Two new reports -- a first-ever study on effectiveness and collaboration within foundations, and the other a provocative look at expanding the focus of risk analysis for the products of science and technology -- have been posted on the Hybrid Vigor Institute's research website, hybridvigor.net.

ORGANIZING CHANGE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

This is the executive summary of a first-ever study (and detailed report to be published in 2003) on internal collaboration (a.k.a. 'cross-cutting') within foundations, sponsored by the Surdna Foundation. Called ORGANIZING CHANGE FROM THE INSIDE OUT: Emerging Models of Intra-organizational Collaboration in Philanthropy, the study and report were produced by Diana Rhoten, Ph.D., research director for the Hybrid Vigor Institute. Data were gathered from interviews with 29 representatives of 17 foundations, and from conversations with nine philanthropy consultants and/or researchers.

"Our specific intention was to examine if and how internal collaboration could be best used to increase the quality and effectiveness of grantmaking in these difficult financial times," said Rhoten. "What we found was that although many of these efforts are struggling to catch a spark, foundations that learn to connect their own 'silos' of knowledge, activity and resources are achieving new levels of innovation and productivity."

Rhoten's study prompted a meeting of several foundation representatives and subject experts, convened by Hybrid Vigor and co-funded by the Rockefeller and Packard foundations, in summer 2002. As a result of their input, the Institute is looking to expand on this work. More information on this expanded study is also available in the summary.

RISK: THE ART AND THE SCIENCE OF CHOICE

Hybrid Vigor's founder and executive director Denise Caruso continues her analysis of the nature and evolution of scientific and technological risk with a Rockefeller-funded white paper called, RISK: The Art and the Science of Choice. The report was commissioned by Rockefeller's Global Inclusion Program after the publication of Caruso's groundbreaking Hybrid Vigor Journal, "RISK AS CONTINUUM: A Redefinition of Risk for Governing the Post-Genome World."

The central theme of the paper is the difficulty of accurately assessing these risks, given the sparseness and uncertainty of scientific knowledge about most new discoveries and technologies, a view that is shared by a wide range of concerned scientists, public policy makers, citizens and other stakeholders.

"We can no longer rely on outmoded risk measurements when assessing powerful new technologies and scientific processes," said Caruso. "The latest research in the field of risk analysis leads decisively to redefining these assessment measures in light of the lack of historical data and radical uncertainty about long-term consequences."

John Seely Brown, former director of the legendary Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, called the risk report "brilliant, timely, provocative and extremely important." A shorter version was published as an SNS Special Letter to the subscribers of the influential Strategic News Service newsletter.

"RISK: The Art and the Science of Choice" can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

"RISK AS CONTINUUM: A Redefinition of Risk for Governing the Post-Genome World" can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

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