Overview

In today's ultra-competitive and fast-changing business environment, innovation distinguishes the winners from the also-rans. But few companies have the time, resources and/or expertise to continually develop breakthroughs on their own. The days of internal labs conducting pure R&D are long gone. Instead companies have embraced Open Innovation (OI) – going beyond their own four walls for ideas and technologies with game-changing potential.

Technology scouting represents an organized approach for identifying needs, gaps
and opportunities, and then finding solutions outside the borders of the enterprise. It is a business development and growth-oriented activity that goes hand in hand with Open Innovation. There are many forms (partnerships, licenses, acquisitions, crowdsourcing, contests, etc.) -- often with multiple players – and the reach is increasingly global.