open source innovation

09/21/2004 06:00:00 PM
The thought that all innovation has to come from in house research and development is so C20th. Corporations are now looking seriously at going outside to tap into smart ideas. P&G a company renowned for its R&D, is leading the charge.

The reasons for this movement are obvious; to remain relevant to consumers, brands are going to have quicken their pace of innovation. P&G has found major success by tapping an external inventor to create SpinBrush a $5 electric toothbrush that's already recorded over $200million in sales.

Procter's approach is to tap into connective nodes. Places and people with multiple connections; many of which are web based and others include; trade fairs and events.

http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,95854,00.html

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_41/b3903463.htm


Other companies renowned for their internal innovation are also going outside for additional resources, for example, Apple's iPod was jointly developed with an external team.


http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,64286,00.html

Overall, just to compete, brands are going to need to embrace more ideas from the outside; from the smart innovative freelance inventor to the loyal consumer who buys the product week in and week out. The next level will be where brands create environments that allow collaboration and development between consumers and freelance inventors, think of it as an open source, real-time skunk works meets cutting-edge focus group.
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