Opening up the innovation process

Recent events have led to the breakdown of the linear model of innovation especially in key technologies such as IT, nanotechnology and biotechnology. An alternative is the open innovation model, wherein companies still manage and assess their innovation process as a series of phases but ideas can come from external as well as internal sources and can enter the innovation process at any stage. This approach ensures the corporation is as receptive to ideas as possible, at all stages of the innovation process, without losing the discipline of assessing them properly and managing their development rigorously. It also allows valuable ideas to leave the corporate innovation process at any stage, by being sold, spun off or licensed to another company. This means that good ideas that the company doesn´t need or cannot exploit need not be wasted.