cafecuriosity

Fish Botherers

The interaction between industrial systems and our natural environment is rich with problems thrown up by the 'Law of Unintended Consequences'. As the environmental movement gathers momentum, one area has consistently failed to galvanise public imagination. They're not cute like baby seals, lack dolphins' charisma and haven't mobilised the masses like the anti-whaling lobby. Yes, we're talking about fish. Industry's use of water resources is largely out of sight and out of mind. Each year thousands of fish find themselves diced by turbine blades, trapped and suffocated against intake filters and boiled amidst scalding waste water plumes. Now the dudes at ProFish Technology (a spin-off from the Uni of Liege) have come up with a behavioural barrier to deflect fish around water intakes using infrasound. Infrasound literally shakes the fish in mid-water - a fairly unpleasant sensation that encourages the fish to move right along. Good news for the European Commission for eel protection which has steadily worked it way through solutions featuring light, loud sounds, electric fields and bubble curtains in its bold quest to reduce the 90% mortality suffered by migrating eels each year. Infrasound may prove to be a winner - lets hope the fish appreciate the sentiment!   http://www.ulg.ac.be/foreign/   Image: Infrasonic fish repulsion unit, ProFish Technology, University of Liege

Curiosity #11 Warning Aliens!

  In 2008, DARPA will be field testing a robotic body suit for the Pentagon. The "powerloader" looks like a metal skeleton strapped to a soldier's boots and legs. Powered by a miniature turbine engine, sensors drive hydraulic activators on each limb, enabling soldiers to run faster, jump higher and lug more weaponry - sounds like Sigourney Weaver in the Aliens! Amusingly, the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration won't let the "powerloader" inside as its basically a vehicle...Read New Scientist's interview at: http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2006/10/exoskeleton-update.html

Image: DARPA

Between the Rock and Hard Place of Implementation

In an information literate society, it's easy to assume we willingly embrace new technology. Yet people consistently prove stubbornly slow to change their work habits. CafeCuriosity felt a twinge of sympathy when we came across a paper published by the Massachusetts General Hospital bemoaning the low usage of information systems by physicians in their daily practices. The study covered email communication with patients and colleagues, online access to continuing medical education, journals and texts and computerised clinical decision making tools. The findings didn't make pretty reading - although it did show IT adoption aligned with the type of medical practice and there's the rub. Investment decisions are often based on assumptions about the world (blind hope) rather than a pragmatic appreciation of the barriers and attractors that cluster around work practices. We lavish love and affection on project managing IT implementation while fudging cultural obstacles to change. It's a familiar story. Anyone received an email from their doctor lately? Insights a plenty at: http://www.massgeneral.org/news/releases/100206grant.html

Image: Massachusetts General Hospital

Complementary Outcomes from Curiosity

Interesting article in Strategy+Business' enews this week. The article speculates that sometimes "sticking to your knitting" is the wrong way to build a business. Its goes on to cite several examples where highly successful companies such as Google and Intel, have uncovered competitive advantage by investing in innovations that, initially, seem unrelated to their core businesses and hence a distraction. (This is considered a heinious felony in the alternate reality of management consulting.) Both Intel's Wi-Fi chip and Google's mapping application are nominated as examples of tangental innovation. Although veering perilously close to over extending their parent companies, these innovations build on the companies' core strengths and have boosted sales. The authors go on to say that unearthing complementary innovations takes creative thinking and, when done properly, can be very lucrative - DUH!!

Much to the dismay of consultants and analysts, the future remains highly unpredictable and uncertain. Todays's competitive advantage is frequently tomorrows commodity. This places a premium on an organisation's ability to nurture innovation through an unlikely (and usually inconvenient) combination of serendipitious discovery, risk taking and a passionate curiosity.