INSPIRE: Expanding Open Innovation Methods to Complex Engineered Systems

这一促进跨学科研究与教育(INSPIRE)的综合NSF支持项目由工程局土木、机械和制造业创新(CMMI)司的系统科学计划、社会科学、行为和经济学局多学科活动办公室的科学和创新政策科学以及综合活动办公室共同资助。美国竞争法案体现了一项总统指令，要求联邦机构通过扩大使用开放创新方法来“激励创新，解决棘手问题，推进其核心使命”。开放式创新描述了一种通过奖励、挑战和众包等方式征求外部投入的方法。尽管这种方法有着巨大的前景，但目前的成功仅限于愿景中所暗示的潜在应用中的一小部分。通过该奖项产生的理论将通过确定最适合于开放方法的问题部分，为将开放方法的实施扩展到日益复杂的问题提供科学基础。这对机构如何征集研发(R&amp；D)以及公司如何组织他们的研究企业和激励他们的员工具有重要意义。它将提供一条通向美国持续竞争力的道路。此外，更多地使用开放创新明确地打破了参与的障碍。它为每个人打开了STEM；创造了途径，特别是为资源有限的学校，让学生参与解决现实世界的问题。该奖项支持基础研究，以产生关于如何通过适当的前期分解使开放创新方法适用于复杂系统的知识。具体地说，它将解决两个问题：(1)问题分解的程度如何影响a)外部解算器的贡献能力和b)收到的解决方案的质量？以及：(2)组织如何获取开放式创新方法的价值并克服采用挑战？解决每个问题都为开放创新政策这一复杂现象建立了必要的科学基础，需要多学科的理论和方法的新颖整合。关于问题(1)，将根据模拟模型和一系列实地试验确定如何最好地分解给定系统以利用外部贡献的启发式方法。理论基础将借鉴组织设计学、系统工程学、经济学和设计师的动机。问题(2)将通过对美国国家航空航天局S正在进行的实验的深入纵向研究来解决，该实验在其现有的研发过程中采用了开放创新方法。本课程将综合内部研发专家如何应对从“问题解决者”到“解决方案寻求者”的身份转变的实地观察，以解释如何在不损失内部人才的情况下缓解这一必要的转变。从理论上讲，问题2挑战了长期以来关于组织创新的最佳方式的假设。这项研究将在创新的组织方式方面改变当前的做法。

This Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) project is jointly funded by the Systems Science program in the Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) Division in the Engineering Directorate, by the Science of Science and Innovation Policy in the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, and by the Office of Integrative Activities. The America COMPETES Act embodies a presidential directive for federal agencies to "spur innovation, solve tough problems, and advance their core missions" through an expanded use of open innovation methods. Open innovation describes an approach that solicits external input through for example, prizes, challenges and crowdsourcing. Despite the enormous promise of the approach, current successes are limited to a small subset of the potential applications implied in the vision. The theory generated through this award will provide the scientific basis for expanding the implementation of open methods to increasingly complex problems, by identifying the parts of problems most amenable to open methods. This has implications for how agencies solicit Research and Development (R&D) and how firms organize their research enterprise and incentivize their employees. It will provide a path to sustained American Competitiveness. In addition, an increased use of open innovation explicitly breaks down barriers to participation. It opens STEM for everyone; creating pathways, particularly for resource-constrained schools, to engage students in real-world problem solving.This award supports fundamental research to generate knowledge about how open innovation methods can be made applicable to complex systems through appropriate upfront decomposition. Specifically it will address two questions: (1) How does the extent of problem decomposition effect a) the ability for external solvers to contribute and b) the quality of solutions received? And: (2) How can organizations capture the value of open innovation methods and overcome adoption challenges? Addressing each question builds a necessary scientific basis for the complex phenomenon of open innovation policy and requires a novel integration of theory and methods from multiple disciplines. With respect to question (1), heuristics for how to best decompose a given system to leverage external contributions will be identified based on a simulation model and a series of field experiments. The theoretical basis will draw on organization design, systems engineering, economics, and the motivations of designers. Question (2) will be addressed through an in-depth longitudinal study of NASA?s ongoing experiment deploying open innovation methods within its existing R&D process. Field observations of how internal R&D experts respond to their changing identity from "problem solver" to "solution seeker" will be synthesized to explain how this necessary transition can be mitigated without losing internal talent. Theoretically, question 2 challenges longstanding assumptions about the optimal way to organize for innovation. This research will transform current practices in terms of how innovation is organized.