Open innovation is a strategy whereby companies go beyond their own boundaries and develop active cooperation with other external organisations or professionals.

This provides an input of knowledge from other sources that can be used to solve problems or identify new opportunities.

In contrast to closed or internal innovation - which consists of innovating from in-house knowledge and resources by creating a specific R&D&I department - this new concept brings a number of added advantages, including significant savings in resources, diversification and amplification of talent, a focus on social responsibility and the opportunity for leadership.

Opening the doors to open innovation can generate very interesting benefits both for the company itself, which can develop new areas of business that would not be possible in a closed ecosystem, and for society, as it generates workflows and partnerships that are beneficial for the environment.

To implement this strategy within the company, the first step is to create a small team to work as a committee and identify the challenges or problems to be solved. The committee will be the organisation in charge of establishing contact and coordination with external agents to begin the exchange of knowledge and cooperative work. These may be suppliers, technology centres, start-ups, companies from other sectors, etc. The company will thus be able to explore the latest technologies and methods available on the market to solve and plan pilot projects that provide solutions to its challenges.

Galicia and open innovation

It should be noted that according to the study "La innovación abierta en Galicia" (Open Innovation in Galicia), carried out by the Galician Innovation Agency, Galicia is the autonomous community with the second highest proportion of SMEs that work with other agents on innovation projects, behind only the Basque Country. Universities and technology centres are the main sources of knowledge for innovation in the region. In addition, the Xunta promotes this model through various initiatives, including the Joint Research Units programme, which involves the creation of consortia between a research organisation and one or more companies; or the Smart and Sustainable Factory, which encourages cooperation between SMEs, large companies and research organisations for large R&D&I business projects of a strategic nature for the Galician industrial fabric, in line with Industry 4.0.