We operate in a world of ecosystems where we have to be able to open up and partner. When we start to open up, we co-create the future and this collaboration truly realizes the potential of the entire ecosystem. In today’s world knowledge resides anywhere and everywhere and even the biggest, most capable company cannot tackle the pace of change alone. Innovation needs to happen in all parts of the company and in collaboration with other stakeholders operating within the same ecosystem.
Open Innovation is about taking an “ecosystem thinking” approach to innovation, by collaborating with partners, for example customers, suppliers, regulators, start-ups, universities to name a few. It also means that every Wärtsilian can play a role in innovation, whether in the ideation or implementation phase.
Co-creation and innovation together with partners and stakeholders are an important part of the soon-to-be-built Smart Technology Hub in Vaskiluoto. The Hub will therefore consist of a Smart Partner Campus. However, the Smart Partner Campus is not only a physical place, but also a model for co-creating new business and solutions together with companies, universities and other stakeholders. The first partners for Smart Partner Campus were selected in March. However, this partnership is not an exclusive partnership and driven by value creation. Anyone with a valuable idea and vision is welcome to join.
The aim of the initial partners is to co-create the way of working and collaboration and to kick off the first joint projects. This way of working is described in our “Open Innovation Playbook”. The idea of this playbook is to create a guide and toolbox to run Open Innovation projects. The playbook is not restricting in any form, instead we encourage different ways of working and approaches. Through new approaches the playbook will continue to grow and evolve.
Phillipp Holtkamp, General Manager, Innovation at Wärtsilä