open innovation+

An ‘open’ approach to innovation can help you get your product or service to market quicker and cheaper than trying to do everything yourself. However, there are also challenges to doing it right. This page aims to provide links to resources that can help you find out more about open innovation, how it is being implemented by companies of all sizes and sectors, and how you can get help to do it well. 

However, there is so much information out there about open innovation, perhaps the simplest way to follow what is going on is to follow open innovation blogs such as IfM, 15inno and 100%open.

What is open innovation?

Open innovation accelerates internal innovation, and finds external markets for ideas generated within the firm. 

Open innovation can involve working with a range of possible external partners including customers, suppliers, universities, consultancies, and individual inventors.  It can be implemented by firms of all sizes, from multinational innovation is a concept developed by the US academic Henry Chesbrough to describe the use of ideas and resources from outside the firm to help corporations through to start-ups. 

Open innovation can involve the buying or selling of technologies, the licensing of technologies, joint development projects, collaborative research, contract research, and investment in new in firms. It can be between just two firms, or may involve multiple partners. 

For more general background on open innovation, see the following websites:

·        University of Berkeley Center for Open Innovation

·        University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing

Examples of organisations implementing open innovation

Many large firms have now embraced an open approach to innovation.  Examples include Unilever, Philips, Nokia, Tesco and Shell.  Case studies showing the different ways in which large firms are implementing open innovation can be found in this IfM report and at 100%Open. 

But open innovation is not limited to large firms.  Cambridge Mechatronics, Owlstone Nanotech and HyperTag are examples of start-ups that have grown through implementing an open approach to innovation.  More information on the specific ways that smaller firms can implement open innovation by working with larger firms can be found the Managing Partnerships website

Resources to help you implement open innovation

Open innovation blogs

For news and latest updates on developments in open innovation, blogs from IfM, 15inno and 100%open are worth following.

Open innovation events and training

Upcoming conferences, workshops and courses are listed at websites including Exnovate, IfM and OI.eu.

You can also sign up to follow the Twitter feeds from camoinet and 100open for the latest open innovation news and information on impending events.

Open innovation support organisations

There are numerous firms that have set up to help you implement open innovation.  Examples of such include: Innocentive, NineSigma and 100%Open.

With thanks to Dr Tim Minshall, Senior Lecturer in Technology Management, Cambridge University for his input to the preparation of this page.