Cast your vote for a US Department of Innovation at Change.org

Cognate with the notion of a National Design Policy, advanced at the recent
US National Design Policy Summit organized by Dori Tunstall, is the concept
of a new US Department of Innovation.  Now we have a chance to create one.

On Change.org, the website created by the Obama Transition team to solicit
new ideas for the next four years, Alain Rostain has proposed the creation
of a Department of Innovation.  The proposal has 53 votes and requires 24
more to ascend to the next, penultimate round of considerations.  The
comments in response to Rostain¹s proposal, usually positive, are
fascinating in their own right ‹ but so is the realization that, by our
casting our votes (much as we would on Digg), we might be creating a
high-level public institution to nurture and grow good ideas like a National
Design Policy:

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/department_of_innovation

I urge you to visit the website, consider Alain¹s proposal, and if it
appeals, to vote for the creation of the US Department of Innovation.  You
can also read many other interesting innovations on Change.org.

Bob Jacobson
Tucson, AZ


On 11/24/08 7:56 AM, "Elizabeth Tunstall" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hello DP group,
> 
> So we pulled it off, the US National Design Policy Summit. Here is the
> official release, but I am very excited about the next steps, including the
> finishing the report. It was really cool to have this happen after the Obama
> election victory. It think it created an opening for participants to be
> focused more on the future and collaboration, two elements that were necessary
> for the Summit¹s success. There is a lot a work that needs to be done, but it
> will be thrilling to do the work.
> 
> Dori
> 
> **************
> 
> U.S. DESIGN LEADERS ATTEND U.S. NATIONAL DESIGN POLICY SUMMIT
>  
> Leaders representing the major U.S. professional design organizations, design
> education accreditation organizations, and Federal government design assembled
> in Washington D.C. on November 11-12 to develop a blueprint for a U.S.
> national design policy.
>  
> United by a shared vision of design¹s integral role in the U.S.¹s economic
> competitiveness and democratic governance, the Summit generated over 250
> proposals for how the design communities and the U.S. government can work
> together to drive:
> -      innovation that supports American entrepreneurial spirit and economic
> vitality, 
> -      better performance in government communications and effectiveness,
> -      sustainable practices for communities and the environment, and
> -      design thinking that advances the educational goals of all areas of
> knowledge.
>  
> Summit participants ranked proposals by their value to the American people and
> the design communities as well as their operational and political feasibility.
> Brad McConnell, economic adviser in the Office of Senator Dick Durbin,
> assisted the group in determining political feasibility. The Summit concluded
> with the proposal of several immediate action steps for developing a U.S.
> national design policy:
> 1.    Re-establish the American Design Council to serve as a unified body
> representing all the U.S. design fields
> 2.    Create a report of the Summit and its proposals as the first publication
> of the American Design Council
> 3.    Seek funding for a report on the contribution of the design industries
> to the U.S. economy
> 4.    Encourage and support the National Endowment for the Art¹s proposing of
> a U.S. National Design Assembly in 2010 and Federal Design Improvement Program
> in 2011
> 5.    Develop case studies from each design field that demonstrates the
> economic, social, and environmental value of design
> 6.    Engage design industry CEOs to provide testimonials of the value of
> design
> 7.    Propose a holistic design award that will represent the highest honor in
> American design.
>  
> Organized by Dr. Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, Associate Professor of Design
> Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the U.S. National
> Design Summit participants included:
>  
>> >From Professional Design Organizations
>  
> -      Richard Grefé, Executive Director of AIGA
> -      Paul Mendelsohn, Vice President, Government and Community Relations,
> American Institute of Architects
> -      Leslie Gallery Dilworth, Executive Director, Society for Environmental
> Graphic Design
> -      Deanna Waldron, Director of Government and Public Affairs, American
> Society of Interior Designers
> -      Earl Powell, Lifelong Fellow, Design Management Institute
> -      Frank Tyneski, Executive Director, Industrial Designers Society of
> America
> -      Allison Levy, Managing Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs,
> International Interior Design Association
> -      Paul Sherman, President, Usability Professionals Association
>  
>> >From Design Education Accreditation Bodies
>  
> -      Catherine Armour, National Board Member, Association of Independent
> Colleges of Art and Design
> -      Holly Mattson, Executive Director, Council for Interior Design
> Accreditation
> -      Samuel Hope, Executive Director, National Association for Schools of
> Art and Design
>  
>> >From U.S. Federal Government
>  
> -      Clark Wilson, Sr. Urban Designer/Environmental Protection Specialist,
> U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
> -      Frank Giblin, Director Urban Development Program, U.S. General Services
> Administration
> -      Janice Sterling, Director of Creative Services, U.S. Government
> Printing Office
> -      Ronald Keeney, Assistant Director of Creative Services, U.S. Government
> Printing Office
>  
> Summit Facilitators
>  
> -      Renata Graw, Principal Plural, University of Illinois at Chicago MFA
> 2008
> -      Siobhan Gregory, MFA student in Industrial Design at University of
> Illinois at Chicago
> -      Alicia Kuri Alamillo, MFA student in Graphic Design at University of
> Illinois at Chicago
> -      Matthew Muñoz, Principal Design Heals, North Carolina State University
> MFA 2008
> -      Sean Burgess, IDSA
> -      Tim Adkins, IDSA
> 




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