About Us 0

The Doug Engelbart Institute* was conceived by Doug Engelbart to further his lifelong career goal of boosting our ability to better address complex, urgent problems. As he saw it, both the rate and the scale of change are increasing very rapidly worldwide, and we as a people must get that much faster and smarter at anticipating, assessing, and responding to important challenges collectively if we are to stay ahead of the curve, and thrive as a planet. In other words, we must get faster and smarter at boosting our Collective IQ.1

It is along this chosen career path that Engelbart became prominent as a pioneer of the digital age. Best known for inventing the computer mouse, he and his research team at SRI were responsible for many pioneering firsts, originally showcased in his now-famous 1968 Demo. More on this story in our History, Archives, Library and Press Clippings pages, which are dedicated to conserving and chronicling the past. 2

However, the overarching aim of this website is to inform decision-makers and a wider public about a visionary strategy and tools for achieving peak performance within commercial enterprises as well as the public sector, and especially within initiatives aimed at making the world a better place. Doug Engelbart applied the same ingenuity that spawned his technological innovations to the challenge of how groups, organizations, nations, and societies can boost their Collective IQ, and use that heightened capacity for increasing innovation, effectiveness, and quality of life. More on this strategy, as well as the enabling tools and techniques for strategic pursuit, in the Vision, How To, and Projects pages of this website.
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We offer a powerful strategic approach for increasing the collective IQ in organizations and societies, on a scale commensurate with the exponential rate and scale of change that we face. This approach, Doug Engelbart's greatest breakthrough innovation, is designed to optimize overall effectiveness, productivity, innovation, and quality of life on the planet. Everything you need to get started is available free on our website beginning with Vision and Mission, Vision Highlights, Bootstrap "Paradigm Map" (for short videos of Doug presenting the strategic vision), and Resources for Bootstrapping Innovation™.

We also serve as the official steward and agent of Doug Engelbart's seminal work. See the Doug Engelbart Archives for links to his papers, videotaped presentations and interviews, biographical information, and more.

More Background 1

The Doug Engelbart Institute* was conceived by Dr. Douglas C. Engelbart and Christina Engelbart as a vehicle for broad-based collaboration to explore how we can dramatically boost our collective ability to solve complex, urgent problems on a global scale. 1a

Simply put, our mission is to inspire, demonstrate and propogate breakthrough strategies, best practices, and open source tools for boosting the Collective IQ of teams, organizations, initiatives, communities, and even whole nations and societies; to cultivate an active collaborative network of participants from a cross-section of disciplines and sectors engaging in cross-cutting hands-on participatory initiatives via our interactive website; to foster pilot trials in partner organizations; to facilitate the incorporation of resulting open source tools into mainstream software; and to make the work broadly available through the web, through publications, gatherings, workshops, presentations and consulting. Ultimately the Institute seeks to promote an international alliance of stakeholders engaging in this work.1b

The stratetic principles underlying this work are based on Doug's lifelong vision for bootstrapping our Collective IQ for the purpose of rapidly increasing learning, innovation and effectiveness of teams, organizations, and society. Many of these organizing principles were embedded in his legendary research lab at SRI, which was responsible for more breakthrough innovation than probably any other lab before or since. 1c

The Doug Engelbart Institute is also steward of Engelbart's historic work, including his papers, photographic and video records, digital files, and software, in collaboration with the Internet Archive, Stanford University Special Collections, SRI International, the NMC, and the Computer History Museum. Visit our Archives page for details. 1d

The Doug Engelbart Institute is a California 501(c)3 not-for-profit incorporated in the State of California.1e

Our Team2

Principals 2a

Directors 2b

Advisors 2c

Contact Info 3

To reach us at our offices at SRI International click here.3a

Members of the press please see our Press pages before contacting us.3b