Earlier this month, approximately 70 innovation leaders from 54 companies and nine countries gathered to discuss the future of open innovation at NineSigma’s Open Innovation Leadership Summit. Conference participants had the chance to network with their peers, while addressing common challenges in OI such as culture change, speed-to-market, public-private partnerships, OI leadership development, IP management and more. While a few of the attendees knew each other from innovation conferences or similar events, it is safe to say that most attendees left the Summit with a number of new connections and memories of an enjoyable time together in Arlington, Virginia.
One of the conference highlights was the presentation of NineSigma’s inaugural Excellence in Collaborative Innovation award to Open Innovation champions who have demonstrated dedication, leadership and passion in the field of Open Innovation. Our five 2011 winners were:
- Dick van Beelen, Director, Open Innovation, AkzoNobel NV
- Christophe Mangin, Director, R&D Global Strategy, General Motors
- Hajime Nagai, Executive GM, R&D Planning Division, Suntory Holdings
- Katja van der Wal, Director Open Innovation, Philips Consumer Lifestyle
- Michael Wynblatt, Vice President, Engineering Technology, Eaton Corporation
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From left to right:
Michael Wynblatt, Christophe Mangin, Alexandre Nicolau (accepting the award for Hajime Nagai), Dick van Beelen and Katja van der Wal
Read more about the NineSigma OI Leadership Summit, May 2-4, 2011. Mark your calendars for the next OI Leadership Summit to be held in October, 2012. Details to come.