Henry Chesbrough first coined the term “open innovation” in his book Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003). He described a shift from a traditional closed model of innovation to an open model in which R&D-driven firms look outside their organization to solve internal research and development problems. By working with external individuals or organizations, a firm can benefit from an increase in the number and diversity of potential solutions that would not have been possible in-house.
Life sciences businesses can now take advantage of this trend after the launch of the latest online marketplace for problems and solutions.
InnoCentive, spun-out from Eli Lilly in 2001, built the first global web community for open innovation. The idea behind the web-based platform is to crowd-source solutions to challenging research problems. The Open Innovation Marketplace connects companies and not-for-profit organizations (“Seekers”), with research problems (“Challenges”), to scientists and other experts (“Solvers”). Monetary awards ranging from $5,000 to $1 million are posted for each challenge, paid out to Solvers if Seekers are satisfied with solutions. Since 2001, the community has grown to over 175,000 Solvers. More than 800 Challenges have been posted and more than $4 million awarded to Solvers.
Last week, Nature Publishing Group joined with Innocentive, launching the nature.com Open Innovation Pavilion as a platform for open innovation in the life sciences, physical sciences and clinical medicine. By reaching out to Nature’s leading scientific community, the Open Innovation Pavilion aims to tap the resources of the world’s best scientists to solve global problems. Other Innocentive Pavilions include Clean Tech and Renewable Energy, Global Health, and Developing Countries.
Are you a Seeker with a problem or a Solver with a potential solution? Check it out.
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June is an information specialist at MaRS and a recent graduate of the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto.
