Announcing a Ten by Twenty progress report and the Idea Lab

Dear Faculty, Students and Staff:Ten goals. Four priorities. Conversations with more than 1,000 members of the Johns Hopkins community across 10 divisions, culminating in one ambitious vision for our university through 2020.

Since we officially launched the Ten by Twenty in 2013, the conversation about our university’s future has inspired progress toward our goals, illuminated the work yet to do, and ignited exciting new ideas.

I promised to update you along the way. Today I want to share our first Ten by Twenty progress report and one of those innovative ideas: the Johns Hopkins Idea Lab—a new universitywide crowdsourcing platform to support your ingenuity.

On our Ten by Twenty website you’ll see 30 snapshots—stories of people and projects—that capture our work in four priority areas: One University, Individual Excellence, Commitment to Our Communities, and Institution Building. You’ll hear what our faculty, students, and staff have to say about how we’re doing and what they have to ask me about where we’re going.

One of the many innovative ideas that embody the spirit of Ten by Twenty is the new Johns Hopkins Idea Lab. The Idea Lab will be home to crowdsourcing initiatives from all corners of Johns Hopkins, harnessing your remarkable talent and collaboration to strengthen our university and our impact in the world. Inspired by the Applied Physics Laboratory’s Ignition Grants, the Idea Lab reflects the way in which smart ideas travel across our university, growing and unleashing an avalanche of creativity.

The first two Idea Lab initiatives are ready for your creative input right now. The Ten by Twenty Challenge is focused on the theme of One University and invites you to propose, comment on, and vote for ideas that knit our university closer together. The winners will receive up to $20,000 to turn those ideas into action. The Diversity Innovation Grants, now crowdsourced for the first time, support creative programming ideas that foster diversity and inclusion across the entire Johns Hopkins University and Health System community.

I hope you’ll take a moment to explore the Ten by Twenty progress report and share your feedback. Vote for the Idea Lab challenges that inspire you—and add your own ideas. Keep the conversation about our university going.

Sincerely,

Ronald J. Daniels

• Next post: 2015 Commencement Ceremony
• Previous post: A message on innovation and entrepreneurship at Johns Hopkins