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Novel Idea Wins Mental Health Open Innovation Contest

Feb-13-14 By IdeaConnection
Congratulations to the two winners of the $10,000 open innovation challenge for ideas to increase awareness and use of mental health services for people in developing countries.

The contest was looking for concepts to help people with depression and anxiety disorders and was hosted by Scientists Without Borders, a program of the New York Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson.

Open Innovation Hub to Combat Bacteria Threat

Feb-07-14 By IdeaConnection
Microbes will soon have a new enemy, a research and innovation hub to help businesses find novel ways to prevent the spread of bacterial, viral and fungal infections.

The Open Innovation Hub for Antimicrobial Surfaces in the UK will design and develop next generation surfaces and materials to inhibit growth of the germs.

Crowdsourcing a Cure for Cancer with a Space Game

Feb-05-14 By IdeaConnection
Cancer charity, Cancer Research UK has launched a free app to let citizen scientists help create new cures for cancers.

The software program is a game called Play to Cure: Genes in Space where players have to seek out a fictional substance that represents genetic cancer data. As they pilot their ship variations in the genetic data are being simultaneously studied.

Three Open Innovation Best Practices

Feb-03-14 By IdeaConnection
What does it take to generate positive results from engaging with open innovation? How can companies maximize the potential of external knowledge sources?

The European School of Management and Technology Berlin (ESMT) thinks it knows the answers. The institution has come up with three best practices following an exhaustive study of 23, 800 organizations that use online feedback mechanisms.

Crowdsourcing Help During Atlanta Snow Storm

Jan-30-14 By IdeaConnection
The huge snow storm hitting the southern United States continues to wreak havoc with gridlocked roads, abandoned cars and stranded motorists.

In Atlanta, one of the worst affected cities many residents have turned to crowdsourcing and social media to stay informed and offer assistance to others.

Busted: 7 Myths about Innovation

Jan-26-14 By IdeaConnection
So innovation is a solo activity that can’t be taught, can’t be forced or coaxed and isn't for everyone. Wrong!

An entertaining article in The Week explains that innovation is much simpler than people think. Along the way it busts seven common myths about innovation. They are:

Innovation is a solo activity – the popular perception is of wild-hair Einstein types tinkering away in their garden sheds until they chance upon their Eureka moments.

Win Big Money for Hacking Google’s Chrome

Jan-25-14 By IdeaConnection
The launch of the fourth annual Google Pwnium is imminent, with the search engine behemoth offering more than $2.7 million in prizes for anyone who can crack Google’s Chrome OS and/or browser.

Pwnium 4 will take place on March 12 at CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Open Innovation and the Fight against Malaria

Jan-21-14 By IdeaConnection
From designing new medicines and developing computer games to crowdfunding projects and using computer downtime, open innovation is helping to transform the global response to malaria.

According to the World Malaria Report 2013 by the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 3.4 billion people are at risk of malaria, of which 1.2 billion are at high risk.

While open innovation doesn’t have all the answers it can help to enhance knowledge, accelerate drug discovery and create more effective interventions. Here are three approaches where the crowd is helping:

The Roles of Citizen Innovators

Jan-19-14 By IdeaConnection
In numerous towns and cities across the world, citizens are having more of a say in sorting out civic problems. Through open innovation and crowdsourcing initiatives thousands of people are not only involved in identifying particular challenges such as pollution, poor water quality and graffiti, but also in designing and implementing the solutions.

Local and regional authorities realize they can’t go it alone and need the smarts of those who have vested interests in the outcomes. The added bonus of these activities is they bring the governed closer to those who govern, making for a more transparent, open society.

In an article in Journal Sentinal, Satish Nambisan, a professor of entrepreneurship and technology management at the Lubar School of Business identified four roles that citizens play in civic innovation and problem solving.

Global Innovation Challenge for the Future of Cars

Jan-16-14 By IdeaConnection
Student innovators around the world have just one month left to enter the massive global Valeo Innovation Challenge. The contest is a search for a product or system that will make the cars of 2030 more intelligent and intuitive.

So far, 300 teams from 40 countries and representing 254 universities have signed up, but there’s still time to take part as the closing date for project submissions is February 14th.