Problem Solving
What is it ?
Open Innovation is an effective way to quickly identify innovative solutions to scientific or technological problems.
Problem solving involves a few simple steps. To begin with, by articulating a clear and specific question (and checking that it has not been answered before !). This question, once clarified, helps to identify the ecosystem or ecosystems likely to bring ideas or elements of answer to the problem solving case. It remains to solicit this ecosystem by identifying the experts (individuals or companies) who will be able to bring the best contribution.
Why the ideXlab platform
All this work can be greatly facilitated by the ideXlab Open Innovation platform. Indeed, thanks to its exploration engine, it allows to quickly analyze the technical or scientific information available on a worldwide scale. A problem solving exercise can not ignore the analysis of the “state of the art”, in other terms of the pre-existing knowledge. The platform then makes it possible to ask the question that best represents the problem to be solved. For this, we rely on hundreds of questions written on the platform to guide the user on the key steps of a well-posed question. From the quality of the question will depend the quality of the answers to the problem solving case !
The platform also allows, during the analysis of the state of the art, to identify ecosystems and experts that could be solicited in the context of the problem solving. It is these experts, who can be individuals such as researchers, academics or companies, large, small, start-ups or SMEs, who will be asked to propose to help with the problem solving. To do this, the platform will facilitate the linking while allowing, if necessary, to preserve the anonymity of the parties.
An important aspect to which we pay particular attention is the intellectual property, as much from the point of view of the experts solicited as from that which is at the origin of the question. It is important not to go through the steps of a problem solving workflow so as not to compromise future patents and healthy collaboration between the parties.
Examples and to go further
The platform has shown its value in many cases of problem solving. Case studies are available and can be downloaded from our resource centre.