Procter and Gamble to pilot new open innovation initiative - NESTA, BDI & Oakland to bridge gap between 'ideas' people and big business
15/06/2007
"Open innovation still makes a lot of people nervous. Large corporations fear being accused of "stealing" ideas while designers are often unsure when to hand over their concept. The result is a largely untapped innovation ecosystem. If we can encourage collaboration at the earliest stage of idea generation the benefits both to big business and the individual entrepreneur will be immense."
Launching this September and part of NESTA's new Connect programme, the 'Open Innovation Challenge' will see NESTA and BDI mediate between P&G and small companies to open communication channels and draw in ideas, while side-stepping traditional concerns over intellectual property.
At an initial open workshop P&G will brief enterprising thinkers from outside the company on current industry trends and identify areas in which the brand giant is looking for breakthrough ideas. Participants will then be invited to submit new product proposals which will be reviewed by BDI and Oakland, without involvement from P&G.
From these entries, the ten most promising applicants will be selected and given access to mentoring, business support and up to £25,000 to further develop their ideas to a stage at which they can demonstrate commercial viability.
Only after a final short-listing will up to five of the strongest applicants have the chance to present their ideas to P&G. P&G will then have 45 days in which to decide if it wants to progress the idea and sign appropriate contracts, otherwise the designer will be free to take their idea elsewhere. In all instances designers will retain their IP.
The move follows P&G's recent announcement that it expects 50% of its R&D pipeline to have external innovation involvement.
NESTA CEO, Jonathan Kestenbaum said:
"Open innovation still makes a lot of people nervous. Large corporations fear being accused of "stealing" ideas while designers are often unsure when to hand over their concept. The result is a largely untapped innovation ecosystem. If we can encourage collaboration at the earliest stage of idea generation the benefits both to big business and the individual entrepreneur will be immense."
NESTA and BDI are already investigating potential partnerships with other large organisations.
Commenting on their involvement, Mike Addison, Section Head at P&G said:
"Through our Connect & Develop strategy, P&G is seeking to connect with the world's most inspired minds to bring superior products to the market faster and at better value. We are excited about this opportunity and believe that the Open Innovation Challenge could help us find the right talent and partnerships to help us do just that."
P&G's Connect & Develop strategy now has 42% of its products with a major component sourced externally. These partnerships have already resulted in over $2 billion in sales at other companies powered by P&G assets.
Further information on the Open Innovation Challenge will be released closer to the launch date in September. Full deatils will be available from our partnerships page or email connect@nesta.org.uk or for comment, interviews and press enquiries please contact our press office on 020 7438 9608 or press@nesta.org.uk.
Procter and Gamble (NYSE: PG)
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Pringles®, Folgers®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Actonel®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, and Braun®. The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide.
British Design Innovation (BDI)
BDI is a not for profit; yet commercially focused, membership organisation which provides an environment for collaborative innovation and IP trading in a secure, equitable and ethical manner. In that environment it provides the opportunity for Originators to come together with Industry and Dealmakers, to use innovation to resolve business, social and environmental issues on a commercial basis. It is a business model unique to BDI, who understand and respect the needs of all parties operating in the innovation space. It provides income generation opportunities for all members. Members include strategically-led design and innovation consultants, university innovation teams, in-house design and innovation teams, entrepreneurs, vision-led SME's; technologists, dealmakers and design, business & science graduates. The BDI mission is to foster collaboration between members and create an environment to deliver sustainable innovation.
Oakland Innovation
Oakland Innovation is a consultancy with a multinational team of postgraduate scientists, technologists, business strategists and qualitative research analysts that helps clients to explore new market opportunities, to find technology for product and process innovation, and to identify possible partners to fast track product development and market execution.