IBM Serious Game Provides Training to Tackle Global Business Challenges

Building on the early success of Innov8 in the academic community over the past year, Innov8 v.2 is now available to businesses and academic institutions for simulations and training. The new version of the game will feature puzzles and tasks that challenge the player to eliminate waste in the food supply chain, reduce traffic congestion and improve customer service through call center management.

Serious games are at the cusp of widespread adoption within all sectors of business and government, from military flight simulators to corporate training. According to The Apply Group, by 2012, between 100 and 135 of the Global Fortune 500 will have adopted gaming for learning, with the United States, United Kingdom and Germany leading the way.

Innov8 v.2 will deliver a complete redesign of the game, featuring a newly added global collaboration allowing the player to leverage virtual team mates to guide them through developing a new business process model in order to reach the next level.

Also new are three new game scenarios that reflect a new level of intelligence required for high-value future job opportunities:

• 'Green' Supply Chain: Players evaluate a traditional supply chain model and are tasked with decreasing the carbon footprint.

• Efficient traffic flow: Players evaluate existing traffic patterns and re-route traffic based on sensors that alert the player to disruptions like accidents and congestion on the roadway.

• Customer service through call center management: Using a call center environment, players develop more efficient ways to respond to customers.

"Nowadays we all realize that the need to enhance the skills and knowledge of our workforce is very important, especially the skills related with business and technology, due to the current skill shortage problem. Thus, the skill improvement program is not only important for the students who will become our workforce in the future, but it also relates with our country's overall competitiveness in the long run as well" said Jadesada Kraisingkorn, country manager, Software Group, IBM Thailand.

"With the launch of Innov8 v.2, we strongly believe that this would, more or less, help support the skill enhancement for our students and business professionals and boost their competency so that they can become a very capable workforce and better compete in the challenging and competitive environment in the future" added Jadesada. 

Learning Through Visualization

Most MBA programs are already heavily based on projects that reflect how individuals and teams need to interact in the real world. Innov8 takes that a step further by actually allowing students to step into a dynamic business environment. The game is based on advanced commercial gaming technologies and allows players to visualize how technology and related business strategies affect an organization's performance. Together, users can map out business processes, identify bottlenecks, and explore 'what if' scenarios in an experiential learning environment.

According to a 2008 study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a great lecture can improve learning outcomes by 17 percent. Switching to a different delivery mechanism like serious games can improve learning outcomes by 108 percent. 

Through its Academic Initiative, IBM is partnering with thousands of universities to help re-tool college-level course work in a way that energizes students and up and coming executives. Innov8 v.2, available to Academic Initiative members at no charge, was designed to be delivered in a one-hour learning lab to supplement courses like Business Process Management, Corporate Strategy, and Operations and IT Management.

In one year, more than 100 universities - including Duquesne University, University of Southern California and Manchester Business School (UK) - have teamed with IBM and integrated Innov8 into their curriculum.

"Until now, some of the most important skills such as leadership, project management, innovation and entrepreneurship could only be taught using standard case studies and inspirational quotes," said Clark Aldrich, author of  "The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games: How the Most Valuable Content Will Be Created in the Age Beyond Guttenberg to Google." "IBM's game is one way that universities can help students to learn by doing through simulations in conjunction with traditional teaching methods to build new skills and retain knowledge."

Addressing a Skills Shortage

IBM's Academic Initiative is a program offering a wide range of technology education benefits to meet the goals of colleges and universities. As a member of this initiative, participating schools receive free access to IBM software, discounted hardware, course materials, training and curriculum development.  Over 4,600 universities and 9,000 faculty members worldwide have joined IBM's Academic Initiative.