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Calling Basement Inventors: Your Country Needs You

May-07-13 By IdeaConnection
The Canadian federal government wants to tap into the expertise, creativity, and smarts of home-based inventors and turn their ideas into innovative consumer products.

That's according to a fascinating article in the Star Phoenix newspaper.

Open Innovation Conference to Look at Job Creation Solutions

May-05-13 By IdeaConnection
Here’s something that many countries are crying out for: jobs for its workforce. As the effects of the global financial crisis bite ever deeper unemployment figures are going in the wrong direction.

For example, Spain recently recorded its highest unemployment levels for more than a generation with 27% of the workforce unemployed.

So the Open Innovation 2.0 conference being held in Dublin toward the end of May is welcome news.  It will focus on how a new approach to innovation and research can create jobs.

Pharmaceutical Company Increases its Investment in Open Innovation

May-03-13 By IdeaConnection
GlaxoSmithKline plc has announced that it’s going to give the Wellcome Trust in the UK up to £5 million (approx. USD $7.7 million) to support its open innovation approach to the discovery of new treatments for diseases in the developing world.

Crowd Contributions to Frontline Scientific Work

Apr-30-13 By IdeaConnection
All over the world hundreds of thousands of volunteers are helping to push the boundaries of science via their home computers.

From mapping the largest objects in the Universe to studying the smallest living things inside our bodies the crowd is getting involved in a a large number of experiments.

Here is a list of some of the citizen science projects that have caught our attention:

Crowdsource Your Decision Making

Apr-29-13 By IdeaConnection
'I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not so sure' – so the hoary old gag goes.

Well, if you really can’t make up your mind about decisions in your life, it might not surprise you to know that you can now outsource them to the crowd.

Seesaw is a new app that lets you share your dilemmas and difficulties with the world and his wife.

UK Councils Looking to Open Innovation for Solutions

Apr-28-13 By IdeaConnection
Local councils in the UK are following an example set by US local authorities by turning to open innovation for a number of issues, reports the Guardian newspaper.

There are hacks, prized-based challenges, camps and jams all over the country to tackle local problems.

Open Innovation Executive to Watch

Apr-27-13 By IdeaConnection
P&G HQ, Ohio

The Boston Business Journal is currently running an interview-feature on Lital Asher-Dotan who is the Open Innovation Leader, Global Business Development at Procter & Gamble.

Her job is to help the company bring new products to market, either through acquisition of start-ups and medium-sized companies, or through joint ventures.  During her career, the 35-year-old top executive established Procter & Gamble’s first R&D hub in Israel and has led the company’s social media activities.

Open Innovation for Africa: Countdown to Contest Final

Apr-25-13 By IdeaConnection
Excitement is building for the 2013 Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) competition. Ten African finalists have just been selected from more than 900 submissions from 45 countries.

The annual open innovation contest is a global call for market-oriented ideas to help solve some of Africa’s most pressing problems whilst simultaneously driving economic growth.  These include challenges such as sanitation, malaria, and access to energy.

The competition also promotes the pursuit of science, technology engineering, and business careers to young people in Africa and shows how they can contribute to sustainable development in the continent.

Three Examples of Governments Using Open Innovation

Apr-24-13 By IdeaConnection
Their ranks may well be filled with smart people, but politicians do not have all the answers for the ills and problems that befall their countries.

Reaching out and tapping into the collective intelligence of the public to solve problems and innovate is a wise move. There is no shortage of ideas and smart brains willing to help.

Here are three examples of how governments have/and are opening up their problems to a diverse set of skills and talents:

US Leads the Way in Biotech Innovation

Apr-23-13 By IdeaConnection
Scientific American has released its 5th annual Worldview Report and Scorecard at the BIO International Convention in Boston.  The survey is a comprehensive country-by-country analysis of biotechnology and honors the world’s top performers.

Heading up the list as the most innovative country is the U.S., but only just as a five-point spread separated the top five: the United States, Denmark, Singapore, Finland and Sweden.

Evaluations are based on IP, enterprise support, education/workforce, intensity, foundations, and policy and stability.