Monday was exciting – not only was it the Fall workshop for the iAD Center for Research-based Innovation, but it was also the opening of the iAD Lab [Norwegian language story here] – a physical manifestation of the research project, as well as an important tool for drawing the researchers from the five Oslo-based participants (FAST, Accenture, Schibsted, UiO and BI) closer together.

Myself, I plan to spend at least one day per week in the lab – there is nothing like physical proximity to get to know an organization and a field, notwithstanding all the communications capabilities, electronic and otherwise, we surround ourselves with.

The lab itself, incidentally, is just six workspaces, a few computers and access cards for researchers. Gone are the days when the opening of a computing center was photogenic, with blinking lights and spinning tape decks. But it will enable us to store sensitive data in a secure environment, have enough horsepower to really analyze them, and provide a natural focal point for demonstrations, prototypes and experiments.