We’ve all held up the Netflix Prize as a key example of how to use online prizes to drive collaborative innovation to improve predictive science.  But this week,  I encountered two stories that show a unique intersection of the gaming field and innovation in different ways.  One, from MIT Technology Review describes how companies are using games to drive new innovative thinking.  Some use games to train workers in new systems, others are used to reward “players” for channeling new ideas for improving the business.  The other from NPR’s All Things Considered (click the link for an audio file and the online transcript) showcases the winners of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.  The students worked with researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to adapt the Microsoft Xbox Kinect game system hardware system - a sophisticated camera and laser tracking system that monitors and processes movement by the game players – in order to create an accurate and cost effective system to analyze human gait and identify abnormal walking patters.  The idea was to improve medical diagnoses and physical therapy, and possibly help contribute to advanced prosthesis design.

So what do these stories illustrate?  We all know that taking cool technologies that were developed for other applications and re-purposing them for new uses is what Open Innovation is all about.   But these examples show how open innovation continues to manifest itself into new areas and becomes adopted both by young students to further their education, and by big companies to foster improved employee engagement.

At the risk of sounding patriotic (though this is the 4^th of July), today’s topic is…FIREWORKS!  Most everyone knows fireworks were invented in China (apparently around the 7th Century), but it’s amazing how innovation in the United States and around the world has improved the “consumer experience” dramatically, even in the last 20 years.

As a kid growing up in the ‘80s, the annual 4^th of July fireworks show, viewed from the grassy fields of Barranca Mesa Elementary School, was really amazing up in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico (we could even see the shows in Espanola and Santa Fe from over 20 miles away).  But the show was often…boring.  A few neat things here and there, lots of down time, and lack of a dazzling finale (to be fair, the budget for a show with a county of only 20,000 people was probably not that big).

So skip ahead to the ‘90s, I, along with over a million others, was privileged to see a show by the famous Santore Brothers of New Jersey. Launched from a barge off the New Jersey Shore, the computer controlled show was set to patriotic music transmitted over the radio.   Today, pretty much all shows at ballparks, outdoor concerts, and theme parks, offer a wondrous experience thematically choreographed and synchronized with music.  Aside from electronically timed firing, new innovations have reduced the amount of smoke (to be used indoors), advanced color mixing, and maybe even allowed for the emergence of the Holy Grail – spelling words in the sky!  To learn more, see also The Chemistry of Fireworks.

Happy Independence Day!

As an early adopter of consumer electronic gadgets far and wide, I am constantly reading and absorbing everything I can in print and online when it comes to technology.  Recently, I caught the announcement that Microsoft pulled their Kin phones just 45 days after product launch.  This is as fast as the closing of a bad play on Broadway (but way more expensive - one estimate says the failure cost Microsoft at least $240 million after selling possibly only a few thousand devices).

This got me thinking about the challenge in balancing the drive to be "first to market" with the mantra of "fail early and fail often", and how our work with clients fits into this.  A critical element to open innovation is that although these new skills can enable a robust product devleopment funnel (by combining internal activities with enabling external components, subsystems, platform technologies, ideas, products for acquisition, etc.), but it is critical to have metrics in place to evaluate projects at every step of the way (even after product launch).  Many companies have "stage-gate" type processes, but often these processes are not strictly adhered to. 

For example, one thing I've learned in working closely with CPG and Food and Beverage companies, is that product development activities have to be closely aligned not only to the corporate/business strategy, but also to consumer insights.  Consumer insights are not only useful for test marketing products and driving marketing and brand development, but with solid integration of Open Innovation practices, gaps in the product features/performance can be identified and then rapidly filled via external innovation. 

By the way, before you count Microsoft down for the count, the entire Kin team has already been reassigned to enable them to focus exclusively on the Windows Phone 7 mobile platform, so you can bet Microsoft will learn from their mistake and come back stronger.

Let NineSigma help you launch an open innovation program.  Contact us to learn more about open innovation.

Many of our clients use their corporate website to highlight strategic and tactical needs as a way to solicit solutions from the global science and innovation community.  Today, I wanted to highlight a website from a client of ours, Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI).  Their Open Innovation website, launched in mid 2009, is interesting because although many similar websites exist within the packaged food and consumer packaged goods industries, I am not aware of any other automotive OEM or Tier One supplier doing this today.  Below is a summary of a few questions I've been bouncing off the Johnson Controls Automotive Experience team (the division behind the OI website).

Kevin:  First, can you give some background - who is Johnson Controls?

JCI:   Johnson Controls is a global leader in energy and operational efficiency for buildings, innovative interiors for vehicles and advanced vehicle power solutions.  The Automotive Experience business of Johnson Controls provides automotive seating, interiors and electronics components and systems to almost every automaker globally. Our seating products include: seat trim, foam, metals and mechanisms, as well as complete seat systems. Our interior components include: door panels; overhead systems, sun visors, overhead consoles; in addition to center and floor consoles and instrument panels. Our electronics products include integrated electronics - displays, instrument clusters, connectivity systems and body electronics; as well as electrical energy management and the HomeLink Wireless Control System.

Kevin: How do people submit solutions, and what process do you have in place to review submissions?

JCI: As with most of these websites, in order to keep the flow of information clean and to avoid disclosure of proprietary information, all submitters must have issued patents or patent applications for their technology.  To review submissions, we have established an expert review process.  Each idea submitted is available to all experts for review, but individual ideas are categorized and sent to the appropriate experts to ensure the right people are notified immediately that an idea in their area of expertise has been submitted for their review. Inventors are notified if there is interest, typically within three months.

Kevin: What technology interests are you seeking from your website?

JCI: We are particularly interested in a few key technology areas.  These include surface / thin-film technology, new cover materials, bio-polymers and natural fiber materials, advanced high strength steels and structural composite materials and the associated technologies to form and join these materials, “smart” materials, injection mold tooling technology that reduces cycle time, technologies to reduce component assembly time and cost (such as unique fastening, assembly automation and in-plant logistics), sensor and actuator technology for electronification of interior features, unique technology to achieve downsized mechanisms like recliners and adjusters, and software tools to improve predictive analysis and design optimization.  We're also always interested in solutions that can reduce product weight, costs, and/or improve environmental sustainability.

Kevin: Why is your product set a good one for Open Innovation, and what kinds of solution providers are you seeking?

JCI: Our broad product scope requires solutions from an array of technologies to create successful systems. For example, many of our products serve a structural role and are important for performance and safety.  But what are ways to weld/join different kinds of components and materials?  This is something that is being addressed in a variety of industries (not just automotive), and therefore, new approaches are always of interest. As for the types of solution providers, we are looking to this website to communicate differently with our traditional supply base, but also of significant interest is the ability to extend our network to the many academic and non-profit research institutions, as well as to inventors working in diverse technologies and other companies searching to license applicable technology.

Kevin: What kinds of results/successes are you already seeing?

JCI: We are pleased with what we’ve seen so far. The submissions have been steadily coming in, and our internal network of experts has been enjoying the experience of reviewing the ideas and connecting with the inventors who have made the submissions to our site.  More than a few submissions have been technologies that have potential for application in more than one product area.  These submissions have been particularly exciting for us.  For example, just last week we had a series of meetings with potential solution providers, and we had a particularly interesting company in for a visit to explore their technology as it might be applied to automotive seating and interiors.

Kevin: What were your biggest obstacles in getting this initiative complete, and what advice would you have for other companies considering creating an Open Innovation-focused needs website?

JCI:  As you know, Kevin, executive support of Open Innovation is important for the success of these initiatives.   Innovation is a core value for Johnson Controls, and we have had great support from our leadership team, so getting this initiative up and running was not a significant challenge. Our challenge is to make connections with the innovative people outside of our organization with whom we have not yet met.  We want every inventor with technology applicable to Johnson Controls to know that we are open to their ideas and know how to share them with us. 

As for advice for other companies, I suggest that having a robust process for reviewing the ideas once they are received is critical.  We are seeing successes, in part, because we have a system in place to ensure that, while all of our experts have access to the submissions, individual experts are specifically notified when an idea in their area of expertise is received.  The initiative can’t be successful if the review process doesn’t expose the best ideas for follow through.

Did you hear the one about the automotive sensor manufacturer who found oil-level sensor technology from the dairy industry?  How about the time we connected a candy manufacturer with enabling dispenser technology to impact an appliance manufacturer?  Or the one where the crash sensor radar/imaging technology was applied for inspection of heat-sealed pouches for food products to detect a failed seal?  

Storytelling is the life blood of Open Innovation (and NineSigma, too), and cross-boundary/cross-industry connections not only make fantastic stories but validate day after day how powerful a structured Open Innovation program can be towards delivering results.  This comes to mind today, because during my staff meeting this morning, we spent part of it filming our technical team in order to capture and document just a handful of the amazing project stories among the 1600+ client engagements.  This is always a tricky exercise to showcase an interesting outcome, while protecting client confidentiality, but the passion surrounding the stories engaged everybody, and the excitement was infectious.  We look forward to finding better ways of sharing success and stories with the NineSigma community...  What other stories are out there?

I was intrigued last month when I saw the Yale University admissions informational video - "That's Why I Chose Yale" - sort of a new way to share the Yale experience and stand out among all the college guidebooks (especially among the "High School Musical Generation").  Now this week, I was amazed to learn that Tufts University allows applicants to submit short YouTube videos to supplement their application (about 1,000 out of 15,000 applicants did this).

Now that the College "Application Video" has emerged, how soon before we see the "Professional" Application Video.  Finding and vetting new partners used to be limited by corporate travel budgets (where conferences and trade shows thrived to offer opportunities for face-to-face introduction and interaction) to finding new partners on the internet and making introductions through written electronic communication (such as emailing or uploading expertise/proposal submissions to corporate needs project postings).  With virtual conferences becoming all the rage, it will be interesting to see how video begins to emerge beyond a social media enterprise and become a more prevalent professional media platform.  In fact, for NineSigma projects, we are starting to see occasional video submissions from solution providers to supplement proposals (often a custom demo specific to the project showcasing a capability or using video to demonstrate unique equipment in action).  As the current 20-somethings who grew up on social media continue to express themselves and communicate beyond email/texting/tweeting, it will be interesting to see how they expand their use of video communication platforms to initiate and secure professional partnerships.  Who knows, a video "resume" may not be too far behind!

Boy it's hard to stay focused today while tracking the latest live tweets from the CoDev 2010 conference and live blogs of the Apple event to launch the iPad (not to mention documenting project status reports, updating my NineSigma portal with new projects, etc.).  But actually, this hunger for new information (and how to make sense of it) is an important characteristic we look for in our own employees, and is also a driving force in the Open Innovation Champions we meet every day.  But what other skills are needed, and how can you spot your company's next Open Innovation Champion? 

First, it is important to recognize that (at least for now) 99% of the Open Innovation Champion roles are created internally by companies (so far I have seen very little movement to fill these roles externally).  This is because it is important for these OI Champions to really understand their organization, the IP requirements and preferences, and how much the organization can stretch.  Quite often, it is redefining a role that someone has been playing already informally, so filling internally makes a lot of sense. 

Critical internal experience also includes success at team building, visibility with the organization (and credibility across multiple disciplines, not just for the technical organization), exposure to corporate/business strategic goals/initiatives, and experience navigating approval and gaining buy-in to new initiatives (not to mention flexibility and adaptability).

In terms of external skills: deal facilitation experience, comfort interfacing with vendors/university partners/etc., and a passion for external collaboration.

Additionally, since OI Champions have to juggle quite a few tasks (many are in this role only part-time), excellent organization and communications skills are a must. It is critical for the Champion to be able to build, collect, and communicate best practices within the company and outside of it, and having ninja-like Excel and Powerpoint skills certainly is a plus.  

What is really quite interesting, is that although many of the OI Champions "grew up" through R&D or product development, OI Champions can really come from any role - marketing, business, operations, legal.  This reinforces how Corporate Innovation initiatives cross many different disciplines and organizations.  And as these roles continue to evolve (along with the evolution of the corporate innovation strategies), continued learning and training are essential. 

What thoughts do you have on good (or bad) characteristics for OI champions?  Feel free to comment below.

Here at NineSigma, the epicenter of techno-geekness, we never tire of sharing with each other the coolest new technology, the craziest proposal, and the hottest fashion trend (well, maybe not that last one).  Even the MBAs can't help but get caught up in the excitement (or at least respond by groaning and rolling their eyes at the scientists and engineers).  So with the dawn of a new decade (and in celebration of NineSigma's 10th year in operation), it seems appropriate to highlight some of the best innovations of the decade (aside from the launch of the Open Innovation movement, of course).  I tried to keep it to my top 5, but couldn't resist adding a 6th.  So, in no particular order... 

Sensors and digital imaging:  While the 1990's saw widespread use of digital cameras, and micro sensors hit prime time in automotive airbag accelerometers, it was in the last decade that digital imaging and micro sensors (or MEMS, my technical specialty from a previous life) became ubiquitous in products and consumer electronic devices.  These offered huge leaps in new functionality from digital cameras with motion sensing and fuzzy logic for image stabilization (and then uploading the pictures to Facebook), to accelerometers in iPhones and Wii gaming offering new functionality, to instant digital imaging of x-rays and mammograms, to backup cameras on minivans.  These "enabling technologies" will continue to impact more facets of our lives.  

Interactive and On-Demand Media: In the last month, I have done all of the following: watched video on an iPod, read the New York Times online (and on an e-book and on my cell phone), watched a blu-ray DVD movie, viewed a video-on-demand, used DVR and Tivo to time-shift programs (pause, rewind to see the replay, etc.), downloaded a show via iTunes onto an iPod and watched through the TV, looked at crazy YouTube videos, watched a show on Hulu, listened to a Podcast in my car...  (Does anyone simply watch live TV anymore?).  Suddenly PowerPoint animation seems boring. 

Social Network Enabled [political campaigning, microlending, fundraising, product development, t-shirt designing, whatever]:  Read about how the ThinkGeek Tauntaun Sleeping Bag was developed, and you'll believe anything is possible.  

High Tech Materials: Whether it was carbon fiber in bicycles, polymer shock absorbers for next generation football helmets, nanomaterials used for antimicrobial coatings, or self-adhering bandages, new high tech fibers and materials continue to "weave" their way into existing and new products.  The coolest example in the last decade? Fabric enhancements to the swimming racing suit to reduce resistance and allow greater speed under water. 

Wi-Fi – here, there, and (almost) everywhere...  Checking stocks from the living room?  Check.  Reading the news online at a conference when there's a boring speaker?  Check.  Video Skype Mom on her birthday from the kitchen?  Check.  Doing work on my laptop in a coffee shop while my son downloads new games for his iTouch?  Check, and check.  It’s not everywhere (or free) all the time yet, but even Wi-Fi in the car is just around the corner.     

And finally...the curved shower curtain rod.  Seriously.  I don't remember any innovation so simple that improved the business travel and hotel experience by changing the dynamics of space.  And it seemed that these were retrofitted to every US hotel overnight.  My taller colleages swear how it has been a god-send to give them more room to shower - for me, eliminating the headache of trying to get clean when a shower curtain is stuck to my body is brilliant enough.

What other innovations do you think I left off?  Wikipedia, mapping of the human genome, cloud computing, superconductors, GPS, mass production hybrid cars, "convenience" packaging for food products (like the resealing Oreo package),...?  Add your thoughts in the comments section below.