Two examples of open innovation and wisdom of crowds
Slowly we see the first initiatives come to live. Innovations are no longer solely done in the basements of large corporations, but now customers are taking control.
Innovations used to be done by scientists, but this is no longer the case. Well organised crowds are better at boosting innovations than individuals, so-called the wisdom of crowds effect! Some might know the Innocentive initiative and how IBM is successfully trailing the initiative.
Large corporations finally see that innovations and ideas are no longer delivered from within the organisation. IBM has again mastered this changing exterior innovation concept. The initiative of IBM is very successful and is known as InnovationJam. InnovationJam is an continuous brainstorm session in the virtual world. Everything is controlled via the Internet and is an independent source of innovations. Everyone is invited from Partners, employees to customers and anyone interested to participate in the on-line brainstorm. IBM want to use the wisdom of crowds to enhance innovations for the years to come. It's all based on the 4 themes: Going Places, Finance & Commerce, Staying Healthy, and A Better Planet.
Is it a success? Absolutely!
With more than 53.000 registered participants, 37.000 postings, nearly 3 mln page views, and 67 participating companies (excl. IBM), one can say it's a huge success. Thanks to MolBlog. All ideas have been sorted by IBM and in the next phase, important ideas and concepts will be realised. Again the second phase will also take place on-line. It has brought IBM various new insights, numerous ideas ... and above all it has brought IBM good PR! In our eyes, we applaud the initiative and IBM has again shown that it understands good concepts, like Open Source, now it grasps the concept of Open Innovation!
Best of all, all ideas that has an above average rate of success will be awarded with a budget. The available budget for these initiatives is 100 mln dollars. With a budget like this, everyone is willing to participate. It's a great initiative. If you have similair cases, would you please let us know?