For the first time ever, guidelines on how researchers can apply Open Innovation in order improve their work have been gathered in one place: "Open Innovation - A Handbook for Researchers".
– Open innovation tools such as Open Data, Creative Commons and Crowdsourcing provide researchers with new opportunities for funding projects, increasing resources and disseminating results, says Jesper Vasell, Innovationskontor Väst.
There are several reasons why researchers should learn more about Open Innovation. Many funding agencies and universities are starting to demand the use of Open Innovation in terms of requiring researchers to make their reports and data available to the public for free. Several companies are changing their model for R&D, creating new opportunities for research collaboration but also potential pitfalls. Open Innovation also provides lots of new tools for getting resources, changing the way research can be done and how results can be utilised. However, until now most of the literature on Open Innovation has focused on how companies and inventors can use it.
The report "Open Innovation - A Handbook for Researchers" targets young researchers from all research areas, who already are Internet savvy but would like to know more about Open Innovation. Hopefully, they can get their older colleagues interested too.
One of the examples provided in the report is how Dr Alexander Osterwalder used Open Innovation to develop and distribute his research on business models.
"I wouldn't be where I am today without the Internet and without applying an open model. Our original academic content found a global audience by relentless sharing under a Creative Commons license and by using the most recent Internet tools (e.g. Slideshare when it just came out). Today our crowd-funded book, Business Model Generation, sold close to a million copies in 26 languages and I am co-founder of a Strategyzer, a software start-up based on our academic research. I would probably be some obscure strategy consultant if I hadn't continuously experimented with an open model sharing lots of content." Alexander Osterwalder, www.strategyzer.com
The report has been developed at Innovationskontor Väst, an innovation office at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. The office has a history of developing and distributing tools supporting innovation management in academia.
Open Innovation is one of the most important channels for research utilisation at Chalmers. It's also an essential component for truly integrating research, education and innovation. This also means that all researchers need to have basic knowledge about Open Innovation in terms of both pros and cons, which we address with this report." Dr Jesper Vasell, manager, Innovationkontor Väst
The content of the report has been presented at several seminars and will soon be developed into an Open Educational Resource. New versions will also be released, and therefore more examples from the academic world are very much appreciated. Please send comments and suggestions to [email protected]!
True to its main message, the report can be downloaded for free under a Creative Commons license here.
For more information, please contact Dr Lena Holmberg, [email protected], +46 70 21 92 186
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