NPT Issue #1: Idea Is Needed

There is a Nigerian saying my Mom always mentions that goes "Idea is Needed". It means society needs ideas - Innovation - to function and progress. I am sharing somethings that the world needs to know and do because it's getting on everyone's nerves a little bit. There is great progress but there are a few unnecessary problems arising in spite of technology being very capable to address them. A better approach to implementation or execution would be very beneficial for the world at large. Let's do it together.

Below are some ways in which innovation can be implemented at zero financial cost. I would like to break the myth and common belief that innovation must cost money or belongs only to companies which can afford it. Innovation belongs to everybody and nobody. Anyone can innovate anything. It can be big or small or simple or complex. There are no rules. 

As an individual, it is common knowledge that ideas come most often in solitude or when on a "break" or "distraction" from what you were originally focussing on. In a group, innovation occurs most abundantly and wealthily when the right environment has been created. The correct ingredients. No judgement, no right or wrong or stupid ideas. You are simply exploring as a group. You are not even trying to go anywhere. Just vibing and bouncing off each other. Inspiring each other and filling each other's cups. Support, inspiration, continuity. These ingredients are symptoms of a great environment for innovation. If an idea can easily be extended by someone else, better yet, multiple people, who had zero prior knowledge of it, then you have a great idea.

We went through an exercise following this approach in the previous paragraph at Empathy Jam Galway 2024 last month. This approach is apparently known as Design Thinking. It sounded familiar at the time but I couldn’t recall where I knew it from. 

  • Disbelief: You see something and feel it's outdated or unintuitive or "painful" and feel there has to be a better way to do it. Either you feel you can do it better, so you get started on the improvement or you raise a feature request. 
    • Comment: Proactivity and self-service are best. This brings FOSS into the discussion and factoring AI in mind especially with GitHub CoPilot now freely included for all accounts, it's not far fetched to envision an individual being in disbelief and combining both self-service and raising a feature request through the repo bot then solving it with the CoPilot for the repo. Learning from each other in symbiosis. FOSS here we go.
    • Painful: You watch someone do that something for which you believe there is a better way and watching them do it makes you feel pain in an empathetic way as they may not know better.
    • Example: "I can't believe it takes that long to [INSERT TASK HERE]."
  • Convoluted: You feel something has too many steps or too many extra steps in the process of doing it. You want to streamline it by minimizing the number of steps through refinement via deletion, combination, replacement or some other means.
    • Example: Authentication and authorization in highly regulated industries for customers trying to access their data.
  • Dislike: You dislike how something is done while using something you encounter daily. It could also be something you encountered tangentially for the first time or a few times via something you use daily. It can be big or small. Simple or complex.
    • Example: "Why do I still have a phone? I would rather have data in the environment and I can access it if need be so I can have empty pockets."
  • Fed Up: You are fed up with the status quo of anything big or small or simple or complex and want to change it.
    • Example: "Why am I still using a résumé in 2024? Why do people require so many applications sent before receiving an offer when exceptionally good recommender systems are available to end this issue? Why are there 5 to 6 rounds of interview for entry level roles?"
  • Overhaul: The way things are done has not been improved in a relatively long time and they are out of sync with relatively modern technology for the times and it is causing preventable system failures and collapsing under its incompetence due to lacking modern technological infrastructure.
    • Example: Global/National Economic Systems, Global/Natonial Financial Systems, Global/National Transport Systems, Hiring, specifically in the tech industry. I'm sure you can think of more.
  • Necessity: You see somethings that just don't make sense or don't add up or have no reason for existing or persisting beyond the fact that you are being told they are still there and the data supports this. This can be big or small or simple or complex.
    • Examples: World Hunger, World Poverty. I'm sure you can think of more.
  • Inattention: You see things that need to be addressed but are not being addressed due to lack of attention. Even though these things may be low-hanging fruit, they are just not being prioritized though they need to be addressed.
    • Example: Houston TX Dynamic Shade for Hot Summer Months, Houston TX Dynamic Water Allocation for Natural Disaster Relief and Civilian Dehydration particularly during Most Humid Months.
  • Research: If we change the way academic papers are presented or visualized, I believe we will uncover somethings we are not currently seeing. We will surprise ourselves with some reimagined academic papers. There is no reason why the idea of an academic paper must remain in its current format. It's not accessible or intuitive enough.
    • Example: Check out my masters thesis on GAPRS for a complete analysis. We need better data visualization of research to aid AI discovery and human interpretation to uncover innovation.
  • Creative/Creator/Innovator/Hacker/Founder/Maker: You happen to be curious, inquisitive, introspective or dynamic and generate or channel many ideas all the time. There are ways to increase this phenomenon in everyone. One of those ways is what I mentioned earlier about solitude. Another is introspection just like I wrote in this paragraph. Another is to slow down and be more observant and empathetic. Perhaps consider attending Empathy Jam Galway @ The Portershed.
    • Example: You are someone who has achieved self-actualization and are in tune with yourself and the outside world to create and express yourself at will.

If you can think of anymore, please join the discussion so we can centralize this and learn from it as a society going forward. We clearly need to know better and much of this work is already done. It's just bringing it all together and giving credit where it's due for everyone's benefit. No contribution is too small. I made up the definition for each idea here just like every idea ever, including the ones you experience daily, like money or calendars or days of the week and so on. 

If there are any technologies which could be a net positive for society that you want me to cover, please let us know in the comments.

Let's Get It Started - Star.One

Thank you for reading.