Open innovation intermediaries as described by Henry Chesbrough in his 2006 book Open Business Models are "companies that help other companies implement various facets of open innovation". The presence of these firms enables other companies to explore the market for ideas without getting in over their heads, since the intermediaries can act as guides to help those other companies along the trail. There are different kinds of open innovation intermediaries, with some acting as agents (representing one side of a transaction) while others take on the role of brokers or market-makers.
Contents
Fundamentals
Open innovation intermediaries are companies that act as a mediators and incubators between other companies that have commenced in an open innovation activity. Henry Chesbrough himself is a chairman at the Open Innovation Center – Brazil, a company that fully operates as an open innovation Intermediary between two or more companies that need to embark into open innovation activities. The focus of the intermediaries is that companies should make much greater use of external ideas and technologies in their own business and in turn allow unused internal ideas to go outside for others to use in their business. There are three main areas that branch out from what open innovation Intermediaries focus on. One is business model innovation. The second is management of intellectual property in a world of open innovation. And the third is innovation of services.
Role
Open innovation Intermediaries are responsible for facilitating the open innovation activity that companies are undertaking, focusing on fully exploiting the benefits of the mutual action and thoroughly mitigating the disadvantages and risks for all of the companies.
In the special field of technological development of companies, technology intermediaries are created to help firms to take advantage of their knowledge. The intermediaries are specialized in different R&D activities and R&D related activities and are able to support firms in building absorptive capacity.