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Open Innovation

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It's times of stress that really test the strength or weakness of an organization. During stressful times, leaders learn what the people in their organizations are made of – but also whether the systems, functions, and processes they have put in place are resilient to withstand the crises that inevitably come up. Industry shifts, market downturns, unexpected competitors: when stress comes, it shouldn't make an organization or process fall to pieces. Instead, stressful times should be when positive discourse, growth, and resiliency thrive.[1] "What do you do when you face a surprise?" David Woods, Faculty Emeritus of Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University, asked at the 2014 Velocity NY conference; referring to unexpected situations like when chunks of foam fell off the Space Shuttle Columbia's fuel tank in an unexpected way. "Do you gracefully extend performance, stretch your capabilities, and add adaptive capacity in order to continue to perform...

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[vc_row content_width="grid"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Dr. Robert Blizek, a former senior technologist with NAVAIR, shares the lessons learned that drove his decision to use Ezassi’s Knowledge Scouting application.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_width="grid" content_aligment="center"][vc_column][qodef_elements_holder][qodef_elements_holder_item horizontal_aligment="left" vertical_alignment="middle" hover_animation="default"][vc_column_text] The Challenge [/vc_column_text][qodef_separator position="center" color="#6b6b6b" border_style="solid" width="70%" thickness="20px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Growth of World Population and the History of Technology [/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="11326" img_size="full" alignment="center"][vc_empty_space height="10px"][vc_column_text] Figure 1.  Globalization and the Internet have dramatically accelerated technology development. [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/qodef_elements_holder_item][/qodef_elements_holder][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There are three challenges to address if one is to keep abreast of technology development for investments, optimal partnership selection, or roadmap planning.  First, critical technological advances can come from anywhere. A recent study by the government accounting office (GAO) noted that, only two decades ago, 70% of science and technology development for the DoD was developed exclusively within DoD- industry partnerships.   Today, that 70/30 split is reversed with the private sector eclipsing the DoD’s pace of breakthrough technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum engineering, and cyber security. The second...

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Welcome to our “Technology Scouting Must Haves” mini blog post series. For years, businesses have had to perform Technology Scouting the same old way, with a long drawn-out, and very manual, process. Year-over-year, we talk to hundreds of R&D and Innovation experts across multiple industries and we want to share with you what we hear, time-and-time again. During this mini blog post series we’ll introduce common pain points experts talk about often. We’ll identify the technology scouting must haves and the new solutions that exist today....

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Innovation Budget Planning Considerations

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] As you start Innovation budget planning, here are eight things to consider:   When it comes to Innovation budget planning (and R&D), it is typically a laborious process that spans several months with business model canvases, business cases, proposals and pipeline discussions. I remember my inbox being flooded with documents, meeting requests and scientists pushing their research forward for my sponsorship. As Forbes magazine mentioned in an article last year “The presumption is that R&D spending is somehow connected to increased innovation, revenue growth and profits. However, leaders may be asking the wrong questions here. A focus on R&D spending might be a good way to gauge best practice within an industry, but it is not a measure of how innovative any company is. Having a great R&D process and achieving market success with the technologies we invent are two different things.” Nonetheless, budgets are the fact of corporate world and must be...

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Innovation Budget Planning Components Top 10

As a follow-up to our recent blog on “What to Include in Your Innovation Budget” we have created an innovation budget planning components list with 10 key items you should include in your innovation budget for the coming year.   As you will notice as you go through the budget checklist, some of the key components include taking advantage of external resources. As Benjamin Franklin said, “time is money,” so keep in mind that innovation planning may go beyond optimizing internal resources and require you to invest in outside resources in order to speed up production time.     With that in mind, here are 10 key components that should be a part of your innovation budget plan:   Innovation Budget Planning Components #1 Outside Consulting Ask yourself: Do we have the skills and resources necessary for our project research and development? Can we bridge the gap with outside consulting resources?   Whether you need help developing innovation and best practices...

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We will be attending the annual FEI Boston 2018 event. While there, we'll be showcasing our innovative platform and processes that have helped our client base increase user engagement, time-to-innovate, number of ideas and, most importantly, quantifying how it affects their bottom line. We'll be networking on location and attending social events to answer questions and ask some of our own. After working in various industries, we've found some similarities that make the innovation process effective and streamlined. We've seen first hand how developing a culture of innovation internally leads to higher employee engagement and empowerment that helps solve some your most vital problems.  Many companies are trying their best to create innovation within their companies but still struggle. We bring a level of expertise and processes to build and implement a culture of innovation successfully.   The FEI Boston Innovation Conference is designed to help you master the art of serious innovation with...

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