UHasselt establishes forum for open-innovation managers

Via the MOOI Forum, managers will be able to exchange experiences and issues around open innovation. “If you want to be successful as a company, you need to join forces with different partners and innovate together,” said professor Wim Vanhaverbeke of the faculty business-economic sciences.

Open innovation is a long-term strategy in which companies co-operate intensively with other companies and knowledge institutions to develop or optimise new products and services. “Recent research has demonstrated that products developed by several partners are much more successful,” said Vanhaverbeke. “Open innovation products are also introduced on to the market six- to nine months faster.”

Open innovation, however, requires organisational adjustments. “Among other changes, your judicial and HR departments  have to be organised differently,” noted professor Nadine Roijakkers of the faculty business-economic sciences.

MOOI has already attracted more than 80 experts from large international companies to the platform, where they will discuss experiences,  good practices and problems. Experts come from  such companies as Unilever, Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent and Akzo Nobel Chemicals.

Each month, the forum will offer an online seminar around a certain theme, such as how to organise your HR department. There will also be workshops for the more active forum members. In 2015, professors Vanhaverbeke and Roijakkers will compile their insights in an e-book with best practices and the most interesting cases.