Innovation is often portrayed as a dramatic leap forward—a groundbreaking idea, a disruptive technology, or a revolutionary business model. While these big wins capture headlines, they rarely reflect the day-to-day reality of innovation. Most meaningful progress stems from small, consistent steps that accumulate over time to create lasting impact.
Innovation ecosystems thrive on collaboration, creativity, and adaptability. When organizations and communities seek to create impactful solutions, design thinking and human-centered methods have emerged as pivotal frameworks for driving innovation. These approaches are transformative methodologies that reshape how problems are understood and solved, aligning solutions with real human needs.
Through analysis of social care networks, presented at the 2024 Sunbelt Conference by several members of our OSB team and Teri Garstka, Director of the KU Social Innovation Lab, we've gained a deeper understanding of how network structures underpin the strength and resilience of systems.
Inclusive Innovation initiatives are a powerful catalyst for collaboration, connecting entrepreneurial communities, businesses, local governments, and academic institutions. These initiatives focus on equitable resource distribution, leadership, and ecosystem building, unlocking solutions that address the unique challenges of communities.
In today's fast-paced world of innovation, staying ahead means being adaptable, connected, and always curious about what's next. Industries are evolving at breakneck speed, driven by tech advances, shifts in consumer values, and the pursuit of smarter, more sustainable solutions.
Orange Sparkle Ball is excited to announce our acceptance as an exhibitor at the 2024 Detroit Month of Design, and to the first ever Detroit Month of Design Mobility track! Our demo on September 7th will showcase the Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform we are currently piloting in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit.
Orange Sparkle Ball is excited to announce our participation in the upcoming Design Core Detroit event, Drinks x Design at the Dequindre Cut Freight Yard! Drinks x Design offers an opportunity for creative businesses throughout the city to open their doors and share their work with the public. This upcoming Drinks x Design session will feature Detroit-based organizations and individuals moving the needle in the Equitable Mobility space.
This blog features frequently asked questions Orange Sparkle Ball has been asked about our Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform being launched in Detroit, Michigan. Orange Sparkle Ball was awarded a Real World Deployment Grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. This grant is enabling us to put our Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform into action through a series of pilots in the Transportation Innovation Zone of Detroit, established by the Office of Mobility Innovation at The City of Detroit.
Orange Sparkle Ball has officially received a Transportation Innovation Zone (TIZ) Permit for piloting the autonomous robotic pickup of food waste for composting in the Corktown region of Detroit in partnership with Ottonomy and Scrap Soils with support from Brother Nature Farm.
Orange Sparkle Ball was awarded a Real World Deployment Grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. This grant is enabling us to put our Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform into action through a series of pilots in the Transportation Innovation Zone of Detroit, established by the Office of Mobility Innovation at The City of Detroit.
Earlier this month, the OSB team had the great opportunity to attend the Georgia Public Health Association Annual Meeting, hosted at Jekyll Island!
Working directly with those affected by your challenge is crucial in order to effectively solve it. From getting a clear understanding of what stakeholders have experienced, to accurately seeing the challenge space, to co-designing a solution, engaging with stakeholders can be incorporated at every step. Sophie Becker reflects on the best practices of these sessions and what we can learn from them as facilitators.
Recently some of our teammates had the privilege of attending the Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design LaunchPad event. LaunchPad is an end-of-semester showcase where both graduate and undergraduate students display their remarkable projects crafted throughout the semester.
The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation is partnering with Orange Sparkle Ball to implement project-centered Innovation Coaching as a core offering of their upcoming Partnership Leaders Program; a 6-month long engagement designed to provide participants with a soft onboarding to inclusive Tech-Based Economic Development and entrepreneurial ecosystem development.
This past March, Innovation Strategist Diego Perez had the great opportunity to represent OSB on the judging panel of Georgia Tech’s 2024 IDSA Student Merit Awards.
Join OSB’s Ashley Touchton and Hannah Ranieri with Idea Overflow Podcast hosts Dan Perotti and Patrick Payne to hear about OSB’s founding, the story behind the name, their individual career journeys, to forming a relationship with DroneUp, speaking at SXSW 24, and receiving permitting and funding to pilot an autonomous drone pick-up pilot in Detroit, Michigan.
Orange Sparkle Ball was awarded a Real World Deployment Grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. This grant is enabling us to put our Autonomous Robotic Pickup Platform into action through a series of pilots in the Transportation Innovation Zone of Detroit, established by the Office of Mobility Innovation at The City of Detroit.
Orange Sparkle Ball has officially received a Transportation Innovation Zone (TIZ) Permit for piloting the autonomous robotic pickup of food waste for composting in the Corktown region of Detroit in partnership with Ottonomy and Scrap Soils with support from Brother Nature Farm.
As a forward-thinking company deeply committed to fostering innovation and developing talent, we at Orange Sparkle Ball take immense pride in our longstanding partnership with the Georgia Tech Industrial Design program.
Earlier this month, the OSB team attended South by SouthWest, one of the largest festivals and conferences in the country. We supported OSB Partner and Innovation Strategist Ashley Touchton, as she spoke on the future of drone delivery at the SXSW panel, “Who Will Benefit the Most From Drone Delivery?”
Several members of the OSB team had the chance to lead an ecosystem mapping and inclusive roadmap building workshop at the 2024 GAME Change Summit, a yearly event bringing together innovators from across the Southeastern Commerce Corridor to identify unmet needs in the next-generation manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem, and co-create inclusive solutions together.
OSB Founder Meaghan Kennedy joins Omari Richins, MPH on the Public Health Careers podcast for an insightful discussion about the work we're doing at OSB today. From the roots of OSB to the strategic moves that led to its founding, Meaghan shares her journey and the passion driving our innovative initiatives.
We’re excited to see our friends at MTEC SmartZone hosting their first accelerator! We recently sat down with members of the MTEC team to understand more about the U.P.’s (Upper Peninsula) innovation ecosystem, their unique position in the advanced materials and manufacturing innovation space, and their upcoming Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Program (AMMP) accelerator.
As one of our Ecosystem Partners in the 2023 TOP NLC Sprint, we worked with Macon Black Tech to map the local innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the Macon Metropolitan Area. In addition to mapping the ecosystem, we also wanted to leverage this project as an opportunity to understand the inclusivity of the overall ecosystem, and the barriers facing entrepreneurs and innovators in Middle Georgia.
