14 December 2013:
Deutsche Telekom introduced web-based IT tools (for instance their PEACOQ Scouting Tool) to support its 230,000 employees to share their ideas and insights across three foresight activities:
1) Data Gathering (dg): enabling a large number of contributors from inside and outside the organisation to share information (ideas, observations, insights etc.);
2) Interpretation (in): enabling multiple stakeholders to assess and judge information from their perspective and to participate in a dialogue with other stakeholders; and
3) Organisational Response (re): enabling follow-up activities, particularly with innovation management through a direct process link.
Table 1: IT tools for foresight, an overview (Rohrbeck, René; Thom, Nico & Arnold, Heinrich 2013)
The authors conclude that “the process of designing and implementing IT tools starts with the expectations on positive value creation”. In order to mitigate the negative impact of IT tools, namely the reduced face-to-face communication, the teams at Deutsche Telekom continue to run face-to-face workshops, particularly for “(…) occasions where controversial discussions were expected or where commitment had to be built”. The Deutsche Telekom IT based foresight support systems support open innovation, collaboration, culture and capability building.
Reference:
Rohrbeck, René; Thom, Nico & Arnold, Heinrich 2013, “IT Tools for Foresight: The integrated insight and response system of Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, available online 18 October 2013, in press, corrected proof.
Link to full text article:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162513002527