Innocentive’s Open Innovation: The World Is Your R&D Department

Want to take a crack at solving the world’s most critical problems? Check out InnoCentive, a bustling marketplace of challenges. InnoCentive partners with companies and researchers who need solutions to tough problem facing today’s world. Some challenges are straight up scientific, like coming up with a “Non-ion Sensitive Super Absorbent Polymer” (?). Others are less technical; one group needs Ideas for “Making Long-term Habit Changes in Lifestyle”. The site offers significant cash prizes ($5,000 to $30,000 and up) for the best ideas. Prizes amounts are set by the groups posing the problem, and are split between InnoCentive and the solution provider. What’s interesting is many times the solutions come from people way outside the field the problem resides in.

The New York Times reports:

The idea that solutions can come from anywhere, and from people with seemingly unrelated work, is another key. Dr. Lakhani said his study of InnoCentive found that “the further the problem was from the solver’s expertise, the more likely they were to solve it,” often by applying specialized knowledge or instruments developed for another purpose.

For example, he said, the brain might be thought of as a biological system, but “certain brain problems may not be solvable by taking a biological approach. You may want to cast it as an electrical engineering approach. An electrical engineer will come in and say, ‘Oh, here’s the answer for you.’ They have not thought of themselves as being neuroscientists but now they can approach the problem from the point of view of electrical engineering.”

NYT: “If You Have A Problem, Ask Everyone”