The author and pioneer of lateral thinking, Edward de Bono, is to start a project via the Internet to come up with new ideas for the future of Northern Ireland.
Mr de Bono wants to involve the Internet community in what he describes as a "design conference" on the North.
It will make use of his ideas of creativity and lateral thinking, coupled with e-mail and the World Wide Web, to come up with new ways forward.
Political representatives will be invited to monitor the project over the Internet.
It will work like this: the first part will be an "outer ring", into which anyone can submit ideas about Northern Ireland via e-mail at the official website (http://www.edwdebono.com).
Those people who Mr de Bono believes show constructive and creative thinking in their first messages will be invited to contribute to the "middle ring", a private discussion area on the Internet.
Finally, the "inner ring" will be another layer open only to those who show innovation in the middle ring. Formal representatives of political parties will have direct access to the inner ring.
Throughout the project, postings to the outer ring will be published on the website for anyone to view, to encourage more people to send their own ideas.
"The purpose of a design conference is to open up possibilities, new ideas, new ways forward and new designs," said Mr de Bono. "Analysis, argument and judgement are never sufficient to produce an outcome that satisfies the needs and fears of all parties.
"Of course there is always a small design element in all negotiations. In a design conference, however, the whole emphasis is on generating possibilities.
"The purpose of this new thinking is to enrich the field of possibilities so that negotiations have a better chance of success."
The project begins this Sunday.