Innovation Exchange Inc. (IX) was an
open innovation
Open innovation is a term used to promote an Information Age mindset toward innovation that runs counter to the secrecy and silo mentality of traditional corporate research labs. The benefits and driving forces behind increased openness have b ...
vendor. IX operates a website which acts as a platform for companies and
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
organizations to present innovation challenges to a community of innovators. This community is constituted of individuals as well as small and midsize businesses. In contrast to vendors focused primarily on innovation in the physical sciences, Innovation Exchange fosters product, service, process and
business model
A business model describes how a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...
development.
Business model
IX's business model takes its inspiration from the work on open innovation and
crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...
performed by
John Seely Brown
John Seely Brown (born 1940), also known as "JSB", is an American researcher who specializes in organizational studies with a particular bend towards the organizational implications of computer-supported activities. Brown was director of Xerox P ...
(who sits on IX's
advisory board
An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...
),
John Hagel III
John Hagel III is an American management consultant and author.
In 2007, Hagel founded the Deloitte Center for the Edge, a Silicon Valley–based research center. He served as the center's co-chairman and retired in 2020. He is also the founder o ...
,
Henry Chesbrough
Henry William Chesbrough (born 1956) is an American organizational theorist, adjunct professor and the faculty director of the Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and Mai ...
,
Wim Vanhaverbeke,
Joel West and
Scott E. Page. Open innovation is increasingly seen as a key mechanism for developing innovations.
The Love-in
''Economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
'', 11 October 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
IX acts as an "innovation intermediary", meaning that it functions to match organizations seeking innovative products, services, processes or business models ("sponsors") with individuals and organizations offering such innovations ("innovators").
The mechanism for this intermediation is a "challenge brief", a short document, typically three to five pages, which provides background information about the innovation being sought and enumerates the elements that a response must include. IX provides consulting services which aid client companies to understand the nature of the innovation being sought, and to articulate that innovation challenge to the community in the form of the challenge brief.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Innovation Exchange
Crowdsourcing
Open innovation intermediaries
2006 establishments in Canada