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WHAT IS OPEN INNOVATION SOFTWARE?Stefan Hrastinski, Uppsala University

April 2010

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In this article, Dr. Hrastinski explores and categorizessoftware platforms for open innovation.

Most open innovation software focus on open idea management.

Despite that it is widely acknowledged

that technologies are of key importance inopen innovation practices (Chesbrough,

2003), little research has studied how

various technologies can be strategically

used to enable and support open

innovation practices (Dodgson, Gann, &

Salter, 2005). For example, Chesbrough

(2003) argues that new technologies can

support open innovation, but do not

explore how, for what reason, and to what

extent different information technologies

can be used when innovation is desired

(Dodgson, et al., 2005).

Drawing on the above, in Hrastinski et al.

(2010), we explored how current open

innovation software (OIS) are designed,

by whom they are used and reflect on their

potential to support open innovation

processes.

The current focus is on idea collectionWe classified a sample of 51 systems and

found that most OIS are not very

innovative because they provide similar

features. Typically, users are asked to

describe an idea or the management

specifies a problem to be solved. Then, a

phase that includes problem solving and

evaluation in collaboration follows. In

successful cases, these processes lead or

contribute to an innovation.

Our review reveals that a vast majority of

OIS focuses on the front end of open

innovation through an emphasis on the

collection of ideas or problem solutions

requested by the management of

technology industries.

Four types of open innovation software

When scrutinizing the reviewed OIS, few

attempted to take a step towards OIS that

support more than the collection of ideas.

Drawing on the reviewed software, we

suggest a classification, which includes

four types of OIS. The four types of OIS

can be used by organizations to reflect on

how they are using IT to support open

innovation, and most importantly, how

they could use IT to support open

innovation in new and innovative ways in

the future.

Type DescriptionIdea

management

software

Lets users suggest, evaluate and

discuss ideas openly or within

predefined categories

Problem

solving

software

Provides opportunities for defining

problems and then suggesting,

evaluating and discussing solutions

Innovation

marketplace

Asks users to suggest solutions to

problems defined by an organization,

and use rewards and recognition as an

incentive

Innovation

analysis

software

Provides sophisticated tools for

evaluating and analyzing the quality

and potential of ideas and solutions

WHAT IS OPEN INNOVATIONSOFTWARE?Stefan Hrastinski, Uppsala University

April 2010

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Open InnovationFrom the Open Innovation Forums perspective open innovation involves all aspects ofcreating new business opportunities by engaging end-users in co-creative activities. Web2.0 technologies has caused electronic collaboration to evolve, hence paving the way forcompanies to invite customers and employees to be involved in the refinement of theirofferings. Ideally open innovation will create win-win situations where users get servicesthat are more oriented to their needs and organizations will offer services that are moredesired by the market.

The Open Innovation ForumThe Open Innovation Forum aims at being a knowledge hub and rallying point for user-

oriented open innovation, where innovation experts and researchers can collaborate onimproving theories and practices, while open innovation novices are invited to follow, ortake active part, in the development of the area.

www.openinnovationforum.com

WHAT IS OPEN INNOVATION SOFTWARE?

Stefan Hrastinski, Uppsala UniversityStefan Hrastinski is a Research Fellow and Director of Master Studies at the Department ofInformation Science, Uppsala University, Sweden. He received his PhD in Informatics from LundUniversity in 2007. Stefans research interests include open innovation, and collaborative learningand work. He is associated with the Swedish IT-User Centre and the Research School of Managementand IT.

Further reading

Chesbrough, H. (2003). The open innovation paradigm. In H. Chesbrough (Ed.), Openinnovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology(pp. 43-62).Harvard Business School Press.

Dodgson, M., Gann, D., & Salter, A. (2005). Think, play, do: Technology, innovation, andorganization. Oxford University Press.

Hrastinski, S., Kviselius, N., Ozan, H., & Edenius, M. (2010). A review of technologies foropen innovation: Characteristics and future trends. Paper presented at the 43rd HawaiiInternational Conference on System Sciences.

The content in this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribute 3.0 License, which allows the materialto freely be copied, distributed, transmitted and remixed as long as the work is attributed to the original authors.

http://www.openinnovationforum.com/http://www.openinnovationforum.com/http://www.openinnovationforum.com/