[extropy-chat] NYT on idea markets

[Giu1i0 Pri5c0]

The NYT has an article on 'Here's an Idea: Let Everyone Have
Ideas<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/business/yourmoney/26mgmt.html?ex=1301029200&en=0d90ed5116e769d0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss>'
on Idea markets** similar to Prediction Markets but not tied to a future
yes/no decision on the outcome (a new fact, or the decision of a judge). It
is more like a running stock market, where the value of an idea is measured
by the (dynamic) value of its stock.

Example: At Rite-Solutions <http://www.ritesolutions.com/home.html>, the
architecture of participation is both businesslike and playful. Fifty-five
stocks are listed on the company's internal market, which is called Mutual
Fun. Each stock comes with a detailed description — called an expect-us, as
opposed to a prospectus — and begins trading at a price of $10. Every
employee gets $10,000 in "opinion money" to allocate among the offerings,
and employees signal their enthusiasm by investing in a stock and, better
yet, volunteering to work on the project. Volunteers share in the proceeds,
in the form of real money, if the stock becomes a product or delivers
savings.

According to Tim O'Reilly, the founder and chief executive of O'Reilly
Media, the computer book publisher, and an evangelist for open source
technologies, creativity is no longer about which companies have the most
visionary executives, but who has the most compelling "architecture of
participation." That is, which companies make it easy, interesting and
rewarding for a wide range of contributors to offer ideas, solve problems
and improve products?

InnoCentive <http://www.innocentive.com/>, based in Andover, Mass., is
literally a marketplace of ideas. It has signed up more than 30 blue-chip
companies, including Procter & Gamble, Boeing and DuPont, whose research
labs are groaning under the weight of unsolved problems and unfinished
projects. It has also signed up more than 90,000 biologists, chemists and
other professionals from more than 175 countries. These "solvers" compete to
meet thorny technical challenges posted by "seeker" companies. Each
challenge has a detailed scientific description, a deadline and an award,
which can run as high as $100,000.
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