Futuristic Sustainable Transportation

Take a look at some futuristic sustainable transportation designs that caught my eye. Forces which can affect futuristic transportation options will be financial, technological, sustainability, and of course ethical(safety). Financially, futuristic vehicles must be environmentally efficient, safe, and affordable. We know fossil fuels are not getting any cheaper. For these new vehicles to be adopted by the masses, they have got to be affordable; thats where technologically efficient efforts during the manufacturing process must be realized.

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Friday, August 24, 2012

The New Agora

The Agora was considered as the birthplace of democracy where citizens came together to discuss in a group decision making structure. In today's world, it's difficult to reach consensus in a democratic society. If the future of a worldwide democratic government should ever come to be; How should we govern on a worldwide basis? The answer could very well lie in Internet Technology. Internet Technology has dramatically changed the way in which we live, communicate, educate, and function as groups. The idea of the global village using internet technology to construct the new agora is quite interesting as a futuristic prediction of how the world may govern many years from now. In reviewing the New Agoara article, my attentions were immediately drawn towards the similarities both the NGT and Delphi methods of group decision-making where all group members contributed to the discussion. A quick look at the processes with the SDP model such as the Steps in the Definition Stage of Inquiry (SITDSOI), and I am reminded of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) where once a problem has been identified, a systematic method is defined and leads to an outcome. An analysis of a feature within the SDP process steps in the definition stage of inquiry. The SDLC, like the steps in the SITDSOI, the first issue is the need to facilitate a meaningful dialogue (problem identified). The SDP supports planning and Innovation through a procedural step based process, which leads to a problem solving solution. Like innovative ideas, a problem needs to be present to trigger the question to improve the process.
References: Schreibman, V., Christakis, A. (n.d.). New Agora. Retrieved from http://www.harnessingcollectivewisdom.com/pdf/newagora.pdf

Friday, August 3, 2012

Innovative ideas

Ever wonder how to innovate in a group environment? There are a few techniques i'll discuss here which may assist in business and educational environment decision making. The Delphi and Nominal Group Technique(NGT) are the most common types of group decision methods. Both are considered consensus methods and offer a structured and transparent method for reaching decisions. The Delphi method's objective is to gather a consensus of opinions, and attitudes about a selected topic from a panel of experts. The Delphi Method helps keep groups on task by structuring the information flow. I prefer the NGT method as a group decision-making model. First of all, NGT works well with groups of all sizes. That is important to me as I often work in many different size groups. One of the most attractive attributes of the NGT method is everyone in the group has a voice and will have their opinions heard. This differs from the traditional group voting method where only the majority decision taken. My preference is the the Nominal Group Technique to use in a collaborative environment to explore my innovative ideas. The different live experiences and skills available in a group atmosphere where all have a voice seems to be an environment in which I prefer to create and innovate. References http://www.enotes.com/group-decision-making-reference/group-decision-making