Open innovation takes inventiveness a step further by emphasizing collaboration, shared ideas, and partnerships. It often provides the ideal way for companies to stay ahead of the competition through access to latest technology. Consequently, open innovation should be a go-to tool for any savvy Chief Innovation Officer or Chief R&D Officer.

What Makes Open Innovation Different?

The most cutting-edge innovations transform industries, but they’re seldom found in-house. Instead, organisations adopt new technologies and practices from external resources that disrupt traditional models and improve processes.

Today, innovation can come from anywhere on the planet. As a result, accessing the best possible resources should involve a platform that connects innovators and early adopters. That way companies can leverage the collective intelligence of whatever the world has to offer.

Of course, many companies want concrete examples of how open innovation can help. The following are some well-known companies that have made great strides through open innovation.

Zespri International Limited

As the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, Zespri sells to over 59 countries. They collaborated with EarlyBirds to help realize their vision of sustainable operations and a reduction in their carbon footprint reduction across their supply chain.

Zespri acknowledged EarlyBirds’ Open Innovation Ecosystem offered a “quick and easy way to find global technologies for crop estimation, worker efficiency and automation, and on-orchard decision support”. Consequently, they assessed new opportunities for investment through their ZAG Innovation fund.

Zespri also noted EarlyBirds is highly-capable of identifying disruptive technologies, data science, and industry insights to help them make informed decisions on appropriate solution providers and partners.

AUKUS Partnership

EarlyBirds can play a leading role in the a significant collaboration between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and their need for rapid technological advancement. Their Open Innovation Platform helps defense sectors equip themselves with cutting-edge technologies quickly.

EarlyBirds proven track record of achieving ‘Speed to Capability‘ translates well to the AUKUS partnership, ensuring these nations stay ahead of threats.

NASA

NASA is a strong proponent for open innovation. They state it can broaden its capacity for innovation and discovery. How? Organisations “reduce costs, accelerate projects, enhance creativity, and better engage their stakeholders”.

By tapping into the collective intelligence of the world, NASA could solve complex problems and create innovative solutions too.

EarlyBirds also recognizes the space and satellite industries offer great potential for innovators and business. From supply chain to space tourism, each can benefit from the resources of EarlyBirds’ Open Innovation Ecosystem.

Accessing Open Innovation for Competitive Advantage

Most Chief Innovation Officers and Chief R&D Officers have a clear idea of where they want to take their companies. However, sifting through the enormous number of innovations can be a daunting task.

Luckily, EarlyBirds offers simple and swift methods to identify promising technologies and talent. All provide the following benefits:

• Increased productivity
• Improved operational efficiency
• Enhanced competitiveness
• Connections to the best Subject Matter Experts and innovators available
• Simplified process

EarlyBirds Skill Identification Program

Our skill identification program offers potential solutions to organisation to find and retain the best in the current talent pool.

The program is overseen by veterans in the industry with a high level of credibility and expertise that benefits all parties. It also provides actionable data-driven recommendations fuelled by cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics.

EarlyBirds Innovation Ecosystem

Our award-winning Innovation Ecosystem allows both innovation and strategic thinking in all areas of a business, whatever the technical or business challenge or potential opportunity your organisation wants to explore.

With a data pool of over 5.0 million global innovations across many industries, it is possible that solutions already exist that address your organisation’s challenges. Alternatively, your organisation can list your challenges and request solutions from innovators.

EarlyBirds Ecosystem Maps

EarlyBirds’ Ecosystem Maps offer strategic value for decision-making. They empower leaders, because they provide a full picture of the possible technological advancements in specific domains. This allows leaders to make informed, forward-thinking decisions.

Each Ecosystem Map contains startups, scaleups, and mature companies involved in specific themes and sub-themes so organisations can plot a path towards innovation. The map also tracks numerous daily and historical news and media articles from across the world.

EarlyBirds Explorer Program

The Explorer Program is tailored towards those who need innovation as a service to supplement existing innovation programs, or to conduct innovation projects when required. It is designed to speed up the process of technological innovation for the organisation as a service.

The Explorer Program includes several features including quarterly and monthly innovation days; regular webinars to help stimulate innovation in the organisation; a focus on types of innovations; a platform enterprise license; and a nominated SME for the business.

EarlyBirds Challenger Program

The Challenger Program focuses on a single organisational or technical challenge. It looks for the most relevant innovators that meet your organisational, technical, and risk requirements.

The program is run by an EarlyBirds’ Subject Matter Expert who identifies your key issues. The SME then searches the data pool to identify and curate options for further evaluation. The most suitable option is chosen and the SME drafts a roadmap of next steps, POC, trial, or implementation.

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The best Chief Innovation Officers and Chief R&D Officers are always on the look out for outstanding technologies. If you are looking to find solutions to improve your organisation, please sign up as an Early Adopter to explore the possibilities. Alternatively, please request a consultation for a more personalized approach.

Our experience extends to the Food Industry, Retail, Healthcare, Operations & Maintenance, Manufacturing, Finance & Insurance, Energy, Education, Cybersecurity, Sovereign Nations, the Public Sector, and many other areas. We can help you find the technologies and talent you need to stay a step ahead.

The post How Leading Companies Are Using Open Innovation to Stay Ahead appeared first on EarlyBirds Blog.