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FundaGeek: Crowdfunding for Tech Innovations

Nov-10-12 By IdeaConnection
The geeks may one day inherit the Earth, but not before they've had some financial backing to get there.

Fundageek is a relatively new crowdfunding platform for technical innovations, enabling inventors, software developers, and engineers to secure the backing they need to breathe life into their bright ideas.

Dairy Research Institute to Milk Ideas Through Open Innovation

Nov-07-12 By IdeaConnection
The Dairy Research Institute in the US is embarking on an ambitious open innovation program.  It is now actively seeking ideas, concepts and solutions from within and outside the industry to accelerate research and answer specific industry needs.

And to expedite its OI efforts the institute has launched a submission site.

Crowdsourcing Boosts Consumer Perceptions of Companies

Nov-05-12 By IdeaConnection
Companies that crowdsource have been given a huge seal of approval by the general public.

Consumers perceive organisations that incorporate the crowd into new product development have higher innovation abilities than those that do not. And this perception is promoting a higher consumer demand for the products of firms that are actively engaging with the crowd.

P&G Highlights Open Innovation Partners for their Game-Changing Contributions

Nov-03-12 By IdeaConnection
Global consumer goods company Procter & Gamble is often looked upon by many other businesses as a source of inspiration for its pioneering open innovation efforts, particularly its Connect+Develop (C+D) program.

This week it turned the spotlight on others and recognized seven, among its hundreds of partners for their innovations and collaborative efforts.

How the Crowd is Identifying Products in Web Images

Oct-30-12 By IdeaConnection
You may well be familiar with the problem. You are surfing online and see a picture of someone wearing an item of apparel that you quite like the look of, say a pair of jeans or sneakers.

You want to purchase them, they must be yours soon, but there’s no indication of how much they cost, the brand name or where you can buy them.

Divorced of their context, because the images are not linked back to their source you pound the keyboard in frustration. But those days are gone now, and it’s all thanks to the crowd, and a new website called CrowdSend.

How to Have an Original Thought

Oct-29-12 By IdeaConnection
There are no hard and fast rules about how to generate creative and inspired thoughts, though one of Einstein’s musings is a hot favorite:

“To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition.”

That’s one way, and of course there are many others. If you’re stuck in a rut with a brain on temporary hold refusing to come up with an original thought, here are a few simple ideas to get it fizzing and popping back into action:

Don’t Ignore Your Employees When Engaging the Crowd

Oct-29-12 By IdeaConnection
Open innovation rightly focuses on external sources of knowledge and bringing the outside in, but that doesn't mean avoiding engagement with your employees. You ignore them at your peril. There are a number of reasons why it’s smart to involve internal intellectual resources with your open innovation efforts.

Here are three of them:

Crowdfunding the Future of a Sports Star

Oct-27-12 By IdeaConnection
There’s no doubt that the London 2012 Olympic Games inspired millions of children and young adults to get active, and perhaps one day step up on a podium to collect a winner’s medal. But ambition, ability, and determination are only part of what goes into making a top athlete.

The other key ingredient is funding. Would-be stars of track and field need financial support so they can concentrate full-time on their training.

In these lean times sources of finance are hard to come by, but a new crowdfunding initiative may be making it easier.

Crowdsourcing a Country’s Constitution

Oct-26-12 By IdeaConnection
It’s an intriguing way of running a country – actually ask the people who live there what they would like to see happen. The concept may have some politicians who think they know best wailing and gnashing their teeth, but not in Iceland.

Europe’s most sparsely populated state is crowdsourcing the constitution, drawing on suggestions from Facebook and Twitter about how the country should work.

Crowdsourcing Tool to Find New Uses for Drugs

Oct-24-12 By IdeaConnection
It is not unusual to see promising new drugs and therapeutics stall during the development stages. This is obviously an expensive and potentially financially crippling state of affairs as the costs associated with developing drugs are astronomical.  If they don’t end up on pharmacy shelves that’s a lot of invested dollars that haven’t been realized.

But a new tool may be able to help pharma companies out of these difficulties, and it’s based on harnessing the wisdom of the crowd.