Open Innovation

 

The reading 'The era of open innovation' by Henry W. Chesbrough is very interesting. It is worth

noting how in the later years of 20^th century the 'closed innovation' was almost replaced by 'open

innovation'. The industrial giants of past years have taken a beating in terms of market valuation etc.

and the new start ups with innovative ideas funded by venture capitalists have taken their place.

Similar trend is visible in India also like elsewhere in the world. Very few people were aware of

Infosys Technologies(A global IT and ITES company based in India) in the beginning of this century,

and now it is listed on NASDAQ. It is fantastic to have innovative ideas from outside the

organization. That way, an organization may benefit from a larger pool of intellect in the society. In

fact open innovation is a symbol of mood of advancing together, which is a hallmark of 21^st century.

It is really heartening to think in terms of not locking up one's intellectual property, but instead

finding ways to profit from others' use of that property through licensing agreements, joint ventures

and other arrangements. Henry is quite correct when he holds open innovation as incorporating the

ability to rescue 'false negatives'. The example of Hollywood as open innovator is also very

interesting which for decades has innovated through a network of partnerships and alliances. It

sounds funny, though is realistic, when a waitress is seen as a budding actress and a parking attendant

as a potential screenplay writer.