Open Innovation is starting to become a lot more popular in the UK despite it having already found it’s feet in other parts of Europe like Austria and Germany, but what is open innovation and how can it help your business succeed?

In essence, open innovation is the process of opening up your business to external ideas from third parties which can often yield better rewards for your business than ideas generated internally (closed innovation). Of course, you don’t need to make your business completely transparent but you may consider posting particular problems or challenges which others may be able to help you solve. For example, I manage the Water Innovation Network which is helping Anglian Water find solutions to some of their key challenges around leakage reduction, carbon reduction and renewable energy generation. By posting these challenges in an open way, Anglian Water is now receiving solutions from companies all around the world. It’s a win for Anglian Water who receive new and tangible ideas that help their business whilst at the same time, innovative supply chain companies are able to pitch their solutions to a new potential buyer.

Open innovation is particularly successful for small companies who don’t have large research budgets and is also a good tool for small companies who want to work with larger companies who are open to innovation. So, if you have a problem or a challenge which needs a solution, consider open innovation as a tool to help!