to move from concepts of strategic planning to strategic doing.  

To meet the challenges of the ever increasing and rapidly shifting global markets that characterize today’s economy, we need new models of economic development, new approaches to shape our thinking and guide our actions.  We need to design civic engagements that spin out new and innovative collaborations quickly.  With an increasingly turbulent economy, we need new stable patterns of thinking and doing.  The road to the successful future is marked by the new disciplines of “strategic doing.”  

Strategic doing is about translating ideas into purposeful action quickly.  However, translating ideas into action requires trusted conveners and "appreciative" leadership styles that support collaborations.  I-OPEN has developed these new civic disciplines and has generated some significant results. We now have the opportunity to prove that we can quickly replicate these practices across the country, starting with prototype locations and models described in this space that have come out of I-Open activities. I-OPEN welcomes new partners and new collaborations." Ed Morrison, Co-Founder and Director, I-OPEN.