Institute for Innovation in Information Management

Institute for Innovation in Information Management

In today’s knowledge economy information relevance is measured not in months or days but in seconds. Information is now the single most important asset for entrepreneurship and business-building. The quality that really differentiates any two organizations is the ability to deploy information quickly to meet key mission-critical objectives.

The Institute for Innovation in Information Management (I3M) helps organizations harness the power of information management as a competitive tool. I3M partners with regional and international industry leaders to develop systems and practices that move partners forward: partners set the research agenda, and I3M staff develop highly-customized recommendations and solutions to challenges raised, usually in three to four months.

I3M's approach to innovative information management draws heavily on the University of Washington Information School's expertise in innovation practices, knowledge organization and project management. This allows I3M to build creative solutions for:

• Managing information
• Deploying technology to create, capture, store, organize, retrieve, and apply information.
• Enabling people to create and use information to the fullest extent.

Organizations that deploy innovative processes for the management of information will outperform their competitors and be leaders in their marketplaces. Through I3M, industry and academic partners identify problems and co-construct solutions.

New from I3M

Fall 2009 I3M Symposium Provides Solutions for Keeping Your Company Agile

Join top strategists from companies like Boeing, JPMorgan Chase and IBM and learn how to turn changes to organizational structure, processes, and strategies into solutions like those behind some of the greatest success stories in the field of information management. Hear hard-won lessons learned by industry leaders in the trenches.

What: Agility in Times of Transition – the Fall Symposium of the UW Institute for Innovation in Information Management
Where: University of Washington main campus, Kane Hall, Walker Ames Room
Date: November 11, 2009
Time: 8:30 am - 6 pm

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New Article Identifies Paths to Innovation for Growing Organizations

A new article in the July-August 2009 issue of Research Technology-Management from the University of Washington Information School‘s Kevin C. Desouza examines why only a handful of organizations have been able to innovate on a continuous and sustained basis. As a product of their research, Desouza and co-authors Ashley Braganza and Yukika Awazu identify five interventions that can help overcome barriers to vital innovation programs.

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Featured Research

Practice Area Networks (with Parsons Brinckerhoff)

I3M led a review and evaluation of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s communities of practice, called Practice Area Networks (PANs). An I3M team under the leadership of Assistant Professor Hala Annabi conducted close to 60 interviews, identifying the legitimate product and service innovation processes, the strong mentoring relationships that existed as well as successes in passing on tacit knowledge in many domains. Associates made 10 concrete, actionable recommendations, and also developed a three-day workshop for key stakeholders at PB. The recommendations allowed PB to develop metrics that captured each PAN’s direct contribution, in financial terms, to business objectives, providing criteria for future support levels. Recommendations were made to reorganize the PANs to better aggregate and catalog PB’s growing global knowledge base.

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