Leveraging Bright Ideas
On Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing
We’ve been researching open innovation and crowdsourcing for several months. The more we read on these interesting phenomena, the more we wonder why it has taken so long for them to emerge and gain popularity.
The idea behind open innovation is that companies should look beyond their walls for research, inventions and patents, instead of wholly relying on their internal staff to produce them. Crowdsourcing is the concept of reaching out to a large, undefined group of people in an open call for an idea or solution. Essentially, both stem from the same need for businesses to access the best talent in the most cost-effective way, no matter where it is.
It’s a touchy issue for some. To engage in either, especially crowdsourcing, is to expose your company’s objectives or problems to potentially anyone with internet access. Seems daunting? Agreeably, which is why crowdsourcing has worked best in the design field. A company doesn’t need to give out too much information to describe what kind of logo, label or package design it needs. In some cases, iStockPhoto for example, anyone is free to browse through thousands of images and license them for a fee without revealing much about themselves.
We took these into serious consideration before building our business model. By limiting access to a company’s brief, which may contain sensitive information, to students who have signed a non-disclosure agreement, we legalize the process and give companies the assurance that information will remain confidential. We also give companies the option to not disclose their name. The downside of this is that not knowing a company’s name might dilute the quality of solutions provided, as participants will not be able to research its brands, competition or products.
Another thorny issue is intellectual property. When students submit their ideas and solutions to companies, who owns the IP and how is it protected? Again, having legal agreements explicitly stating that the authors are the rightful owners of the IP until they sell tackles the problem.
These are all valid issues, but there are definitely many ways to address them. The benefits of open innovation and crowdsourcing cannot be denied. Large, forward thinking companies like Google and Apple started tapping into the general public for creative ideas a few years ago. The wisdom of crowds has a lot to offer, and our goal is to take it to its highest potential.
The idea behind open innovation is that companies should look beyond their walls for research, inventions and patents, instead of wholly relying on their internal staff to produce them. Crowdsourcing is the concept of reaching out to a large, undefined group of people in an open call for an idea or solution. Essentially, both stem from the same need for businesses to access the best talent in the most cost-effective way, no matter where it is.
It’s a touchy issue for some. To engage in either, especially crowdsourcing, is to expose your company’s objectives or problems to potentially anyone with internet access. Seems daunting? Agreeably, which is why crowdsourcing has worked best in the design field. A company doesn’t need to give out too much information to describe what kind of logo, label or package design it needs. In some cases, iStockPhoto for example, anyone is free to browse through thousands of images and license them for a fee without revealing much about themselves.
We took these into serious consideration before building our business model. By limiting access to a company’s brief, which may contain sensitive information, to students who have signed a non-disclosure agreement, we legalize the process and give companies the assurance that information will remain confidential. We also give companies the option to not disclose their name. The downside of this is that not knowing a company’s name might dilute the quality of solutions provided, as participants will not be able to research its brands, competition or products.
Another thorny issue is intellectual property. When students submit their ideas and solutions to companies, who owns the IP and how is it protected? Again, having legal agreements explicitly stating that the authors are the rightful owners of the IP until they sell tackles the problem.
These are all valid issues, but there are definitely many ways to address them. The benefits of open innovation and crowdsourcing cannot be denied. Large, forward thinking companies like Google and Apple started tapping into the general public for creative ideas a few years ago. The wisdom of crowds has a lot to offer, and our goal is to take it to its highest potential.
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