{"id":1331,"date":"2016-08-26T11:05:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T17:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/?p=1331"},"modified":"2017-01-17T01:26:25","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T07:26:25","slug":"how-open-innovation-is-changing-the-game-for-product-designers-and-inventors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/how-open-innovation-is-changing-the-game-for-product-designers-and-inventors\/","title":{"rendered":"How Open Innovation is Changing the Game for Product Designers and Inventors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open Innovation\u00a0<\/em>is a popular buzzword these days in the business and product development world. The concept is changing the way firms approach product design<\/a>\u00a0and is opening the door to independent innovators and inventors to get involved with the process. And with that comes a whole new range of opportunities for designers to get paid for their inventions.<\/p>\n

What is Open Innovation?<\/h3>\n

The term ‘open innovation’ was coined by academic and author Henry Chesbrough<\/a> in 2003, but the concept is one which has been around for a while. Chesbrough gives the following definition for open innovation:<\/p>\n

\u201cOpen innovation is a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what does that mean? The basic idea is that companies\u00a0should be open to ideas, research, and knowledge not just from their own in-house people, but from the broader community. In the ideal open innovation context, this flow of information and inspiration is supposed to go both ways: on the one hand, firms are open to input from consumers or independent innovators or other external forces, while,\u00a0on the other hand, they license out or otherwise release their own internally generated innovations back out into the market.<\/p>\n

Open innovation is quite closely related to other emerging trends, like crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and the open source movement. According to proponents of open innovation, it is in the self-interest of firms to take advantage of the widely distributed system of knowledge that extends far beyond the boundaries of any single company or institution.\u00a0With the networking capacities of digital technology, it is now completely feasible for companies to do this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Open innovation takes many forms. From crowdsourcing design contests<\/a> to collaborative product design to taking submissions from the public, there are a variety of avenues for firms to open themselves up to outside ideas. For inventors, one of the most exciting ways is through product licensing.<\/p>\n

Why Companies Want to Work With Independent Product Developers<\/h3>\n

Product licensing is nothing new. It has always been a viable strategy for inventors and product innovators\u00a0to monetize their ideas. This is a classic example of open innovation at work: a mutually beneficial relationship whereby fresh, outside ideas come into a company and bring in fresh revenues with them.<\/p>\n

The occasional dose of outside ideas can be of great value to even well-established firms, and companies are beginning to take note. In part, this is because of the institutional nature of firms and the complexity inherent to any large organization. Bigger companies simply tend to move a bit slower. Companies also tend to develop their own systems and ways of approaching problems. There’s nothing wrong with this \u2014 after all, firms have a lot of tasks that they need to handle, and a coherent set of practices is essential. They have to worry about distribution, marketing, and manufacturing, not to mention managing the relationships within their organization.<\/p>\n

These are all tasks that you, the independent innovator, do not have on your plate. That leaves you free to focus on coming up with new ideas \u2014 great ideas, sometimes, that other companies may not have thought of as they were busy handling all the other details. A fresh perspective is needed from time to time to revitalize any operation.<\/p>\n

There are a number of benefits associated with open innovation that are turning companies on to the paradigm. These include:<\/p>\n