The term Ideagoras refers to places on the Internet where large numbers of people or businesses gather to exchange ideas and solutions. The term was coined by Don Tapscott

Don Tapscott

Don Tapscott is a Canadian business executive, author, consultant and speaker, specializing in business strategy, organizational transformation and the role of technology in business and society. Tapscott is chairman of business strategy think tank New Paradigm , which he founded in 1993...

 and Anthony D. Williams in Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

Wikinomics

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything is a book by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, first published in December 2006. It explores how some companies in the early 21st century have used mass collaboration and open-source technology, such as wikis, to be successful...

. This term is a portmanteau of the modern English word idea

Idea

In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...

 and the ancient Greek word agora

Agora

The Agora was an open "place of assembly" in ancient Greek city-states. Early in Greek history , free-born male land-owners who were citizens would gather in the Agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the Agora also served as a marketplace where...

. An agora was an open "place of assembly" in an ancient Greek city-state where trade occurred. It has also been described as the political heart of Athens from 600BC. Wikinomics refers to online ideas marketplaces like InnoCentive

InnoCentive

InnoCentive is an "open innovation" company that takes research and development problems in a broad range of domains such as engineering, computer science, math, chemistry, life sciences, physical sciences and business and frames them as "challenge problems" for anyone to solve them...

as ideagoras.

External references

• BusinessWeek Article, Feb 2007, Special Report from BusinessWeek relating to Ideagoras