Collaborative Control Tower

The control tower concept at first would seem at odds with the concept of the collaborative network however there is a real need for a means to coordinate the communications and the collaboration contacts and interactions in a flexible and robust platform and the control tower concept checks all these boxes.  The challenge with the control tower is to develop a method and process that creates and supports a social network control tower across multiple partners. This social network control tower provides a method for standard communications and connectivity across partners in a manner that allows the information to flow across partners fluidly and quickly to support the conversations and collaboration activities across partners.  So the control tower is a communications control tower that supports the flow and does not control the message within the flow. It is important for this collaborative control tower to support the communications and not the information in the message.

I think that from the perspective of supporting the flow of the message that Facebook provides a good model of the social network control tower.  Facebook provides the framework and the technology foundation for the social network to support the flow of communications and messages without controlling those communications or messages.  This is exactly the framework necessary to support the retail collaborative market in a manner that supports the communications and a fluid message flow. This framework concept supports the addition, and subtraction, of partners easily and efficiently along with a means for the partners to focus and address messages or ignore messages.  The framework supports the social aspect of the collaborative network and allows for the growth of the networks and the partners through a social growth that supports and benefits the partners. This framework allows for growth based on necessity and opportunity rather than a planned out process. This fluid social growth more effectively supports the network than a controlled communication through any one partner.  

The challenge of this type of control tower is the maintenance and support across a network of partners with varying degrees of capabilities to participate in the support.  This control tower framework also allows for the support of all partners based on their capabilities providing an on-ramp for the participation and collaboration supporting partners that do not, or cannot, maintain their own connectivity.  This is especially important for the entrance of consumers into the collaborative network. The social network maintenance can and should be maintained by the partners that gain the greatest return, in other words, the small partners providing a niche specialized service would participate based on a simple connection model that allows for communications and participation as necessary where the large retailer or even supply chain carrier for instance would provide the hardware to support the connection and communication from other partners.  

The collaborative control tower framework provides the connectivity and the foundation for the collaborative social network to prosper and grow and as such it only makes sense that the technology would be provided by the partners with the most to gain..  This is an important aspect of the social network concept of share and supporting the network to the benefits of the partners. There may need to be some type of subscription fee for some partners in order to allow for the expansion and growth necessary to support the demands of the customers.  These details, fortunately can be addressed over time as the needs are identified. The important aspect of the collaborative control tower though is the social aspect that provides an open and robust network for collaboration and communication.