Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol2-1 > Taking an open innovation approach

The term “open innovation”, first coined in 2003 by Henry Chesbrough, has become a byword for an open approach to many things within a business environment. Companies are using the term open innovation to focus activities on obtaining ideas, capabilities, skills and talent from outside the boundaries of the organisation.

One of the key issues, however, as with any open innovation activity is getting access to and working effectively with, individuals and organisations that are in different industries and areas of interest. Open innovation encourages a wide participation with a diverse and rich source of information contacts and ideas that can overwhelm the company.

The ability to accelerate understanding and insights from other organisations is an element of the open innovation toolset. Networks such as the H-I Network offer companies which have similar interests and goals the ability to get together in a non-competitive environment and share experiences – this helps by “thinking in other people’s boxes”.

Understanding and knowledge

The H-I Network has been working with companies over the last 10 years, helping them gain understanding and knowledge from other industries. Through this work, we have found that there are three main reasons why companies fail to gain value from traditional innovation “systems/models”.

• Generating more and better ideas doesn’t guarantee demand for those ideas, especially given today’s surplus of products and services in so many industries.
• It is no longer the case that vertically integrated organisations can claim to be more efficient than all their rivals at every stage of research, development and commercialisation. Those who try to keep everything in-house risk wasting money and passing on that waste to end-consumers in the form of higher prices.
• It is now beyond the capabilities of any single organisation to monopolise the knowledge in its industry.

Open innovation can be the antidote to these problems. A growing number of organisations are using the open innovation approach to engage with their consumers, their suppliers and their staff. Recognition that there are opportunities to gain more and better ideas and insights from outside the traditional boundaries of innovation, has led the H-I Network to bring together companies such as McLaren and National Air Traffic Control (NATS) in the UK to develop a new approach to modelling airport plane movements at some of the world’s busiest airports. H-I Network has also worked with Unilever Ventures to help build effective “Open” relationships and connections that foster new business opportunities.

It is not just the creating of a new idea through open innovation that is important, it is developing an effective entrepreneurial commercialisation approach. Having an open perspective that can link with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists can be an effective way of bringing in those insights and skills.

An example of the commercialisation through open innovation is MiLife (www.milife.com), which is a company dedicated to helping people achieve a healthier lifestyle. MiLife’s patented coaching techniques have been proven, in multiple scientific studies and by real people, to be both effective and convenient. The original product idea was developed from extensive research conducted by Unilever, the supplier of global consumer goods. MiLife subsequently evolved with financial backing from Unilever’s private equity business, Unilever Ventures. This has worked with partners to develop new technology and the new business model approaches.

Evolving landscape

The innovation landscape is continually evolving and each organisation that embraces open innovation brings a different “lens” to the concept – using different tools, techniques, and style, which is highly dependent on the industry and the context of the environment they are operating in.

There is no single answer to the question – “which innovation model is right for me?” However, the “open innovation” approach brings a fresh view to the challenges being faced by many companies in the fast moving, technology enabled world we are operating in today.

Andrew Gaule founded the H-I Network in 2000. The H-I Network is a membership network of 35 leading organisations, which offers its members regular relevant events with input from key industry speakers and practitioners, tailored research programmes and publications in the Innovation space

For more information on open innovation, visit:
Website: www.h-i.com