Imagine you came up with an idea for a new product – but you lack specific expertise or free capacity in your own company. But instead of putting the idea on hold, you open up your innovation process: you get a start-up on board, talk to a research institute and organize a workshop together with users to develop it further. The end result is a marketable prototype – faster and more suitable than you could ever have achieved on your own. This is open innovation – and it fundamentally changes the way we think about and implement innovation today.
What is Open Innovation?
Open innovation means no longer seeing innovation as an isolated process, but as an open system in which knowledge, ideas, and technologies are shared beyond company boundaries. Start-ups, universities, research institutions, customers – or even other companies: All of them can be part of the solution. This openness creates access to expertise that would otherwise be unattainable and brings momentum to innovation processes. The approach differs from the traditional „closed innovation“ model. Here, everything is developed in-house – from the initial idea to the finished product. However, this model is gradually reaching its limits. The question is no longer: „How do we develop it ourselves?” But rather: “Together with whom can we achieve more?“
Why companies are opening up
Innovation cycles are becoming shorter, technological developments more complex, market requirements more dynamic and expectations of products are rising. If you want to keep up, you can hardly afford to work alone. Open innovation can provide the answer to these demands.
Valuable knowledge is available everywhere – from customers, in research, from founders or in developer communities. Open innovation taps into this potential. Those who open up innovation systematically gain new approaches, save development time and can react more rapidly to market changes. At the same time, the opportunity to develop products and solutions that are actually needed increases – because consumers are involved right from the start.
However, open innovation is not a no-brainer and openness does not necessarily mean a lack of planning and loss of control. If you work with many external partners, you need to establish clear structures:
- How can suitable ideas be selected and evaluated?
- How is intellectual property protected? Who is authorized to use specific results?
- How are reliability and trust ensured in the collaboration?
Open innovation requires proper knowledge and project management, an open corporate culture – and sometimes the willingness to leave the beaten track.
How open innovation works in practice
Openness pays off – as demonstrated by companies that have long been breaking new ground. Bosch is a good example of this: the technology group works strategically with start-ups, universities and freelance developers. Together, they create new solutions for networked production and sensor technology — faster, more practical and with direct relevance for the market. In the process, methods such as co-creation, open labs and technology scouting are used.
Traditional family businesses are also increasingly relying on open innovation processes. In the Hinterland Alliance, companies such as Miele, Goldbeck and Schüco have established a network with start-ups and technology partners in order to pick up on external impulses systematically. They use formats such as hackathons and innovation networking to identify new ideas and jointly develop marketable solutions. This close collaboration with external players demonstrably increases their innovative strength — and leads to new products being placed on the market faster and with greater impact.
The de:hub initiative creates spaces for open innovation processes throughout Germany – the hub in Bremen is one of these places. As a de:hub, the DIGITAL HUB INDUSTRY Bremen specializes in smart manufacturing — in other words, everything that makes industrial production smarter, more efficient and more sustainable. At our hub, established companies meet start-ups, researchers and developers. We work together on the digital transformation — hands-on, interdisciplinary and with a clear goal: bringing ideas to market maturity.
You can experience first-hand what this looks like: At the Open House at the DIGITAL HUB INDUSTRY on May 21, 2025 from 13:00, the network will open up to anyone who is curious about open innovation. There will be insights into ongoing projects, discussions with partners, and plenty of opportunities to get involved. 👉More info in our events calendar.
Ready for the next step?
Whether you have specific project ideas or simply want to find out how open innovation can work for you – we are here for you. 👉 Contact and directions
