Unilever recently opened a new platform to help them grow their business using open innovation. The new Open Innovation portal is designed to find the latest and greatest technologies from around the world. Unilever plans to use submissions to its portal to improve upon existing concepts, as well as discover new ideas and ways of working with innovation partners. The company has expressed its commitment to the Read More
Abandoned Buggies – Help is on the Way!
Recently Singapore’s Municipal Services Office (MSO) unveiled its plans for a new app and web portal in an effort to improve government services. Minister of Culture, Community, and Youth, Ms. Grace Fu, is in charge of the project and believes it will greatly improve municipal services using the power of crowd-sourcing. The goal is for users to provide information and feedback to the MSO using the new platform, which Read More
Uncle Sam Wants YOU
The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office has advised that it has plans to seek out new and improved innovations from industry professionals in the field of weaponry. The Pentagon’s goal is to put its existing weapons to work in new and useful ways. This is all in an effort to keep one step ahead of other heavy-hitters such as Russia and China. This is the first time the Pentagon has reached out for help in this Read More
Become a Space Archaeologist!
Dr. Sarah H. Parcak, American archeologist and Egyptologist, was recently awarded the 2016 Ted Prize for her pioneering work in “space archeology,” a concept involving the use of satellite imaging, taken from over 400 miles above Earth, to uncover ancient sites which have gone undiscovered for millennia. An important function of space archeology is to expose and monitor looting of historic locations. Part of the Read More
A "Cool" Shipping Idea?
Do you have a “cool” shipping idea? The Hershey Company recently launched a crowd-sourcing campaign on NineSigma to seek out the next big innovation in shipping, specifically, shipping cold chocolate to warm climates. According to the contest website, Hershey is looking to develop “a lightweight, affordable shipping system that will keep chocolate close to the temperature at which it was packed, 75°F or below, for Read More
Open Innovation Efforts Gaining Traction at Indian University
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a prestigious venture to raise quality standards of Indian products to attract capital and technological investment in India. The initiative is called ‘Make in India’. According to The New Indian Express, The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cell at Cochin College of Engineering and Technology is being launched this week. The Cell is aimed at developing Read More
Crowdsourcing to the Rescue!
Thanks to Laura Keeney of the Denver Post for picking up on DigitalGlobe's efforts to assist the earthquake relief effort in Nepal through the use of CrowdSourcing. DigitalGlobe is enlisting the general public's assistance with relief efforts in Nepal following Saturday's magnitude-7.8 earthquake, and anyone with an Internet connection and some spare time can help. The company on Saturday deployed its FirstLook Read More
Calling All In Transit
Most of us who work in the world of open innovation and crowd sourcing are familiar with leveraging the power of the collective to come up with new consumer product ideas or solutions to scientific or technical challenges. But how often do we see organizations using the crowd to save the world (and why don't we see it more often)? Recently, Humanity United and the United States Agency for International Development Read More
Lifetime Brands – an Open Innovation Success Story
You might not recognize the name "Lifetime Brands", but you almost certainly will recognize their brands: Farberware, KitchenAid, Mikasa, Cuisinart, and Pfaltzgraff are only a handful of the recognizable names under which Lifetime sells its wares. In fact, you probably have a number of their products in your kitchen. I have been to their headquarters and seen their showroom - it's like a kitchen junkie's dream come Read More
