Here is an article which looks at whether CIOs need to build a business case for 3D printing, by Steve Ranger, published on August 1, 2014 in ZDNet. A number of CIOs and IT Directors including yours truly, give their views on this possibility.
My position?
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Florentin Albu, CIO at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, said he had been monitoring developments in 3D printing for several years and saw it as a clear example of crowd-based innovation, with people openly experimenting, sharing their results and applying the feedback and knowledge back into their projects to improve them further.
“3D printing is going to shake up a lot of businesses which deal with physical goods, and is no doubt going to bring a lot of intellectual property challenges” he said.
According to Albu, CIOs are in the position to be the ‘chief innovation officer’ for the business: “We are the catalyst, enabling the employees to see the technology in action and letting them bring these ideas to life,” he said.
Albu feels that potentially disruptive technologies like this should be assessed in a three-step process. The first step is to involve employees in the form of workshops and idea contests to help uncover new perspectives that can be explored further. The ideas generated can then be assessed and some explored in a more structured manner for their potential to deliver competitive advantages, which can then lead a third stage where business cases can be developed for the most promising ideas.
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Read the full article here:
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