Does design have a role to play in the face of disaster? That’s the conversation the Cooper-Hewitt sparked through a panel they hosted the other week which I was invited to join. The conversation was moderated by Chris Hacker, CDO of J&J, and included panelists who have been on the frontlines of relief for some of the world’s most horrific disasters, Jean-Cedric Meeus, Emergency Coordinator of UNICEF Supply Division, Gerald Martone, Humanitarian Affairs Director for the International Rescue Committee, and Pierre Fouche, a Haitian earthquake engineer.

The conversation focused primarily on the disaster in Haiti. Frontline reports from Jean and Gerald underscored the extraordinary challenges the humanitarian community faces in delivering aid to a country hobbled by a threadbare infrastructure (including a lack of basic governance) and debilitating poverty. Taking a step back, we looked at a country that has been the recipient of over $4 billion in aid over the past 20 years. Pre-earthquake, there were over 10,000 private aid organizations working in Haiti, providing basic services in every arena of life. Depending on which source you choose to believe, the estimated cost of recovery hovers in the range of $7.2 to $13 billion. The main focus now is pure “rescue:” How to deliver and distribute it. This is the horse before the cart of reconstruction.

And it all reminded me of something I heard the founder of a social enterprise working in Haiti say, post-disaster: “Rescue is important, but doesn’t lead to anything more than rescue.” That’s not to say immediate relief isn’t a must have—but what’s the role design can play in the long-term recovery (and we’re talking decades) facing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere? That’s the big question to ask—and some of what we touched on during the panel conversation.

You can view the video of the conversation here.

Last Thursday night, Harry West took part in a dinner panel discussing what it takes to succeed in the consumer technology sector here in Massachusetts.  Harry joined the following speakers and moderator, Scott Kirsner, for the talk:

Steve Krampf, Co-founder and CEO, Chestnut Hill Sound
Antonio Rodriguez, Founder, Tebblo; General Manager, HP Publishing Services
Carl Yankowski, CEO, Ambient Devices

You can download the audio file of the talk here.  Its just about 50 minutes long and covers topics ranging from consumer research to hardware/software services integration.

Join Dan Buchner, Vice President of Innovation and Design, and designers from Continuum for a one-day workshop — an interactive journey into the world of design thinking. Through short lectures and fast moving and interactive work sessions, our designers will take you through the design thinking process from concept to realization.

Partnering with the Business Innovation Factory in Providence has been a fantastic experience and we are really looking forward to the session.

You can register here.

Read up on the workshop and BIF here.

Business Innovation Factory
315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101
Providence, RI 02908

I spent the earlier part of the week at SCAD at a design charrette we helped them host. Design for the other 90% was the theme. Some 200 or so industrial design students are spending 4 1/2 days working in groups of 5 or 6. The groups were assigned regions and topics – South America, peace and stability for instance. Each day (and most of each night) the groups are getting first hand experience with a phase of our design strategy process – alignment, discovery, analysis and envisioning. Its inspiring to see these talented young designers applying their time and talents to understanding and proposing solutions to some of the worlds real problems.

I’m hoping this experience will inspire them. I think it will. Focusing 4 days on far off lands and how most of the people on this planet live must seem such quite a departure from designing cars of the future and jet skis!

Congrats to the folks at SCAD (and Continuum’s Beth Johnson) for all the work to set this up. But, most of all thanks to the students participating. Perhaps you can see that you can make a difference in this world.

Check out details on the event

http://scadcharrette.net/

Harry West has spent the last 20 years helping companies all over the world see the value of design thinking and innovation as a means to identify opportunities for new growth and success in the marketplace. In addition to leading design strategy for the development of the Swiffer—Procter and Gamble’s best selling product ever—Harry uses ethnography, storytelling, rigorous analysis and informed creativity to help companies like BMW, Sprint, Motorola and Coca–Cola drive business results through design.

Friday, March 7 2008
2:00PM to 3:00PM
Patil/Kiva Seminar Room G449
Hosted by Rob Miller, MIT CSAIL

MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
The Stata Center, Building 32 – 32 Vassar Street – Cambridge, MA 02139 – USA

Join Dan Buchner, Vice President of Innovation and Design and designers from Continuum for this one-day workshop — an interactive journey into the world of design thinking. Through short lectures and fast moving and interactive work sessions, Continuum’s designers will take you through the design thinking process from concept to realization.

March 27, 2008
8:30 a.m.–3 p.m.
Business Innovation Factory
315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101
Providence, RI 02908

Click here to register.