(by Massimiliano D'Elia) It is an innovation system whereby companies also use resources from outside (startups, universities, incubators, etc.) to encourage research and development of unique and cutting-edge materials and construction elements . A survey conducted by Accenture claims that in Italy alone, this model could generate GDP growth of over 2%.
Here are the first synergies between Italian regions. The Campania Open Innovation platform was born, launched in recent days by the Region. It is a marketplace created in collaboration with the Lombardy Region which aims to favor the meeting between the demand for innovation from the big players and the offer of technological solutions of startups and innovative companies in the area.
The platform is active at the address: www.openinnovation.campaniacompetitiva.it
Everyone is talking about open innovation, but what exactly does it mean? Open innovation ("open innovation") is an innovation model according to which companies, to create more value and compete better on the market, cannot rely only on internal ideas and resources but can also use technological tools and skills that they come from outside, especially from startups, universities, research institutes, suppliers, inventors, programmers and consultants.
How the term "open innovation" is born
The term was coined by the US economist Henry Chesbrough, who in the essay The era of open innovation (2003) reflected on the fact that globalization has made research and development processes increasingly expensive and risky, because the life cycle of products has become shorter.
According to Chesbrough, the paradigm of "closed innovation", that is the research done within the boundaries of the company, could no longer be enough despite the fears of companies that they are no longer the only "owners" of inventions and legitimate attempts to protect their own intellectual property with patents and other tools.
The collaboration between startups and large companies
Closed innovation is no longer enough because knowledge and talents travel at an ever-increasing speed due to web networks and ease of travel. Therefore, it has become more difficult to keep them in the company for life. On the other hand, capital markets, as the case of Silicon Valley startups shows, have also begun to focus on companies based on completely new business models and approaches and disruptive compared to the past. Do not tap into these new knowledge by collaborating with other companies, perhaps more advanced from the digital point of view, can be a significant disadvantage: those who do not risk to find themselves not in step with the times. And to lose a lot of money, given that according to asurvey conducted by Accenture stimulating the collaboration between companies and startups (or other innovators) can generate a potential growth of around 1,5 trillion dollars, equal to 2,2% of global GDP.
The model of open innovation
The open innovation formula provides that a company can access innovations "on sale" on the market, integrating them with its business model. A process of this kind also allows a faster time to market, ie a shorter time to move from the ideation phase of the product or service or to its placing on the market: some of these phases, such as the prototyping of some artefacts, can in some cases dealing with external entities such as startups. According to this scheme, the competition therefore does not win the one who produces the best innovations inside but who manages to create innovative products and services by modulating at best what comes from inside and what comes from outside. Only a few large companies have an audience of internal resources so large and functional that it does not require an exchange with the outside world.
How open innovation is achieved
The concrete ways through which open innovation is achieved can be manifold. Just to mention a few: inter-company agreements, whereby one company delegates to another, usually smaller, the creation of certain innovations or the production of specific products; the subsidization of startup competitions, with the commitment to invest - directly or indirectly - in those that have developed the most promising innovations; hackathons, or programming competitions for which companies ask developers and innovators to invent innovative digital solutions in 24 hours in a specific sector; the acquisition, by large corporations, of innovative startups in order to integrate digital talents into their workforce and to take over some of the main innovations made by the latter; the creation of startup accelerators managed directly or indirectly by large companies; the sharing and circulation of innovative ideas, also according to the open source philosophy, through networking events and conferences; the partnership with universities, research centers and incubators to innovate on specific issues.
From Google to Samsung, the big player moves
That the interest in open innovation is strong is demonstrated by the policies implemented by many of the largest companies in the world. The first rule of innovation for Google is, for example, "Innovation comes from anywhere", innovation can come from anywhere. And based on this principle, it encourages exchanges with other startups, some of which are acquired directly or funded through Google Ventures. Samsung, to mention another big player, has opened several open innovation centers, including one in Silicon Valley, in the heart of global innovation.
Cases in Italy
Also in Italy, the focus on open innovation is growing. And the facts also follow the declarations of principle. For example, Novartis Pharma, which through its head Europe Guido Guidi stated that “innovation that is based only on the inside is no longer enough” it has launched a competition for startups such as BioUpper and has its own venture capital fund that invests in new companies in the life sciences field. Enel's head of innovation, Ernesto Ciorra, underlined in an interview with EconomyUp how much more important it is to do open innovation than to say to do it. And in the case of the Italian energy giant, one of the open innovation methods was the participation in the iNCENSE super-accelerator, also supported by the EU as part of the Fiware program, to support open source projects related to clean energy. Again, Digital Magics, the digital startup incubator created by Enrico Gasperini, in 2015.
From the World Open Innovation Conference a few years ago it emerged that this practice, in the countries that have been adopting it for the longest time, has entered a phase of maturity. In Italy, however, the pace is slower. Fincantieri is one of the large Italian companies that has promoted and implemented open innovation, as a corporate policy and method for R&D. The results achieved place Fincantieri company among the world leaders in shipbuilding. We hope that 2018 will also mark a turning point for Italy for other Italian companies, also in light of the new political elections that will see a new government taking office that could implement more favorable policies for the Italian industry, also in the sector. of open innovation.