Open Innovation in Switzerland: Help Major Swiss Firms to Innovate

The open innovation idea has arrived in Corporate Switzerland (in research, there already have been many activities in this country). And it is not about reinventing their chocolate or cheese ...

Open Innovation GmbH is a new intermediary in Switzerland that is building on idea competitions as a method for open innovation. The company was just launched and is now in its beta stage. Its founders are three young Swiss entrepreneurs, Christian Hirsig (CEO), Reto Aebersold (Software Development) and Mathias Ruch (Business Development). The pilot stage is evaluated by Christian Lüthje from the University of Berne, one of Europe's key professors in the area of user innovation.

And they need your help:

Major Swiss corporations like Swiss Telekom, Mammut Outdoor wear, Google Switzerland, Swiss Postal Services, and many others are opening their innovation processes to the public -- and you can participate in solving their challenges. Have a look on the web site http://pilot.openinnovation.ch for more information and registration.

The participation in this challenge is open to everybody (who is able to understand German, sorry!) and the best ideas are rewarded by cash in good old Swiss Franc. This open innovation projects starts on January 22nd 2008. I will keep you posted on the results of this project.