Open innovation: the path to success

In recent years, the term open innovation has been heard more frequently as an icon of the modern times and the pursuit of disruptive products or companies.

But what does open innovation mean, what does it imply and what are its benefits?

We explain it to you in this post.

What is open innovations?

Open innovation refers to a situation in which an organization uses multiple external sources to drive innovation, rather than relying solely on its own internal knowledge and resources.

This business practice enables innovation by leveraging on ideas and solutions from a wide diversity of people and organizations, and represents a break with the traditional secrecy mindset associated with R&D processes and culture.

Open innovation practices can be applied in a variety of ways, such as inter-company alliances, university research chairs, crowdsourcing competitions and innovation ecosystems.

Alaian is an example of open innovation.

Types of open innovation

According to Henry Chesbrough, the first to bring the term to the forefront and author of the book Open Innovation, “there are two facets to open innovation. One is the ‘outside in’ aspect, where external ideas and technologies are brought into the firm’s own innovation process.  This is the most commonly recognized feature of open innovation.  The other, less commonly recognized aspect is the ‘inside out’ part, where un- and under-utilized ideas and technologies in the firm are allowed to go outside to be incorporated into others’ innovation processes.”

Benefits of open innovation

Open innovation allows companies to collaborate with the best resources possible to keep them on the cutting edge.

Here are some of the advantages of open innovation that companies can benefit from:

Access essential infrastructure and technology

Startups usually struggle by the lack of resources and open innovation is an opportunity to partner and build relationships with university research facilities or larger enterprises that have the resources to bring products to market.

Develop additional revenue streams

Some projects don’t fit in the main business model. But if the idea is worthwhile, open innovation can facilitate its development externally, providing new revenue streams separately from the primary business model.

Leverage co-creation

Co-creation is the process of involving customers in product development. Although usually associated with marketing, it can be used in innovation processes by involving customers in early stages of product development. As a consequence, products will be much more aligned with customers’ needs and wants.

Reduce costs and development timescales

Partnerships between large enterprises and startups is a way to reduce development costs and product’s time to market. 

That’s why Alaian is so committed to open innovation to reach its goals: it’s the best way to find the most disruptive startups and help them to become a profitable reality.