Brokers and Intermediaries for Open Innovation – A Global Market Study

By Kathleen Diener and Frank Piller, Innovationmanagement.se

Successful open innovation relies on intermediaries and platforms connecting an organization with outside solution providers, so called open innovation accelerators (OIAs). With more than 180 players, the market for OIAs however is getting complex and difficult to navigate. A recent study by RWTH Aachen compared these OIA market. In this report, we summarize some of the main findings.

Open innovation (OI) has developed from a buzzword into an established practice of innovation management.
Sources of external input for innovation are plentiful, including market actors like customers, suppliers, competitors; the scientific system of university labs and research institutions; public authorities like patent agents and public funding agencies; and mediating parties like technology consultants, media, and conference organizers.
Characterizing for OI is the integration of often “unobvious” actors (from different domains, industries, or different stages of the value chain) in a flexible and informal way beyond the traditional notion of innovation networks or contract research. New forms of organizing distributed problem solving like crowdsourcing have become a leitmotif for many innovation departments.
But when engaging in OI, organizations face the need of creating an internal ecosystem that allows them to profit from external input in an efficient and effective way. This demands two capabilities:

1. Firstly, companies have to know which tools exist to tap into external knowledge stocks for innovation in a flexible way. They have to gain knowledge how to operate these approaches and learn about their success factors.
2. Secondly, companies have to identify and reach out to potential external partners which can help them in for their open innovation process. They require an overview of methods and possible partners who are specialized in applying these methods.

Open Innovation Accelerators

In the last decade, a new industry of service providers for open innovation has emerged supporting companies in executing these tasks. We call them Open Innovation Accelerators (OIA), intermediaries, consultancies, and agencies helping their clients to accelerate an open innovation project by providing dedicated tools, methods, access to an established community of solvers or participants, but also education and process consulting. With more than 180 players, the market for OIAs however is getting complex and difficult to navigate.
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