When I look back at Institutional Impact (ssbr0709) I am impressed by two things. First, how high the level of participation was, not just in terms of numbers but in terms of people who were active through all the available channels. Yes, it is a different and sometimes difficult environment requiring participants to acquire the habits of a new genre of participation: all the modes: voice, video text and graphics are nuanced by their bundling in the Elluminate (r) audiographic interface. The Internet reveals its imperfections when pushed to the limits and people display their resilience. It is important to stay away from early simplistic value statements comparing the environment with others. Distributed collaboration is the goal. We are exploring possibilities. People and contexts are all different and changing. The next event on 12 November 2009 will be different to this one.
Secondly, I notice how hard it is for participants in the programme: projects and support team, to articulate exactly what we mean by institutional innovation. I can’t help but think that we are still tinkering at the edges. But, to confront what might be implicit in institutional innovation can be unsettling. It is as much about change in ourselves and in the wider world as it is to do with change in the microcosms of any individual, bricks and mortar – concrete – institution.
This will become a focus of the synthesis work as the programme evolves through its middle stages over the next semester, transiting into a wider Benefits Realisation programme as the stage 2 projects reach their planned end and the stage 3 projects start realising early deliverables.
George Roberts
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