Semantic innovation management across the extended

Int.J.IndustrialandSystemsEngineering,Vol.1,Nos.1/2,2006109Copyright©2006InderscienceEnterprisesLtd.SemanticinnovationmanagementacrosstheextendedenterpriseKeNing,DavidO’Sullivan*,QinxiangZhuandStefanDeckerDigitalEnterpriseResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofIreland,Galway,IrelandE-mail:[e-mail]-mail:[e-mail]-mail:[e-mail]-mail:[e-mail]*CorrespondingauthorAbstract:Innovationprovidesthemeansforenterprisestosurviveandgrow.Duetothedistributedandheterogeneouscharacteristics,it’sdifficulttomanageinnovationacrosstheextendedenterprise.AnovelvisionforSemanticInnovationManagement(SIM)isintroduced.Thesystemarchitecturecombinesontology,inferenceandmediationtechnologiesusedtocreateasemanticwebofinnovationknowledge.AfunctionalframeworkoftheSIMSystem(SIMS)basedonmetadataharvestingandRDFaccesstechnologiesispresented.Anappliedcasestudyisexplainedindetail.This,inturn,facilitatesallparticipatingorganisationsandusersinformingcloseralliancesbasedonthesharingofinnovationinformation.Keywords:innovationmanagement;extendedenterprise;semanticweb;RDF;informationintegration.Referencetothispapershouldbemadeasfollows:Ning,K.,O’Sullivan,D.,Zhu,Q.andDecker,S.(2006)‘Semanticinnovationmanagementacrosstheextendedenterprise’,Int.J.IndustrialandSystemsEngineering,Vol.1,Nos.1/2,pp.109–128.Biographicalnotes:KeNingisanITspecialistatIBMinBeijing,China.Hisprincipleroleisinthesupportofmiddleware.PriortojoiningIBMhewasaSeniorResearcherattheDigitalEnterpriseResearchInstituteinGalway,Ireland.Hisresearchinterestsincludedsemanticwebtechnologyapplications.In2004hereceivedhisPhDatTsinghuaUniversity,Beijing,ChinaforhisworkintheareaofEnterpriseInformationSystemsandBusinessProcessModelling.DavidO’SullivanisaResearchLeaderattheDigitalEnterpriseResearchInstituteattheNationalUniversityofIrelandinGalway.Hisresearchinterestisprincipallyintheareaofsemanticinnovationmanagementacrosstheextendedenterprise.Hehasover80publicationstohiscredit,includingabookentitledManufacturingSystemsRedesign.HeisanAssociateEditorforanumberofinternationaljournals.QinxiangZhuisaResearcherattheDigitalEnterpriseResearchInstituteattheNationalUniversityofIrelandinGalway.Hisresearchinterestsareintheareaofsemanticinnovationmanagementacrosstheextendedenterprise.Heisalsointerestedinsemanticwebsearch,informationintegrationanddashboardtechnologies.110K.Ning,D.O’Sullivan,Q.ZhuandS.DeckerStefanDeckerreceivedhisPhDfromtheUniversityofKarlsruheandspentseveralyearsatStanfordUniversityandInformationSciencesInstitute/UniversityofSouthernCaliforniaasSeniorResearcherandAssistantResearchProfessor.HeiscurrentlyExecutiveDirectorattheDigitalEnterpriseResearchInstitute,NationalUniversityofIreland,Galway.Heisoneofthemostwidelycitedsemanticwebscientistsandhasservedonthecommitteesofanumberofinternationalconferences.1IntroductionInnovationistheprocessofmakingchangesinsomethingestablishedbyintroducingsomethingnew.Withinatypicalorganisation,therearevariousdegreesofinnovationfromsuggestingideasormanagingsingleprojectstomanaginganentireprogrammeofchanges.Thecompetitivenessandsustainabilityofanenterprisedependsontheeffectivemanagementofinnovation(Zairi,2004).Innovationleadstoimprovedproductsandservicesthatdelightcustomers,moreefficientprocessesthatkeepcostscompetitiveandmoreagileorganisationscapableofmeetingunforeseenchallenges.Thenatureofinnovationischanging.Inthepastitfocusedoncapturingvalueaddingideasandmakingthemaddvalueforthecustomer.Innovationisnowenteringanewphasewherethecyclefrominventiontorealisationwillbeshorter.Innovationmustnowhappenmorequicklyandmorecontinuously(BrownandEisenhardt,1997).Asecondchangeinthenatureofinnovationisthatitnowneedstohappenacrossinternalfunctionswithinorganisationsandbetweenorganisationsinanextendedenterprise.Acultureofcollaborationandsharingofideasisemerging(Huxham,1996).Athirdchangehappeninginthewayinnovationiscurrentlybeingmanagedlooksatthenotionofintellectualproperty.Organisationsthatvaluetheirpeopleandtheirroleintheinnovationprocesswillgainhigherreturnsandsucceedinmakingtheinnovationprocessapowerfulweaponfororganisationalgrowth(GrossmanandHelpman,1991).Arecentindustrialsurveyrevealedthat90%ofenterprisesthinkinnovationisakeycompetitiveadvantage(Stamm,2004).However,organisationsmanageinnovationpoorly.Surveysindicatethatupto80%ofdevelopmentprogrammesamongFortune500companiesfailtomeettheirobjectives.Thereasonscitedarefamiliar:PoorGoaldefinition;PooralignmentofActionstoGoals;poorreportingofResults;PoorActionmanagement;LowparticipationamongemployeesinTeams(DooleyandO’Sullivan,2000).Tosupportthelifecycleofinnovationandimproveinnovationmanagement,differentkindsofinnovationmanagementsystemshavebeendeveloped,includingsystemsforindividualinnovatione.g.(MindManager,2005;IdeaFisher,2005),projectinnovatione.g.(Teamstorm,2005;GroupSystems,2005),collaborativeinnovatione.g.(Askme,2005;NextNet,2005),anddistributedinnovatione.g.(IdeaChain,2005;GoldfireInnovator,2005).PreviousresearchbysomeoftheauthorsresultedinthedevelopmentofasystemcallediTeams(Dooleya