The Bleeding Edge & IMLP

One of the greatest parts of being an IMLP is being around people who have a "real" passion for technology in and out of their job functions. At the beginning of college, when I started my foray into the traditional Corporate World, I was surprised to learn that my corporate cohorts subscribed to the creed that "new technology = more work".

What is so refreshing about the GE IMLP program, is that in order to be considered a viable candidate, you have to demonstrate that you have a true passion for technology and enough curiosity to seek out information on emerging technologies.

GE relies on this passion throughout its whole IT organization to raise awareness on possible "game changers" so we can get involved early. In fact, our commitment doesn't just stop at the employee level but includes partnerships with other companies and academic institutions.

One example of such a partnership is GE's edge lab, a collaboration between GE Corporate and the University of Connecticut. Here is their mission statement:

Our vision is to bridge the gap between academic research and applied corporate execution. edgelab is a graduate research facility that combines the distinct capabilities of senior faculty, GE executives, business school students, and public-private strategic partnerships.

Each semester we partner with new students, new professors, and new GE businesses in order to achieve the same goal: to tackle challenging corporate problems by providing fresh, unique, solutions. The result is a unique blend of theoretical vision, experiential know-how, and creative "out of the box" thinking.

Beyond these more formal efforts, you have this undercurrent of IT passion that flows throughout the organization constantly driving the possibility change. For example, yesterday, Mozilla Labs made an announcement for the 0.1 release of a command line tool called Ubiquity for Firefox that, in my opinion, may revolutionize the way we interact with the web. Check out the video below to see what I mean.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvjdXNnRMfU]

These are the types of technology paradigm shifts IMLPs can see, leverage their ever-growing company network, and then get in front of the right people to transform the conversation from a "what if?" to a "how soon?".

It isn't a coincidence that a immensely successful company like GE recognizes the benefits of leveraging the latest technologies. So please, keep logging into your Slashdots and Engadgets because the more aware you are of what's around the corner, the better you will be able to position yourself to make competent IT decisions during your tenure as an IMLP.