Open Innovation fails because companies are not prepared to open up, says Wim Vanhaverbeke, Professor of Strategy and Innovation, University of Hasselt, Belgium

The Whitaker Institute at NUI Galway and InterTradeIreland will host an Innovation Lecture and three Master Classes, delivered by Wim Vanhaverbeke, Professor of Strategy and Innovation, University of Hasselt, Belgium, on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 May at NUI Galway.

The events are free to attend and open to all. They will be of particular interest to established organisations and businesses, start-ups, government bodies, academics, policy makers and anyone who is interested in stimulating the local economy.

The public lecture on Thursday, 8 May at 6pm, will explain how firms that can harness outside ideas to advance their own businesses, while leveraging their internal ideas outside their current operations, are likely to thrive in this new era of open innovation. Professor Vanhaverbeke’s lecture will focus on the most common management problems when companies start open innovation.

Numerous companies have started to experiment with ‘Open Innovation’ but for many of them the switch from closed to open innovation has proven to be more difficult than expected. The key to success is creating an open platform around your innovations so your customers, your employees and even your competitors can build upon them. Only then will you create an ongoing, evolving community of users, doers and creators.

Professor Vanhaverbeke will also deliver the following three Innovation Master Classes in Room CA110, Cairnes Building, NUI Galway.

From Open Innovation to Innovation Ecosystems – Thursday, 8 May from 10am to 12pm. This Master Class will look at how can we expand open innovation to companies that are not directly involved in technological innovation themselves, and how can we connect open innovation to innovation ecosystems?

Innovation in High-Tech and Low-Tech SMEs – Thursday, 8 May from 2pm to 4pm. This Master Class will look at how can we extend open innovation to SMEs and, if so, how? Recent research shows that we can’t use the same open innovation management approach which was originally developed for large, technology using companies. SMEs (especially in low-tech settings) need a different management approach to open innovation.

Crafting Innovation Deals between Large and Small Companies – Friday, 8 May from 8.30am to 10.30am. This Master Class will look at the ‘Sanus case’. This is a negotiation exercise where participants learn how to develop a Letter of Intent when a small firm has a patented technology and a large company has the potential to develop and commercialize the technology.

The InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme aims to promote and encourage innovation across the island of Ireland. It brings international expertise in innovation to NUI Galway, Queen’s University Belfast, University College Cork and University College Dublin. Best international practice is shared with business leaders, students, academics, knowledge transfer professionals and policy makers in each region through innovation lectures, seminars and master classes. This Programme is organised by InterTradeIreland, NUI Galway, Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin and University College Cork.

For further information or to register for any of the FREE innovation events, please visit www.whitakerinstitute.ie or 091 492817.

For further details on the Programme please visit http://www.intertradeireland.com/all-island-innovation-programme/