Open Innovation in Global Networks

Open Innovation in Global Networks. Paris: OECD, 2008.

As global competition intensifies and innovation becomes riskier and more costly, the business sector has been internationalising knowledge-intensive corporate functions, including R&D. At the same time, companies are increasingly opening their innovation processes and collaborating on innovation with external partners (suppliers, customers, universities, etc.).

What drives these global innovation networks across different industries? How are they related to companies' overall strategies? Are they accessible for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?

Such global networks clearly have important implications for policy making, given the important role of innovation in OECD countries’ economic growth.

This publication presents the findings of a recent OECD project on globalisation and open innovation, expanding upon work carried out by the OECD following a March 2005 OECD forum on the internationalisation of R&D. It also builds on information in a chapter of the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2006 on the internationalisation of R&D, as well as a volume entitled The Internationalisation of Business R&D: Evidence, Impacts and Implications, published by the OECD in June 2008. Presentations and discussions at a symposium on open innovation in global networks (Copenhagen, February 2008) were another source of important input to this publication. The report also draws heavily on a large number of company case studies in various countries that were undertaken by national experts.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Open Innovation in Global Networks

The concept of open innovation Applications of open innovation: user innovation, lead markets and open source Open innovation in the innovation literature Drivers of open innovation: demand and supply factors Global networks and innovation ecosystems Open innovation across industries Modes of open innovation The advantages and disadvantages of global innovation networks Global innovation networks and intellectual property

Chapter 2. Empirical Measures of Open Innovation

Case studies and surveys Trends in R&D collaboration Innovation surveys: the role of networks and collaboration Patents: co-inventions and co-applications Trends in licensing Some tentative conclusions

Chapter 3. Insights from the Company Case Studies

General overview Quantitative findings on the globalisation of innovation Qualitative findings: open innovation on a global scale Towards an integrated model of open innovation

Chapter 4. Policy ImplicationsPolicy issues related to globalisation and open innovation Policy responses Towards a different innovation policy?

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