Open innovation: digital technology creates new opportunities

Abstract

Purpose

A recent survey conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) indicates that as many as 83 percent of companies see open innovation as important to their future growth strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors describe how significant recent advancements in digital technologies have opened up new opportunities for broader external collaboration.

Findings

Business is moving into a new phase in which ecosystems are not only an incremental part of the innovation process but integral to every element of it.

Practical implications

Hybrid-cloud acts as the technological glue enabling open collaboration, experimentation and co-creation across ecosystems.

Originality/value

The research found that the emergence of Hybrid Cloud (connectivity), AI (intelligence) and Blockchain (security, transparency and trust) as foundational technologies for more openness and collaboration has ushered in a new era of realizable open innovation.

Citation

Marshall, A., Dencik, J. and Singh, R.R. (2021), "Open innovation: digital technology creates new opportunities", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 49 No. 3, pp. 32-38. https://doi.org/10.1108/SL-04-2021-0036