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Can Open Innovation Keep Plastics Out of Our Oceans?

May-19-17 By IdeaConnection
According to the Prince of Wales, plastic in the world's oceans is a "growing ecological and human disaster".  He was speaking at the launch of a huge open innovation initiative to tackle this environmental menace.

His words follow a report by the Dame Ellen MacArthur Foundation that if solutions are not found, the world's oceans will contain more plastics than fish, by weight by the year 2050.

Embracing Open Innovation to Prevent Complacency

May-12-17 By IdeaConnection
In an interview with The Nikkei, a daily financial newspaper, Honda Motor's President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo talked about the importance of open innovation to his company.

Among its principle reasons for reaching out to external sources of expertise is to continue to be competitive and to prevent complacency from settling in.

Crowdsourcing Boost for Businesses in Jerusalem

May-05-17 By IdeaConnection
 

The innovation team at the Jerusalem Municipality in Jerusalem has come up with a crowdsourcing app designed to help entrepreneurs decide where to open up new businesses.

It is called Coming Soon and will rely on the input of the city's residents and business owners.

Inspirational Quotes from Scientists and Inventors

Apr-28-17 By IdeaConnection
Nurture your inventive inclinations with these wise, inspiring and thought-provoking quotes from some of the greatest inventive and scientific minds our planet has ever seen.

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." Albert Einstein.

How Your Company Can Innovate Better

Apr-21-17 By IdeaConnection
Innovation matters and can propel companies and organizations to new heights.  But taking innovative leaps forward and being responsive to or leading change can be fraught with difficulties.

In its recently published Innovation Matters report, UK-based PA Consulting Group provided four actionable insights to help companies get innovation right.

Taking an Open Innovation Approach to Big Data in Europe

Apr-14-17 By IdeaConnection
Big data has a huge role to play in innovation.  Making it more freely available can create fresh new insights that lead to novel solutions and products.

To make it easier for European startups and SMEs to take advantage of big data's potential, a new European-funded open innovation project, led by Southampton University has been launched.  It’s called Data Pitch.

Open Innovation Event Discovers New Planets

Apr-07-17 By IdeaConnection
It wasn't as much as the wisdom of the crowd as the keen eye of the crowd that has resulted in the possible discovery of new planets.

During a massive open innovation stargazing event on Australian TV, citizen scientists studied 100,000 stars and found lots of potential new planet candidates.

Open Innovation Contests Drive Breakthroughs

Mar-31-17 By IdeaConnection
Whether it's coming up with novel ways that allow astronauts to poop safely in space, inventing life-saving medical devices or finding solutions to such complex problems as global warming, open innovation contests are powerful catalysts for groundbreaking advances.

We feature many on the IdeaConnection website, brilliant examples of creativity, ingenuity and what happens when great minds work toward a common goal.  Here is just a little flavor of three of them.

Solving Litter Problems with Open Innovation and the Crowd

Mar-24-17 By IdeaConnection
Litter is a massive problem that negatively affects health and safety, wildlife and the environment.

In an effort to inspire new cleanup solutions, a free open innovation app call Litterati is encouraging the global community to identify, map and collect the world's garbage.

Can Open Innovation Fathom the Mystery of Disappearing Sea Lions?

Mar-17-17 By IdeaConnection
Every year, biologists visit the US state of Alaska to count the number of Steller sea lions (also known as northern sea lions). They also study images of the mammals. For the last 40 years the population has been in decline, but the reasons for the worrying trend are unknown.

To try and get to the bottom of the mystery, an open innovation project called Steller Watch has been launched.