Open Letter to Cleveland.com regarding the article, "Text of Victor Voinovich's economic plan for Cuyahoga County mirrors Florida proposal" 

 

Link: http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-county/index.ssf/2010/08/text_of_victor_voinovichs_economic_plan_for_cuyahoga_county_mirrors_florida_proposal.html

 

There is no need for criticism, only support and accolades for leaders such as Vic Voinovich applying new practices of Open Source Economic Development to advance regional education, economic, and workforce development.

 

As part of my responsibilities working with Ed Morrison, Dennis Coughlin, Susan Altshuler at Case Western Reserve University's Center for Regional Economic Issues (REI) located at Weatherhead School of Management 2003-2005 and with the extraordinary contributions of hundred's of Northeast Ohio civic entrepreneurs now connected by I-Open, I had the privilege of assisting Vic Voinovich forward a progressive transformative Teleworking Initiative and Roundtable.

 

This comprehensive initiative sought to build regional industry networks and advance best practices to leverage Internet platforms, industry standardization, and protocols for virtual regional workforce development. Our research was based on accelerated models in Europe and the then State of Texas's vote to incorporate Teleworking as a fundamental building block in their state sustainability program.

 

Had Northeast Ohio regional leadership supported, invested, and collaborated in this open sourced model being introduced to NEO business and constituents, there would be hundreds, if not thousands, of local workers employed today who are now unnecessarily, tragically out of work.

 

Teleworking (or whatever you wish to call remote virtual work standardization) is widely adopted in Europe and is considered part of the reason (along with advanced work share models) why Europe has not been hit as hard as the U.S. in the current global recession.

 

The key component in realizing new local opportunities in networked global markets is a culture based on elements of servant leadership, collaboration, valuing of creativity, and accountability. Without these fundamental behavior attributes, the continued 20+ year legacy (well documented by Brookings Institution reports) of NEO regional poverty is guaranteed.

 

Cleveland.com do your part by initiating new, constructive conversations!

 

You can learn more about the REI Teleworking Roundtable and Initiative led by Vic at this link on the REI Wiki: http://osed.smartworkspaces.com/index.php/Main/ReadMoreAboutTelework