The institute of Technology Empowerment - first meeting

Yesterday we conducted a meeting of people that are interested in the institute of technological empowerment that I am driving, they came from different sectors - academia, high-tech companies, non-profit organization, municipalities and more...  In the meeting I have presented an introduction and initial plan for the institute, and different people presented various aspects -- the societal, the professional behind it, and the various projects we are looking at.   I have posted this presentation on slideshare.  We are also looking for international collaborators.  I'll write more about the type of collaborators we are looking for.

More on personalization: TOM ISRAEL MAKE-A-THON

Yesterday I attended an interesting event, the conclusion of a three days "make-a-thon" in Nazareth called 

TOM ISRAEL,  where different team made a 72 hours work to create prototypes for products that will aid disabled people using 3D printer technology and various software and sensors.   I attended the final presentations.   Some of them were very impressive, and you may view the challenges on their webpage, although they did not post (yet?) the actual presentations of the teams.    

I have recently written about personalization as the next frontier.   This is a good example of what I meant,  many of these prototypes was highly personalized to the need of a single person  (or maybe a small group of persons).  In the mass production world, there is no business model that can generate those products, however the 3D printer technology can make it possible to create product for individuals or small groups.   

Overall this has been very impressive event, and I'll further work with the organizers to collaborate on projects related to the Institute of Technological Empowerment. 

My talk in the Technion Big Data workshop

Yesterday, I gave a talk in the Technion Computer Engineering Big Data days --  the talk dealt with three topics:  why  the Internet of things did not happen yet,  very brief introduction to "The Event Model", and a new introduction of the Technological Empowerment Institute.  I'll write more about the institute soon.

The talk is on slideshare - enjoy.

On building bad (and good) research centers

I am sitting at my new office, where my task is to construct the "Technological Empowerment Institute".

My YVC colleague Rachel Or-Bach attracted my attention to an article in the current issue of CACM entitled "how to build a bad research centers".  The author David Patterson from UC Berkeley provides first the negative side --- how to build a bad research center, and then turning to the reverse of each premise, building the positive side.   His advises for the good side are:

Good Commandment 1. Thou shalt mix disciplines in a center.

Good Commandment 2. Thou shalt limit the expanse of a center.

Good Commandment 3. Thou shalt limit the duration of a center. 

Good Commandment 4. Thou shalt build a centerwide prototype

Good Commandment 5. Thou shalt disturb thy neighbors.

Good Commandment 6. Thou shalt talk to strangers.

Good Commandment 7. Thou shalt find a leader.

Good Commandment 8. Thou shalt honor impact.

Some advices to take under consideration.  I do believe in mixing disciplines, though its means also mixing cultures which is not always easy.   Focus, and short to medium range targets are also key properties.   
Last but not least, I also believe in tangible impact,  beyond publications, while the impact criteria should be well-defined.  

More about our own activity - later.   

Moving On

Next week I am moving on,  after 16.5 years in IBM, I have decided to move on and pursue a societal challenge, by accepting an offer to establish and manage a new applied research institute, whose temporary name is "Technological Empowerment Institute".  The empowerment aspect is aimed to empower both sectors and populations that require substantial enhancement of their capabilities to enjoy high technology.  

The societal aspect is twofold -- both the societal challenges and the location, it will be based in the periphery.   The question is whether it has any relation to my past work on event processing?  the answer is definitely yes,  I view the Internet of Things as a major vehicle for achieving many of the challenges, and the work I was recently involved in, making event processing accessible to larger audiences as one of the key ares.  The institute will include multi-disciplinary activities, and implementation projects to meet the challenges.  It is initiated by YVC,  a relatively young but ambitious  academic institute, and I'll report to the president of YVC.   However, it will include activities and affiliate members that will span multiple sites and researchers.

I'll provide more details about it,  in fact, this Blog will from now on reflect my experience in trying to establish and operate this institute (but I'll not change its name as I am always think in events).  

Next week I'll wrap up my presence in IBM (this week I packed my office, and unpacked in the new one -- which had a toll on my aching back), and I'll summarize my tenure there.    I am taking an exciting but very challenging task,  and will issue call for people  to be involved in various capacities.