The way forward for open innovation

INNOVATION has always been an important competitive differentiator for organisations. What has changed, however, is that many successful companies have realised that they can no longer keep the innovation pipeline going with just in-house research and development (R&D).

Increasingly, more organisations are embarking on what is known as open innovation, using both internal and external knowledge, resources and networks to improve their organisational performance by addressing current problem statements.

With this approach, more ideas and innovation flow into an organisation from centres and individuals who may complement or have more experience than in-house experts to solve a particular problem.