WisconsInnovation

After reviewing the latest and greatest presentations posted on social product development, I followed an interesting path that led to Aaron Roe Fulkerson (@roebot) and then on to a post on his Corporate Blog for MindTouch called "The Most Powerful Voices in Open Source" (2010).

I enjoy lists and this type of analysis to shorten my curve to finding the thought leaders in new areas of interest. The list is diverse in terms of global leaders. But is open source always just applied to tech and programming?

In past posts, we shared links and interview with Local Motors who is working in an environment of open source, crowdsourcing and cocreating in the automotive space. They are sharing designs, drawings and modifications. I am looking for more companies not in the tech space solely who are part of the Open Source or Open Innovation space.

Can we build a wiki to share? Does a list like this exist?

I had a chance to interview a number of people at Local Motors including the Community Manager, Ariel Ferreira and John Rogers the CEO. The acronym they use for the business is COOL and is explained in this interview.

Of note is the fact that John Rogers indicated that they built the business based on a Co Creation process. It seems to be working quite well for cars.

The US Department of Defense is know for, among other things, being a poor steward of taxpayer dollars. Remember the $1,000 toilet seat? Wary of these types of cost over-runs, the Defense Department's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) decided to try something a bit different by asking individuals, rather than corporations, to design its newest combat vehicle. Teaming up with  Local Motors, DAPRA sponsored a design competition open to anyone in the world. With a prize offering of $7,500 (about 8 toilet seats), this competition received over 150 design submissions. The winning design, the FLYPMode by Victor Garcia went from concept to prototype in less than six months! This is yet another example, of how innovation by individuals can meet or exceed the innovation by firms.

Jay Rogers is revolutionizing the US auto industry via his new start-up, Local Motors, which is currently offering the world's first co-created car, the Rally Fighter in Chandler, Arizona. Here is a recent video of Jay explaining what Local Motors is all about, his motivation for starting this operation and his life journey. Fascinating stuff!