Mark Aakhus
aakhus@rutgers.edu (848) 932-7168
This project investigates how open innovation could be a viable strategy for health organizations in the emerging networked society with its reliance on advanced information and communication technology (ICT). Health organizations have increasingly embraced their role as centers for innovation, and while much attention has focused on technology transfer, translational research and even social innovation, what is less clear is to what extent open innovation could be a viable part of their innovation strategy. A fundamental practical and theoretical puzzle remains for practicing open innovation in the healthcare context — that is, how to create and sustain the required engagement among stakeholders to realize open innovation as a management strategy for health organizations in the networked society? A PhD seminar, a practitioner workshop, and exploratory research projects examine how organizational practices for IT, social media, and communication can be reinvented. Anticipated project outcomes include studies examining the management of social media and IT for innovation; studies of transparent care and the dilemmas of open practice; a model of open innovation for devising organizational strategy incorporating communication, IT, and social media; and strategies for innovation management that enable open practice for professionals and management.
