Many industries contend with shortages of scientific, technical, engineering, and math (STEM) experts. Especially here in Houston, we hear a lot about public and private efforts to promote STEM education to bring future experts into the pipeline. But APQC’s recent research, How Smart Leaders Leverage Their Experts, looked at the STEM talent shortage from a different perspective by asking: How can organizations better leverage the experts they already have?
APQC found that rapid changes in knowledge domains drive most organizations’ need to leverage STEM expertise. APQC has also found that open innovation, with an emphasis on collaboration, can help organizations thrive through rapid changes in knowledge, projects, and markets. In light of these findings, I’m excited about an upcoming event in our city.
On May 31, the City of Houston will host its second annual Open Innovation Hackathon. Houston’s non-sensitive data has been made available to the public through an open-source data portal. At the Hackathon, volunteer software developers (along with graphic designers, marketers, PR people, and writers) will use this data to build apps that improve Houstonians’ quality of life. Take for example the City of Houston 311 app, which got its start at last year’s Hackathon. With GPS and the ability to attach photos, this app makes service issues (read: potholes!) easier for me to report and easier for the city to process. Perhaps it’s a small thing, but it makes my life less complicated (plus, it’s cool).
The Open Innovation Hackathon is a promising step toward leveraging the city’s existing technical experts. When technical people get the tools and opportunities that work best for them, they come up with some really great stuff. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what the hackers come up with this weekend.