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Kudos or Critics of the Crowd?

Sep-20-11 By Aminda
Crowdsourcing has received plenty of publicity this summer, both positive a not so positive. This month Google received criticism for relying too much on input from the crowd to provide content for Google Places. The New York Times recently reported on incidents in which businesses have been reported as being closed on the Google Maps local search service.

Foldit Solves Molecular Challenge

Sep-19-11 By Aminda
A citizen science web project has achieved a notable success, giving hope to similar projects. According to an MSNBC article, users of the program Foldit, have figured out the mysterious molecular structure of a monkey-virus enzyme. The enzyme is from an AIDS-like virus found in rhesus monkeys. Such enzymes, known as retroviral proteases, play a key role in the virus' spread — and if medical researchers can figure out their structure, they could conceivably design drugs to stop the virus in its tracks.

GE Launches New Innovation Challenge

Sep-16-11 By Aminda
GE is well known to innovators for the company’s Ecomagination Challenge, which offers significant prize money to winners of various clean energy-related innovation challenges. Now, GE Healthcare, along with four venture capitalist firms, has announced a $100 million Healthymagination challenge.

The challenge is focused on “Assembling Tools to Fight Cancer” and is described as an open call to action for businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators and students with breakthrough ideas for accelerating early detection and enabling more personalized treatment for breast cancer. More specifically, the challenge is aimed at funding promising initiatives that may improve diagnostics and lead to better understanding of the aggressive triple negative cancer. Enhanced early detection and treatment options will improve care for 10 million cancer patients.

A Stimulus Alternative

Sep-14-11 By Aminda
A recent post discussed the positive role many believe open innovation can play in economic recovery. Another writer agrees, believing open innovation can provide an alternative to stimulus programs, bailouts and traditional government job-training schemes. He provides a well written, concise outline on how open innovation is a pro-business, pro-taxpayer and, ultimately, pro-consumer strategy benefiting private industry, government agencies and academic institutions.

Citizen Scientists Contribute to Challenges

Sep-13-11 By Aminda
An interesting video posted by Science Roll points out that one of what has been defined as humanity’s “Grand Challenges” is to “keep developing tools of scientific discovery”. One of the solutions may lie in crowdsourcing. Good global citizens and Science enthusiasts alike, your time is needed for furthering discovery. Here are some projects from around the globe looking for assistance from citizen scientists.

Crowdsourcing Kindness

Sep-12-11 By Aminda
The 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks was recognized in many ways this weekend but perhaps most notably through acts of service. Organizations around the U.S. rallied to encourage the entire nation to perform good deeds and acts of service in honor 9/11 victims, survivors and rescuers. Spreading acts of service is a global effort, with many creative new online platforms contributing. Here are some examples.

Global Innovation Barometer

Sep-09-11 By Aminda
General Electric, host of the GE Ecomagination Challenge, recently published the results of a study called the Global Innovation Barometer. GE commissioned the study which interviewed 1,000 senior executives from 12 countries. Of these participants, 95 percent believed innovation is the main lever for a more competitive national economy.

Is Open Innovation the Solution to Economic Growth?

Sep-08-11 By Aminda
Today in the U.S., President Obama informed the nation of plans to aid the economy through the American Jobs Act. If approved by Congress, measures in the $447 billion package would, among other things, provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and payroll tax cuts for small business. The plan comes in the wake of a national credit downgrade earlier this summer.
 
Naturally, open innovation experts are going to have a different perspective on how the nation’s economics can be improved. Henry Chesbrough cautions about taking a nationalistic approach to recovery. “Open innovation seeks useful industrial knowledge from all over the world and open innovation companies actively engage with suppliers (among others) from all over the world”, he writes. As a case study, he points to the open innovation model used by Taiwan Semiconductor Corporation (TSMC), which helped “propel the US past the Japanese in the 1990s, at a time when the Japanese were threatening to take over the semiconductor market.”

Innovating with Unused IP

Sep-07-11 By Aminda
Yesterday’s post discussed how companies are benefiting from IP deemed unusable internally. Companies can profit either by selling a portfolio of patents or by developing a spin-out venture. Other companies can profit by buying these discarded patents or lending expertise to the new venture. As innovation lawyer Jackie Hutter has pointed out, there are several reasons a company may have discarded perfected usable patents. The organization’s strategy may have changed or the IP is no longer relevant after a merger. Hutter outlines several advantages to acquiring outside patents to help organizations weigh any risks involved.
Earlier this year, innovation consultant Stefan Lindegaard observed that organizations seemed to be getting more comfortable with such a free flow of IP, when not too long ago it was the biggest concern faced when ramping up open innovation strategies and practices.

Capitalizing on Unused IP

Sep-06-11 By Aminda
An interesting article in the Ottawa Business Journal offers tips to companies wishing to capitalize on unused IP that doesn’t have a path to market within the company. The authors point to the trend of buying and selling unused IP, citing the case of Nortel which, earlier this summer sold a portfolio of patents at auction for twice the amount analysts had expected.
This method of selling is not the only means of levering IP as a resource and the article outlines a strategy for commercializing unused IP through spin-out ventures. As the article says, “in a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies can’t afford to rely entirely on their own research, nor can they afford to let internal innovations sit idle. They have to open their doors to let innovation in and out.”