The concept of open innovation has been around for some time. The basic idea is that organisations open up their innovation processes to other companies as well as end-users and other stakeholders. Besides traditional face-to-face workshops and physical innovation spaces, digital platforms can be used to facilitate the matching between challenges and solutions, to prioritize ideas and to offer a place for collaboration and co-creation. Hackathons are an example of modern innovation platforms combining the best of the physical and digital innovation platforms.
Why is this important?
Open innovation platforms benefit at best the whole innovation ecosystem or network. Problems get solved quicker, new solutions are more suitable for end-users and stakeholder collaboration is enhanced. Digital solutions also broaden the outreach and allow participants of different backgrounds, expertise and location to contribute. While open innovation platforms have been used internally in companies and more openly in research and development, digital solutions are finding their way also to the public sector, especially to citizen engagement in local communities. This makes city development more transparent and opens up the door for smaller companies to compete in public procurement.
Things to keep an eye on
The current trend is towards more openness and from company ownership to network-based shared ownership of the innovation platform. Instead of a company having its own open innovation platform, the platforms are framed as ecosystem level collaboration spaces or solution marketplaces. On the public sector side open innovation platforms are used not just for seeking technological solutions to societal challenges, but also to foster social innovation. However, there are underlying questions that for the time being remain open, e.g. who owns the intellectual property at the end of the day, what are the benefits or compensation for participants or who all benefit from the platform .
Selected articles and websites
How open innovation platforms support city development?
TOP 10 Open Innovation Platforms
Open Ecosystem Network
The visibility of ethics in open innovation platforms
16 Examples of Open Innovation – What Can We Learn from Them?
Integrating Open Innovation Platforms in Public Sector Decision Making: Empirical Results from Smart City Research
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