Open Innovation

Open innovation is about the free flow of ideas and collaboration between different stakeholders and individuals. In the cultural heritage sector, it means activities where institutions from the sector co-create or co-develop with citizens , students and with institutions from other sectors or industry. It can be implemented in many different ways - and it may involve technology but this is not a must. Its essential features are collaboration, implementation of new ideas or activities, and engagement. The term open innovation means a situation where an organization doesn’t just rely on their own internal knowledge, sources and resources (such as their own staff or R&D for example) for innovation (of products, services, business models, processes etc.) but also uses multiple external sources (such as customer feedback, published patents, competitors, external agencies, the public etc.) to drive innovation.