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Walmart’s Latest Open Innovation Project to Get New Products on Shelves

Jul-09-13 By IdeaConnection
Following last year’s successful ‘Get on the Shelf’ contest, Walmart is once again looking to the crowd to get new products in its stores.

This year’s contest is underway and the company is inviting entrepreneurs and businesses “with a big dream and great product” to submit ideas through its website.

Words of Wisdom from 3 Innovators

Jul-05-13 By IdeaConnection
Enjoy this short collection of quotes from three innovators who need no introduction and knew a thing or two about ideas, originality, creativity and breaking barriers.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

Latin America Capitalizing on Crowdsourcing

Jul-03-13 By IdeaConnection
Open innovation and crowdsourcing are making valuable inroads into Latin America. As the Internet reaches ever deeper and further into the region more companies and entrepreneurs are looking at how they can use it to boost their innovation efforts.

Crowdsourcing innovators, practitioners and those wanting to learn more about the paradigm will be making their way to Conferencia Crowdsourcing, an important meeting that will look at developments in crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and co-creation, and how they can be applied to Latin America.

The conference will be held on July 23rd and 24th in Sao Paulo.

Learning the Lessons from Open Innovation Failures

Jun-30-13 By IdeaConnection
The open innovation and crowdsourcing landscape is dotted with many fine success stories of companies that have worked well with smart and savvy crowds. The case histories offer plenty of inspiration for those thinking about embarking on OI initiatives.

But just as important to our OI education is discovering stories of those crowdsourcing projects that did not go according to plan – and learning from their mistakes.

Over on Search Engine Watch, Simon Heseltine has published an article entitled Crowdsourcing Gone Wrong: How Brands Can Avoid Messy Marketing Mistakes.

Crowdsourcing Memories with a British Icon

Jun-29-13 By IdeaConnection
The red public telephone box is something of a British icon. They were designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and introduced in the 1920s. Although they are a less familiar sight on the UK’s streets these days there are some still knocking around.

A new initiative in Leeds is reintroducing the boxes although with some modern-day modifications, some of which are geared toward a public crowdsourcing project.  The color has changed too.

 

Open Innovation Leads to Swift Launch of Snack Chips

Jun-28-13 By IdeaConnection
General Mills continues to go great guns with open innovation, primarily through its General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN). It’s leaping over its four walls to embrace working with numerous external knowledge sources.

As open innovation moves from the margins to the mainstream, companies such as General Mills realize they do not have the monopoly on great ideas and world beating solutions.

A current open innovation success story from G-WIN is the extension of the Green Giant canned and frozen foods brand into potato chips.

Think Innovation is Dead? Think Again

Jun-27-13 By IdeaConnection
Seth Priebatsch, Chief Ninja and CEO of LevelUp has written a guest post on Forbes.com to counter those who say that innovation is dead.

Although he admits some of their arguments have merit he believes they are wrong.

New Open Innovation Portal for Creative Company

Jun-26-13 By IdeaConnection
Newspapers, magazines, and websites are full of crowdsourcing and open innovation success stories.  An ever increasing number of companies are taking note of these and looking into whether and how the paradigm can help them to succeed.

One such company is Elmer's, an Ohio-based firm that has been producing a variety of adhesives, arts and crafts, and educational products for more than 65 years.

It has just launched an open innovation web portal for fresh ideas and approaches to augment the skills and talents of its own R&D staff. The online space will be managed by technology broker yet2.com.

Open Innovation Search for the Next Big Thing in Health and Wellbeing

Jun-24-13 By IdeaConnection
Smart brains with bright ideas have an opportunity to tap into $100,000 in prize money from Philips. The company recently launched a US nationwide competition for the “next big thing” that will help people live happy, healthier lives.

Philips has partnered with crowdfunding site Indiegogo, which means that entrants can try and raise financial support for their ideas.

Open Innovation Extends its Reach

Jun-23-13 By IdeaConnection
Two recent stories about open innovation in the UK have caught our attention and further demonstrate how the paradigm is becoming commonplace.

First up is global healthcare provider Johnson and Johnson’s new office at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, the UK’s first bioscience campus to focus on open innovation.