Thinking about product management and the most common behavior, it could be said that it is incredibly restrictive and limiting. Typically a Product Manager/Marketeer/Engineer is assigned one or more products. This person becomes the aggregator of all strategy, roadmaps, and documentation on the products being built. In other words, this singular entity gathers everything to plan, design, and develop a product or service. Equally important, those stakeholders around this person often relinquish their own individual contributions through the approval process. Once approved, then these stakeholders return to their jobs and product contributions. The documents gathered and developed by the product manager often sit, perhaps never to be shared beyond the current project.
If, as technologists and markteers, we jump out to the other extreme, the United Nations is building the World’s most functional technology ecosystem. “A data revolution for sustainable development is underway, reshaping how knowledge is produced and used, policy is formulated, and governance is redefined and enacted around the world. At its core, it is about people—as users, producers, beneficiaries, and owners of data—who must be at the centre of accountability and participatory mechanisms for the 2030 Agenda and in turn be closely involved in the delivery of the new development agenda. To this end, UNDP has sought to facilitate interactions, synergies and partnerships among different stakeholders, governments, civil society, international development organizations and the private sector that are grounded in perspectives of, and meaningful participation from, people. UNDP particularly seeks to ensure that development experience from the grassroots informs global discussions, and that the data revolution is actionable at the national level.” (source: “Data ecosystems for sustainable development,” Sep 27, 2017, United Nations Development Programme.)
What do these two situations have in common. One a product manager toiling away to develop a commercially viable product. The other, the United Nations that has developed a highly functional technology ecosystem that is dedicated to solving large problems such as poverty, COVID, urban blight and so on.
The situational commonality is that at the heart of each of these efforts are users, producers, beneficiaries and owners of data. Instead of it living in one person’s sphere of influence, the data is freely shared across domain.
As we look at any industrial segment, the most important recognition is that significant decisions will need to be made across broad spectrums of information. Take the Power Utility Industry. It is now at a point where there are large opportunities and challenges. Opportunities like grid resiliency and clean energy. Challenges like an aging workforce and a need for new technology skills.
At Advok8, we would design a solution. For larger power utilities, we would suggest that they build their own ecosystems and tie in vendors, universities, their own engineering and so on. The idea of real time collaboration becomes significantly more important that to build product management plans or to issue RFPs. Speed, innovation and information need to be available to those who would benefit by it.
For smaller power utilities, we would suggest building alliances with other similar utilities. Build an ecosystem that allows non-competitors to collaborate and cooperate. Could a product manager at Duquesne Power and Light build a transmission monitoring solution shared with Plymouth Rock Energy and Rushmore Energy? Conversely, would the ecosystem share in the cost and contribution of implementation. The point is that these types of ecosystems are going to be the data technology that opens each company, each vendor, and each thought tank into the real progress of tomorrow. Consider some of the innovations that could be shared in a power utility ecosystem as I write this:
- The HL-2M Tokamak reactor is China’s largest and most advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device, and scientists hope that the device can potentially unlock a powerful clean energy source.
- The Belgian transmission system operator Elia has deployed a utility-wide (dynamic line ratings) DLR system with sensors on 30 transmission lines. Elia discovered that DLR provided savings of about €0.25 million (US$0.28 million) during a single four-hour congestion event by allowing for the additional import of 33 MW.
- Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) filed a request with California regulators for approval to move ahead with five lithium-ion projects — amounting to 423 MW/1,692 MWh — bringing the total amount of storage the utility has under contract to more than 1 GW, representing more than 4 GWh of capacity.
In picking three diverse projects, if they results were robustly shared within any of the suggested ecosystems, it would have greatly compressed product development. It also would have accelerated knowledge base flowing towards these projects. Finally, it would most certainly cut broader innovation time in half. Just in one Industry, this could be so very important.
Advok8 is dedicated to the development of technology ecosystems, from the people downward. Our design partners and our expertise can help grow something truly special within your extended community.
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