The MIT Social Media Club and the MIT Global Talent Initiative

MIT Social Media Club Video Introduction

Transcript:
Welcome!
My name is Charles Atencio, MIT System Design and Management Fellow - Class of 2009, and founding Member of the MIT Social Media Club.

In the past 15 years, the Internet has transcended international and societal boundaries fostering the creation of a truly global network of human beings.

Social Media, enabled by the growth of the internet, has proven to be one of the most innovative and effective tools to communicate with other individuals to express their passions and fulfill the latent human need to identify with and belong to a global community.

By doing this, they not only improve their own quality of life but also their community, their society, and ultimately their planet.

The MIT Social Media Club has been founded with the goal the foster a focused effort in using social media among technology – policy – and business leaders in our world.

We will be communicating with the global community the rich individual talent, cutting-edge research, innovative technologies, and holistic systems thinking perspectives that are being developed within the Cambridge, Massachusetts community which includes:

• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology – A world leader in the education of engineering and science and research and development of world-changing technologies.
• The Sloan School of Management at MIT – A leader and partner with MIT in the development of business strategy for technology-focused mature enterprises and entrepreneurial ventures.
• The MIT System Design and Management Program – Sponsored by both the School of Engineering and Sloan School of Management, SDM develops technology leaders that are able to bridge the functional gap among R&D, Product Development, Marketing, Sales, and Strategy groups in technology-based ventures.
• The Harvard Kennedy School of Government – A focus for the discussion and development of innovative – government – industrial – and foreign policies.
• Harvard Business School – The leader in the education and research of business practices and general management.
• And finally, the wide variety of global enterprises, entrepreneurial ventures, and thought leaders that encompass the greater Cambridge community.

Additionally, in order to truly help our global society, the MIT Social Media Club has also started to organize the MIT Global Talent Initiative, which aims to empower professionals in developing countries to communicate with others in the global community who share their passions, allowing them to partner with them to achieve there common vision.

If you are interested in participating or supporting our initiatives, we ask that you seek out the MIT Social Media Club on Linked-In, Facebook, and YouTube.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=120593071326009
Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3370804
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MITSocialMedia

And stay tuned – because the best is yet to come!!!

Systems Thinking in the Development of Strategy Against Somali Piracy

While currently a Technical Instructor of System Dynamics at MIT, I am actively searching for a position in which I could use System Dynamics as a tool to develop innovative solutions to business, policy, technology assessment, strategy, and organizational challenges.

An example of the innovative possibilities of a systems thinking approach to contemporary problems can be seen in a (3) month team project for the MIT course ESD.33 - Systems Engineering, during the Summer of 2009.

My MIT SDM team project's development of an effective international policy to resolve Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden is an example of how individuals from a variety of backgrounds are able to apply system thinking to solve many of the problems associated with complex systems that are becoming more prevalent over time.

The ESD.33 project team members were:

• Charles Atencio, SDM 2009
• Mario Montoya, SDM 2009
• Vijan Bhaumik, SDM 2009
• Clayton Kopp, SDM 2008
• CDR Doug Schofield, USCG, SDM 2009

The System Engineering V-model was used as a framework in the application of the following development tools:

• System Dynamics (SD) causal loop diagrams to identify stakeholder needs, problem context, and solution objectives.

Master System Dynamics Causal Loop Diagram (click the image for a full-size view)

• The simplified causal loop diagram identified (8) major causal loops:
  
• Internal Somalia Causal Loops
• Economy / Infrastructure (Reinforcing)
• Government Stability (Reinforcing)
• Tourism (Reinforcing)
• Pirate Gang Insurgency (Reinforcing)
• Pirate Gang Funding (Reinforcing)
• External Somalia Causal Loops
• Shipping Costs (Balancing)
• Shipping Reliability (Balancing)
• Supply Chain Stability (Balancing)
• Naval Operations (Balancing)
• Naval Costs (Balancing)
  

• Object Process Methodology (OPM) to architect requirements.
• (4) critical operands and (4) solution neutral functions.
• (9) system function attributes leading to (10) concept evaluation criteria.
• Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to prioritize customer requirements.
• Pugh Concept Selection to iteratively determine the best solution concepts.
• Pugh analysis round one entailed (20) possible policies narrowed to (4).
• Pugh analysis round two entailed (4) policies narrowed to (1) short term and (1) long term policy.
• Short Term Policy - establishment/enforcement of high-seas safe shipping corridors.
• Long-Term Policy - Somali internal law enforcement, judiciary, and infrastructure reconstruction.
• Cost Benefit and Risk Analysis to determine best solution implementation.
• Verification and Risk Mitigation to verify solution design to requirements and solution robustness.

 Project Presentation Poster (click the image for a full-size view)

Our Policy Recommendations were as follows:

• Short Term (1-5 years approx)
• Adoption of United Nations safe shipping corridor resolution within (1) year.
• Establishment of United Nations naval coalition to provide naval ships and crews for enforcement and protection of corridor.
• Establishment of naval coalition command and control active tracking system for ships within the corridor.
• Increase effectiveness of naval task forces by decreasing assigned patrol area.

• Long Term (5+ years approx)
• Establish United Nations committee to develop economic and infrastructure development plan in Bosasso, Somalia.
• Establish United Nation resolution to instate peacekeeping ground forces in Somalia, beginning in Bossaso.
• Promote irrigation/agriculture as immediate industrial alternatives to piracy.
• Promote tourism in Bosasso as a safe coastal city.
• Eventual leveraging of natural gas resources to fund an active developing economy.

Our Project Takeaways were:

• Traditional product development tools are difficult to use in developing policy.
• Group deliberation is key to develop the most comprehensive policies.
• Iterative Pugh comparisons are crucial to develop optimal policies.
• Short term policies address symptoms, not root causes and are not sustainable.
• Long term policies should address root causes. While they may initially be ineffective, they are sustainable in the long term.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, if you believe these tools and others like it may be useful in your organization, perhaps I and my colleagues in MIT SDM are useful individuals for your team.