ETIM Seminar: OPEN Innovation for Global Enterprise (10 maart 2011)

On Thursday March 10, 2011, the NIKOS and OOHR departments organized a seminar on ‘Open Innovation for Global Enterprise’ in the Ravelijn building. The seminar was supported by the SRO Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Institute For Governance Studies (IGS), the European Institute of Technology and Innovation Management (EITIM) and by the Dutch institute INSCOPE Research for Innovation. A mixed group of CTOs/CEOs of international and globally operating enterprises, high tech firms and global startups in the Twente region, UT alumni and Innovation & Entrepreneurship students attended the seminar. In the optional morning-program, attendants were provided with the opportunity to take a tour at the MESA+ Nanolab, while the main afternoon program included three presentations followed by a panel discussion.

After a short introduction by Prof. Dr. P.C. De Weerd-Nederhof, the chair of the day, the main program started off with an inspiring presentation by Dr. Alberto Di Minin from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna about ‘Open Innovation in A Downturn – The Case of FIAT’. During his presentation Dr. Di Minin discussed the key elements of FIAT’s open innovation efforts, which took place long before Henry Chesborough coined the term Open Innovation. Specifically, Dr. Di Minin’s presentation focused on the factors contributing to FIAT’s initiation of Open Innovation efforts – especially the importance of an open innovation champion – and the encountered challenges – especially Intellectual Property and appropriability-related issues.

The subsequent presentation featured Rick Wielens, vice-president of NineSigma Europe, a consulting firm with an impressive track record of implementing Open Innovation with a variety of organizations worldwide. During his presentation mr. Wielens briefly outlined the unique NineSigma approach, with a particular focus on the importance of innovation ecosystems, open global networks and the use of social networks in collaborative innovation.

In the third and final presentation of the afternoon, Prof. Dr. Aard J. Groen provided a critical reflection and outlook on the concept of Open Innovation, thereby addressing whether Open Innovation is something entirely new or just old wine in new bottles. By discussing the theoretical foundations or lack thereof of Open Innovation Prof. Groen convincingly worked towards the conclusion that the Open Innovation perspective is not new, but that the Open Innovation perspective certainly contains new aspects. Open Innovation might be old wine in new bottles, but these new bottles are interesting.

The seminar was concluded by an intriguing panel discussion chaired by Prof. Dr. Jonathan Linton of the Telfer School of Management which featured the three speakers alongside Dr. Dries Faems as panel members. The panel discussion highlighted several of the key issues with regard to Open Innovation, most notably the ambiguity of the concept of Open Innovation, the problematic use of Open Innovation terminology and the ‘misuse’ of Open Innovation as a cost-cutting strategy or as an excuse for the failure of internal R&D management. At the end of the panel-discussion a general consensus was derived that there is a need for a clear language of Open Innovation as well as a thorough discussion of its foundations and applications.

Several presentations and pictures are available for download through the NIKOS website.

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<< MB home Home News & Events News Events Prices & Awards Organization Education Publications Search	News \| Events \| Prices & Awards ETIM Seminar: OPEN Innovation for Global Enterprise (10 maart 2011) On Thursday March 10, 2011, the NIKOS and OOHR departments organized a seminar on ‘Open Innovation for Global Enterprise’ in the Ravelijn building. The seminar was supported by the SRO Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Institute For Governance Studies (IGS), the European Institute of Technology and Innovation Management (EITIM) and by the Dutch institute INSCOPE Research for Innovation. A mixed group of CTOs/CEOs of international and globally operating enterprises, high tech firms and global startups in the Twente region, UT alumni and Innovation & Entrepreneurship students attended the seminar. In the optional morning-program, attendants were provided with the opportunity to take a tour at the MESA+ Nanolab, while the main afternoon program included three presentations followed by a panel discussion. After a short introduction by Prof. Dr. P.C. De Weerd-Nederhof, the chair of the day, the main program started off with an inspiring presentation by Dr. Alberto Di Minin from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna about ‘Open Innovation in A Downturn – The Case of FIAT’. During his presentation Dr. Di Minin discussed the key elements of FIAT’s open innovation efforts, which took place long before Henry Chesborough coined the term Open Innovation. Specifically, Dr. Di Minin’s presentation focused on the factors contributing to FIAT’s initiation of Open Innovation efforts – especially the importance of an open innovation champion – and the encountered challenges – especially Intellectual Property and appropriability-related issues. The subsequent presentation featured Rick Wielens, vice-president of NineSigma Europe, a consulting firm with an impressive track record of implementing Open Innovation with a variety of organizations worldwide. During his presentation mr. Wielens briefly outlined the unique NineSigma approach, with a particular focus on the importance of innovation ecosystems, open global networks and the use of social networks in collaborative innovation. In the third and final presentation of the afternoon, Prof. Dr. Aard J. Groen provided a critical reflection and outlook on the concept of Open Innovation, thereby addressing whether Open Innovation is something entirely new or just old wine in new bottles. By discussing the theoretical foundations or lack thereof of Open Innovation Prof. Groen convincingly worked towards the conclusion that the Open Innovation perspective is not new, but that the Open Innovation perspective certainly contains new aspects. Open Innovation might be old wine in new bottles, but these new bottles are interesting. The seminar was concluded by an intriguing panel discussion chaired by Prof. Dr. Jonathan Linton of the Telfer School of Management which featured the three speakers alongside Dr. Dries Faems as panel members. The panel discussion highlighted several of the key issues with regard to Open Innovation, most notably the ambiguity of the concept of Open Innovation, the problematic use of Open Innovation terminology and the ‘misuse’ of Open Innovation as a cost-cutting strategy or as an excuse for the failure of internal R&D management. At the end of the panel-discussion a general consensus was derived that there is a need for a clear language of Open Innovation as well as a thorough discussion of its foundations and applications. Several presentations and pictures are available for download through the NIKOS website.