Page 28 - WP2.A3 FINAL REPORT_EN

Conclusions and Policy recommendations
Opinions and statements of participants were quite numerous and various, however they seem to
converge on several common ideas impressions and suggestions which I will try to summarise in the
following paragraphs, organised in a five items pattern: concept/glossary. benefits, obstacles, paths and
policies.

Shared concept and glossary
Open Innovation is a form of innovation based on collaboration between different actors who will pool
their ideas and knowledge to develop major shared innovative results. Open Innovation allows the
contribution of new ideas and solutions in relation to a given problem. Its objective is to accelerate
progress and advancements in terms of innovation, in particular by comparing and sharing visions.
Closed Innovation is based on a reflection carried out only internally. From an intellectual property point
of view, closed innovation is definitely safer since discussions are carried out only within members of the
establishment/company.
Open Innovation is often used by large groups that occasionally call on new resources to respond to a
problem, for example during a Challenge or hackathon. The targets are often young entrepreneurs,
students or start-ups to whom is given a very short time to find a solution to a problem. Also local
authorities can use Open Innovation by proposing to a community of start-ups/companies to respond to a
given problem. The local territory then becomes a stage of experimentation for the candidate selected as
having proposed the best innovation.

Benefits
In truth he list of benefits attributed to Open Innovation is quite a long one, however most of the
impressions and opinions of the Focus Group attendees coincide, shortly they focus on:
- Identification of new business opportunities for a more open vision.-
- reduction of risks in innovation projects for the adoption of already advanced solutions;
- reduction of R&D costs for the use of already developed solutions;
- adoption of new technological trends for better interaction with the ecosystem of innovators;

Obstacles
The main obstacles coming out from the discussions are related to both businesses/employers and their
employees, and can be thus summarised here below.

Those encountered by SMEs, companies and entrepreneurs:

- A want for more skilled personnel: SMEs may not have the personnel with the
indispensable skills and expertise to conceive and implement innovative solutions
- Scarce access to funds: SMEs seldom have resources to fund innovation, due to their
structural limited financial position.
- Resistance to innovation: SMEs are often reluctant in adopting new technology because of
their limited expertise and resources.

OPEN4U: intrOducing Practices in opEn innovatioN 4U - project number 2022-1-IT01-KA220-VET-000085295
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the
European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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