Perspectives on Innovation

Hello Solvers,

We are currently doing a study with researchers at Erasmus University (Rotterdam, Netherlands) concerning open innovation and prize-based crowdsourcing. They have already conducted personal interviews with several Solvers and as a follow-up will be sending out a survey this week to a few thousand active Solvers. In the researcher’s words:

“We aim to understand your motivations, perceptions, thoughts, and how you solve Challenges.”

I just wanted to give you a heads-up that you might receive this survey in the coming days and mention a few things:

1. The survey is anonymous. It will mention a specific Challenge to which you submitted a solution, but the researchers will not know who you are or see your actual submission – they will just know that you submitted to that particular Challenge. Again, your responses will be treated anonymously and only be used for academic purposes and improving our services.
2. Any Solver who opted out of receiving emails from InnoCentive will not receive the Survey.
3. The survey is targeting “active” Solvers, that is, those that have submitted to several Challenges in recent history. Some will be award winners and some will not.
4. The survey should only take about 15 minutes of your time.

Not everyone will receive a survey, but please check your email (and spam-box) for the survey next week. We ask that you answer all questions as accurately and honestly as possible so that we can build your feedback and insights into our future Challenges and serve you better.

Thank you in advance!

Michael Albarelli
InnoCentive-Erasmus University Research Team

Manish M. Pande became a Solver in 2009. Here he writes about his experience winning his first Challenge, Control of Bubble Size in Carbonated Beverages.

I am a metallurgist by profession, presently doing a PhD on a “clean steel” project jointly initiated by the MTM, K U Leuven and ArcelorMittal Gent, Belgium.

I obtained my master’s degree (M. Tech) and bachelor’s degree (B.E.) in Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai (India) in 2006 and Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (formerly VRCE), Nagpur (India) in 2001. I spent nearly three and half years in the steel industries in operations and R&D before the commencement of my PhD program.

Sometime back in 2009, a friend of mine suggested that I look at InnoCentive. I visited nature.com Open Innovation Pavilion, and the Challenge “Control of Bubble Size in Carbonated Beverages” was a familiar topic. I had worked earlier on metallic foams during my master’s thesis. I had a basic knowledge about the physics of foaming of metals, so I decided to give it a try. I proposed the method to manipulate the characteristics of bubbles in carbonated beverage and I was ecstatic to learn that the proposed method turned out to be the winning solution.

I feel that every problem posted by InnoCentive is an opportunity for the Solvers to push their thinking limits and come out with a solution that is of real practical significance. The statistics shows that there are over 250,000 registered Solvers from all over the world who have developed their thinking/approach to the problem in different educational environments. In such a scenario, even the participation of 0.001% of all the registered users, for a particular Challenge, makes it truly competitive. In this tough competition, proposing the right solution, which the Seeker finds suitable after already trying out all the possible resources/ideas to its disposal, is no mean feat. It makes the winner more confident about his/her creative abilities.

Congratulations to all such unique thinkers. I wish all the InnoCentive users good luck in solving the present and the future Challenges; and I encourage those who are not yet part of InnoCentive to join this global network. Become a Solver!

In late March, we announced the winner of the Economist-InnoCentive Transparency Challenge.  Benjamin Skowera, an associate at SEI Investments presented his solution at the Ideas Economy: Innovation event on March 28th in Berkeley, California. The InnoCentive Challenge, which attracted more than 600 problem Solvers and received more than 115 submissions on the InnoCentive website, asked participants to identify an emerging technology or a national or global information platform and propose an innovative way to use this resource to motivate governments to engage in productive and open discourse with citizens.  Below is a video of Benjamin and Matthew Bishop, US Business editor and New York Bureau Chief for the Economist discussing Benjamin’s winning solution at The Economist’s Ideas Economy: Innovation 2012 event in Berkeley, California.

I have been working as an SAP Utilities consultant at Accenture for nearly 4 years in Mumbai. In my workplace, my primary role is to provide functional solutions to energy providers across the globe.

I came across The Economist: Pictures of Tomorrow Challenge on The Economist’s Android application. I first thought of one problem that has deeply affected my community: the poor transport management system. When I took part in the Challenge, I recalled how one of my acquaintances had slipped and lost his life while traveling on a train’s foot board. This incident wouldn’t have occurred if proper transport system was in place. People are forced to travel in extremely crowded trains and buses because there are no alternative modes of transport. My main idea was about improving the transport management system in Mumbai. Currently, the strain on trains and buses is enormous due to the ever increasing population. People are forced to travel using conventional modes of transport thus leading to overcrowding. However, if the vast coastline of Mumbai can be used for water transport and dedicated bicycle lanes can be kept for commuters, the problem of transport management can be solved. I feel that my idea won because this problem is being faced in many other cities across the world and hence everyone can relate to it.

After winning the Challenge, my family and friends felt extremely proud and it is great to see them happy. Also, office friends can’t stop raving about me and my manager dropped an email to our entire team of 40 people appreciating me. I feel an additional sense of responsibility now to achieve my goal of improving my community in 2012. With the cash prize, I indulged myself in some long overdue shopping and after coming to California, I intend to spend some part of my cash prize money over there.

I think that The Economist-InnoCentive Challenge series is a great boon for people who have a burning desire for the betterment of society and have great ideas to achieve that goal. This Challenge series gives them a platform to express themselves and achieve something constructive over a period of time.

Overall, last 3 months have been great and further strengthened my self belief that I can achieve greater goals in the future.

Outside my workplace, I have co-directed a short film of 30 minutes and I have also penned education-related articles for local newspapers. I taught computer skills to child abuse victims at St. Catherine’s School, affiliated to the Archdiocesan board of education. I am also a huge soccer fan and follow almost all of the European leagues. I am glad I am a part of this great community of InnoCentive Solvers for whom ideas are a form of currency!

Agung Nuswantoro is the winner of Humanitarian Air Drop

I was born in Malang, the second largest city in East Java, Indonesia.

Being an inventor has always been my passion, although the profession is not well recognized in my country. Most people become flustered if you say you are an inventor (some people confuse ‘inventor’ for the CAD software ‘Autodesk Inventor’).

Since my childhood, I’ve been very interested in science and technology. I don’t know why, but I find serenity in scientific things. And as I grew up, my interests spread to many fields including design, military, sports, psychology, sociology, politics, etc.

I like being creative and seeing the world with a different perspective. Questioning how things, people, or situations might appear or function from a different perspective. I also love reading and sketching; some of my other hobbies include disassembling things and then reassembling them or creating something new out of the parts.

I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, with a major in energy conversion. I worked for several years in R&D for an electronic manufacturing company. However, I found my job was only dealing with people, paper, and bureaucracy — no research and design as it should be. Therefore, I resigned. I currently work as a freelancer, but I consider my self an inventor.

I discovered InnoCentive while searching for design and innovation contests, a habit since I was in high school. I’ve always enjoyed participating in design and innovation contests. Although I don’t always receive an award, the experiences have enhanced my knowledge and skills. InnoCentive Challenges are different in many ways: it’s not about winning or losing — it’s about people pushing their limits and solving others’ problems, even without knowing each other.

My solution for the Challenge Humanitarian Air Drop came from the coal industry and used some aspects of a fire extinguisher system. Having an interest in military technology helped me a lot when developing the solution. I got my winning idea just about 10 days before the deadline, after trying several different designs over many sleepless nights.

Most Challenges on InnoCentive are definitely not simple problems; some are very exhaustive to think about, pushing the Solver’s creativity limit. But Solving is fun — it makes me learn new things and fuels my mind with creativity.

Right now, I’m working on several Challenges and waiting on others. What’s unique is that the “AHA” moment comes while thinking about several Challenges simultaneously. Though it’s not guaranteed that I will find a solution, thinking about solutions is itself very fun.

Thank you InnoCentive!