Over the past 10 years, it has been my great privilege to know and occasionally work with "The New Age of Innovation" author C.K. Prahalad as well as his co-author, M.S. Krishnan, both highly distinguished professors at the University of Michigan's business school and internationally renowned experts on business strategy and the role of information technology in that strategy. C.K. has been a member of InformationWeek's Editorial Advisory Board for most of that time, and he and Krishnan have written numerous ground-breaking articles for InformationWeek, participated in our events, and in general helped us identify key changes before they became apparent. So about a year ago, just after C.K. and Krishnan had asked me to take a look at a rough draft of a book they were working on, I realized that this new project would be much more than a book: It would be a movement.

During subsequent discussions in Ann Arbor, Philadelphia, New York, and over the phone, we pursued the possibilities of what form such a "movement" might take and how InformationWeek could serve as an amplifier for these bold ideas from C.K and Krishnan. And it soon became clear that just as the book forcefully advocates new and untraditional thinking and behavior, so too could the core ideas behind the book be disseminated and advanced in equally unconventional ways. We wanted to enrich the already-powerful content by bringing in the wisdom of crowds and by allowing readers to interact with the authors beyond consuming words on printed page, and we wanted to create a series of ongoing dialogues that would take the discussion far beyond the capabilities of a physically bound book.

As a result, this special InformationWeek blog represents the initial expression of that extended conversation and learning experience. The blog will run indefinitely -- as long, I guess, as readers show interest in extending the discussion -- and we'll complement it via Webcasts, a face-to-face road show, video interviews with C.K. and Krishnan, and a keynote presentation on April 29 by C.K. at our sister event, Software 2008,which is collocated with Interop in Las Vegas. We hope you'll take the opportunity to be a regular participant in the blog discussions, and that perhaps you'll also have the chance to watch the video interview with C.K. and Krishnan, attend the forthcoming Webcast, or possibly attend one of the live road show events. As always, we welcome your feedback and ideas on how InformationWeek can be of greater value to you, in this case specifically by bringing alive the movement that "The New Age of Innovation" is sure to inspire