After working at Virginia Tech, Adnan Saeed noticed a lack of accessible industry research for technology teams and entrepreneurs in the early stages of product development. While colleges and institutions were equipped to benefit industry partners, Saeed highlighted that many lacked the necessary tools to collaborate with smaller teams and start-ups in a timely and cost-effective manner. To combat this issue, Saeed and his team worked diligently and founded Ideas Studio earlier this year.
Researchers, scientists, innovators, companies, institutions, and others can use the application to share, collaborate, and discuss solutions that will improve idea and product development processes while also driving creativity and the discussion of ethics and technology. Ideas Studio is a unique application that not only improves the product development process but also encourages interdisciplinary collaboration for stakeholders to stay informed and up to date on strategies for creating ethical systems as well as increased accessibility to helpful information. Ideas Studio also hopes to have a widespread impact on circulating critical and beneficial information to society as advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning pose a potential threat to a multitude of industries as well as human autonomy.
The Ideas Studio prototype application offers a novel organizational structure that users can easily navigate. The application allows users to network with fellow creators and researchers, all while collaborating to find the best solutions for their product or idea. Some of the app’s features include groups, projects, stories, events, charts, feeds, and planned features. Currently, the startup is testing early-stage functions, and anyone interested in participating in usability testing can register at https://ideas.studio.
As a new start-up, Ideas Studio is still in the process of building a platform to gain momentum. Currently, Ideas Studio is collaborating with The Virginia Tech Center for Humanities to pursue a mutual goal of preventing and alleviating the negative consequences of technology in society. The collaboration with the Center for Humanities is helping the Ideas Studio application with effective feedback and reviews through each stage of application development.
The Ideas Studio application has also gone through continuous review by a diverse group of potential users. So far, the results have been promising, and many users have supported the benefits of using the Ideas Studio application to bridge the gap between higher education research and small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs.
Saeed expects to bring the application to the market and develop further functions within the next year. The Ideas Studio team’s developmental strategy revolves around their purpose, while also using modern technical processes and experimentation to eliminate any uncertainties. In the future, Ideas Studio hopes to incorporate big data-driven insights and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the application’s features.
Ideas Studio is currently located at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center’s COgro, a co-working space for entrepreneurs, professionals, early-stage and startup companies. Located within the research park, COgro offers tenants access to programming, labs, collaborative spaces, and various networking opportunities.
