Grand challenges

Grand Challenges for Organizational Informatics

In the absence of articulated Grand Challenges for Organizational Informatics, I pursue a Research Agenda that continues to evolve.

What are Grand Challenges? "Throughout history, Grand Challenges have sparked innovation through competition to overcome significant technical and economic barriers to technological development". A number of disciplines, government agencies and methodologically oriented groups have tried to establish grand challenges to motivate groups of researchers. A grand challenge is one that requires the following characteristics (adapted from ): Some Examples of Grand Challenges? Disciplinary Concerns Granted that grand challenges can and should often transcend disciplines. However, their value to a discipline cannot be underestimated. Interestingly, one does not see grand challenges defined for or in a manner that may be operationalized by all disciplines. Here is one characterization of differences across disciplines that may contribute to this discussion. Some Questions Here are some questions I continue to struggle with: Here is one response by CRA in 2002 that gets us closer. Here is one effort at positioning design as an enduring concern (if not the grand challenge) across disciplines.
 * Clear and compelling solution (demonstrable solution)
 * Clear and simple measurement (success is well-defined)
 * Decomposable and diagnostic (partial results, failure point to needed improvement)
 * Ambitious and visionary, but not unrealistic (faith in success in 10 - 20 years)
 * Compelling to the general public
 * Motivating for the research community
 * Computing Research Association's grand challenges
 * Grand challenges in global health
 * Medical informatics grand challenges
 * DARPA's evolving challenges
 * Learning for life
 * Reasoning on the semantic web
 * Why not?
 * Are there different kinds of disciplines?
 * How are they different?
 * Are disciplines with a focus on the synthetic more amenable to grand challenges?
 * Can disciplines sustain themselves without such grand challenges?
 * Is it possible to articulate similar grand challenges in organizational informatics?
 * What may be some constraints that we will face in this endeavor?
 * How will these grand challenges be similar to those identified in allied disciplines?
 * How will they be different?
 * Will it be possible to demonstrate adherence to the principles outlined above and if not, how will these principles need to be adjusted?