New Open Innovation Method 'Quebec Seeks Solution' -- Challenges for this event have been pubished: Do you have a solution?

A few weeks ago I wrote about a new approach to open innovation: The Problem Conference.

The core idea: Turn a conference upside down. Instead of presenting "solutions" and "best practices" to impress the other participants with your successes, present your hardest challenge. For the first event of this kind, taking place in cooperation with the ISPIM 2010 Winter Symbosium, in Quebec City, Canada, on December 14, 2010. now the problems have been published.

These problems will be addressed by capitalizing on the participants’ intelligence and expertise:

Aluminerie Alouette: Energy autonomy for industrial equipment

Kruger Inc.: Finding innovative applications using offline coaters at Kruger’s Trois Rivières plant

Stéris Canada: Efficient, environmentally viable and cost-effective system for cooling hot humid air produced by a surgical instrument washer

Stéris Canada: To find the best, most cost effective technology of flexible hose connections capable to resist temperature variations of 150F, pressure variations of 100 psig and requiring no adjustment or tightening once installed.

DMR (a division of Fujitsu): Sensor Networks for the analysis of Dynamic Complex Phenomena: Challenges and Perspectives

Labrie Environmental Group: Remove hydraulics from refuse trucks

Silicycle: Classifying mesoporous spherical particles (1-15µm)

Living Lab de Montréal: Designing a smart urban bike helmet

Norbord Inc.: Replacing wax in oriented strand boards (OSBs)

Non-disclosed: Versatile motorized support for camera lenses

Benefits for participants include:

• New contacts with individuals with complementary expertise
• New opportunities with firms that could benefit from your own expertise
• New technical ideas in line with the potential solutions you’re exploring
• Potentially valuable and useful discussions
• Concrete experience with open innovation

Please spread the word!

For more information on this event and the tool, go to http://www.quebec-solutions.com. The conference will be organized in cooperation with the 3rd ISPIM Innovation Symposium.