COGNITIVE COMPUTING COMMERCIALIZATION: BOUNDARY OBJECTS

We are poised to embark upon commercialization of a novel neurosynaptic substrate for cognitive computing. Neurosynaptic systems promise a new capability for distributed sensing and processing to deliver enduring value for science, technology, government, business and society. Realizing this potential requires a fundamental departure from conventional understandings and expectations about computing. We enlist design thinking and design methods to interpret key points of technological differentiation, harnessing the communicative power of tangible artefacts to engage stakeholders in envisioning possible futures. We present a combination of artefacts and abstractions as a basis for boundary objects to support communication about the benefits of the technology. Composable concepts, rendered vividly and intuitively understandable in this manner, are better suited to the inherent unpredictability of radical innovation.

[1]  Andrew S. Cassidy,et al.  Cognitive computing systems: Algorithms and applications for networks of neurosynaptic cores , 2013, The 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN).

[2]  Amy L. Parsons,et al.  Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things , 2006 .

[3]  Andrew S. Cassidy,et al.  Cognitive computing building block: A versatile and efficient digital neuron model for neurosynaptic cores , 2013, The 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN).

[4]  Paul R. Carlile,et al.  Transferring, Translating, and Transforming: An Integrative Framework for Managing Knowledge Across Boundaries , 2004, Organ. Sci..

[5]  S. L. Star,et al.  Cooperation Without Consensus in Scientific Problem Solving: Dynamics of Closure in Open Systems , 1993 .

[6]  Paul R. Carlile,et al.  A Pragmatic View of Knowledge and Boundaries: Boundary Objects in New Product Development , 2002, Organ. Sci..

[7]  Tim Brown,et al.  Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation , 2009 .

[8]  Donald A. Schön.  Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions , 1987 .

[9]  Michael Schrage,et al.  Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate , 1999 .

[10]  Ronald Mascitelli.  From Experience: Harnessing Tacit Knowledge to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation , 2000 .

[11]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  The Sciences of the Artificial , 1970 .

[12]  H. Simon,et al.  The sciences of the artificial (3rd ed.) , 1996 .

[13]  D. Dougherty.  Interpretive Barriers to Successful Product Innovation in Large Firms , 1992 .

[14]  Myron Flickner,et al.  Compass: A scalable simulator for an architecture for cognitive computing , 2012, 2012 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis.

[15]  Judith Hills,et al.  The semantic turn: A new foundation for design , 2008 .

[16]  D. Norman.  Emotional design : why we love (or hate) everyday things , 2004 .

[17]  Whitney Quesenbery,et al.  Storytelling For User Experience: Crafting Stories For Better Design , 2010 .

[18]  Rosanna Garcia,et al.  A critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review , 2002 .

[19]  Dharmendra S. Modha,et al.  A digital neurosynaptic core using embedded crossbar memory with 45pJ per spike in 45nm , 2011, 2011 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC).

[20]  Andrew S. Cassidy,et al.  Building block of a programmable neuromorphic substrate: A digital neurosynaptic core , 2012, The 2012 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN).

[21]  Susan Leigh Star,et al.  Institutional Ecology, `Translations' and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 1907-39 , 1989 .

[22]  Robert Kevin Grigsby.  "Wellsprings of Knowledge: Building and Sustaining the Sources of Innovation" , 1996 .

[23]  A. Clark.  Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again , 1996 .

[24]  Mark B. Houston,et al.  Barriers to Matching New Technologies and Market Opportunities in Established Firms , 2003 .

[25]  S. L. Star,et al.  This is Not a Boundary Object: Reflections on the Origin of a Concept , 2010 .

[26]  Andrew S. Cassidy,et al.  Cognitive computing programming paradigm: A Corelet Language for composing networks of neurosynaptic cores , 2013, The 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN).

[27]  W. Brian Arthur,et al.  The Nature of Technology: What it Is and How it Evolves , 2009 .