The most commonly followed practices and assumptions behind the concept of open innovation (OI) involve a series of activities that help with the integration and interaction with external sources of knowledge. Before one builds a successful OI strategy, it’s imperative to understand the basic building blocks behind the concept. In this blog, I’ll share my thoughts on the first three of these blocks.
OI isn’t just an opposite paradigm to traditional innovation, crowdsourcing, or the management of internal resources towards innovation. It’s an entire framework to discover ideas, use patents effectively, collaborate with universities and startups, evaluate emerging technologies, and build alternate business models which a company can finally go to market.
Any OI strategy requires financial foresight and an internal culture shift. Thus, the first building block, in my opinion, is the leadership priority and buy-in. The leadership takes responsibility to set up a structural framework that inherently prioritizes innovation within its corporate operations.
The second fundamental building block for any open innovation-focused company is aligning the goals and operational capacities of the business with the organization setup. Choosing between de-centralized and centralized teams, legal, centers of excellence, and portfolios is key to executing open innovation.
The third building block is the prevailing tools, processes, and culture. Socially open employees, vital resources allocated towards the procurement of external knowledge, and the right tools and processes to successfully manage long-term collaborative and beneficial partnerships will influence and increase the adoption of OI.
The Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange has developed a framework which enables clients to “discover, devise, deploy, and sustain” new ideas, insights, solutions, and value. The team leverages the latest tool suites, methods, accelerators, and design thinking – all underpinned by a robust governance model. At the Capgemini SAP Center of Excellence, we took a few key topics (IoT, AI/ML, RPA, blockchain) and combined them with specific client problems, to develop some truly transformational solutions with startups. The openness of the SAP Cloud Platform and SAP Leonardo toolkits provide ample opportunities to rethink and redesign the future of business. From a blockchain-based intelligent supply chain, to, transparency and integrity checks of perishable food to end consumers – in a single click, we’ve got some great stories to share!
To learn more about how the Capgemini SAP Center of Excellence develops an innovative approach and the right technology to solve & transform your business problems intelligently, contact me, or meet me at the Capgemini Booth in Orlando at SAPPHIRENOW2019. Let’s innovate together!