Open Innovation: New Product Development Essentials from the PDMA

1 DE-BOTTLENECKING OPEN INNOVATION: TURNING PATENT-BASED TECHNOLOGY NETWORK ANALYSIS INTO VALUE

Manfred Stadlbauer

Techmeter

Gerhard Drexler

Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper

1.1 Methods of Patent Analysis and Data Mining

Open Innovation is a paradigm that combines internal and external ideas into processes whose requirements are defined by specific business models. Firms spend significant effort sourcing and integrating external knowledge and ideas from customers, suppliers, universities, and research organizations, and also competitors. Thus, competitive intelligence and technology forecasts are high on the agenda of leading-edge enterprises. Furthermore, in the fast-paced and complex world we face, the need to solve problems and develop new products as quickly and efficiently as possible is of paramount importance.

One of the challenges of starting new innovation initiatives is the need to see beyond the current time horizon in order to identify the most promising future technologies and products. In addition, acquiring the tangible and intangible assets required for meeting these challenges often exceeds a company's resources, and successful product development is usually realized through the joint contribution of several disciplines, including engineering, marketing, design, and manufacturing.

The practice-oriented approach we present in this chapter is about the application of novel tools and techniques for the support of some of the most crucial steps in Open Innovation, namely ...