DoorsEast 2003 involves a cluster of events on the theme: "Local knowledge: design and innovation of tomorrow's services".

We are calling DoorsEast a “working party” because it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the first ever Doors conference, in November 1993.

We see this as a unique and timely opportunity to re-connect with our friends and associates, in the exciting context of an emerging innovation city, to discuss how we might collectively shape the innovation agenda for the design of tomorrow's services.

Why do we need new design strategies for the internet? The history of Doors is about discussion of that question. Since 1993, we have seen what the internet can do - but it remains unclear what it, and otherf new technologies, are for.

If tech-push is indeed over as a driver of innovation, as we believe, a new model of innovation is needed if we are to exploit the broadband communications, smart materials, wearable computing, pervasive computing, and connected appliances, that we’re unleashing upon the world.

Although their contexts differ dramatically, both Europe and Asia face the same innovation dilemma: in order to innovate successfully, we need find out the emerging needs to which new technology might be an answer

DoorsEast 2003 is therefore not about aid, or development, or about being good. It’s about innovation and collaborative value creation among peers.

.India has a lot to teach us about shared use models of communication, and new ways of using - and paying for - devices and networks.

India is also a country in which people are treated in some economic situations as a value - not only as a cost, as they tend to be in the west and north.

Tomorrow’s services need to involve people more, not less, than they do today. India, with one fifth of the world’s population, is an ideal place to explore what it might mean to design services that use people more, not less.

We will look at the ways wireless communications change the way we design for mobility, geography, and access. We will compare diverse scenarios from both India and Europe that use location based information (GIS / GPS), groups, unit-to-unit broadcast, short audio messaging, text-to-speech, WiFi networks, and other approaches.

Experiences doing projects in real places with real people will be compared. There will be discussion of new principles for the design of network-based services in new contexts. Tools and methodologies for mapping local knowledge will be presented and compared. Speakers will share lessons learned about service designs and new business models..

This encounter concludes with Doors’ tenth birthday party on the Friday evening. That alone is one reason many of our friends are coming.

All of us on the Doors Team, and our partners, look forward to seeing you in Bangalore in December.

John Thackara
August 2003.