In many instances we have seen that from private to government agencies have lifted ideas from online communities like Praja, and ideas/discussions have been borrowed or inspired from. Don't agree? Read the Deccan Chronicle news report titled "City needs hub-and-spoke traffic structure"
"...If Bengaluru is to have a sustainable future, the way the city’s infrastructure is designed has to change and mobility has to be enhanced. According to the urban development researcher Rama Subramanian, the network city concept might well become the future of Bengaluru....”
Comments
careful, but thats the whole idea
Syed, why use the words "lifted" to give it any negative connotation at all. The whole idea of having open website (and not obscure email lists or private talk circles) is exactly that. Put out ideas, suggestions, analysis in open, and give the whoever-the-other-party-is freedom to pick, ignore, or develop further, and that too without any obligations of credits or acknowledgments.
Even otherwise, many things talked are established concepts that we ourselves pick from books or journals around us. So, in the connected and increasingly open world these days, there are no original ideas anymore. Ideas and things start small, and get developed or evolve to be practicable - that is where we could add more and more value, and that is where people will look for value going forward.
Lifted or borrowed?
SB,
My original statement was "borrowed", looks like it has been edited to "lifted" and couple of sentences removed. No problem.
The moral of the story is not about who borrows what? The point I wanted to highlight have been said clearly in the title. The discussions that have taken place on Praja, months and year ago, are now being talked and debated in public forums. Interesting part is the experts are talking about these now. In any case "Der Aye Durust Aye".
With regarding to ideas original or not, I would vouch for the Praja community that in 99% cases due credit has been given to the original sources. Whether others do give credit to Praja's work, all I would say is reflective of their mindset and professional ethics.
Now lets get back to the topic. Certainly in many areas I feel the ideas, discussions and solution that have been on Praja are ahead of times in a sense only now the authorities are acknowledging the issues and solutions around it. In other words one can say that there is really dearth of data, ideas and solutions in government agencies. Therefore the pro-active experts and officials are taking note of the discussions taking place on sites like Praja and other public forums. Which is a good sign and I also welcome.
Therefore I congratulate Praja community for putting out such quality and useful information through discussions and friendly pot-shots.
Having said, I urge all to let us put out more of such discussions, valuable thoughts, analysis and sustainable solutions that would find takers in policy making bodies. I have no doubt if we continue like this, Praja will be heard in highest policy decision making body in the country.
Mantra is think globally, Act locally.
-Syed
didn't change that word
I didn't change that word Syed, just put back your changes if you disagree with any edits. However, whether the word is "borrowed" or "lifted", there is not much to be gained in initiating any credit-taking discussions.
The larger problem is that experts, whether trained or self-styled (enthusiasts like us) don't have good ways of first putting their thoughts and ideas openly in public domain, and then getting other experts/enthusiasts to build on those. This problem has two sides, 1) lack of tools/ways to collaborate, and 2) tendency to put individuals/groups (aka credits) before the idea.
At Praja, we are certainly on to something that would fill the gap :) Lots to do, and miles to go though !!
cheers,
SB aka Pranav