{"id":922264,"date":"2026-08-31T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hfitaly.com\/?p=922264"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:15:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T09:15:46","slug":"open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hfitaly.com\/en\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Innovation: When Innovation Comes from Outside the Company"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Open innovation is a model in which companies innovate by collaborating with startups, universities and external partners. While it has become widespread in the software industry thanks to its speed and flexibility, it is also gaining momentum in manufacturing despite greater complexity. When applied to industry, it drives tangible innovation in products, processes and business models.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a long time, innovation meant relying almost exclusively on internal research, patents and proprietary know-how developed within the company. It was a closed model in which competitiveness was built by protecting internal expertise. Today, however, this approach alone is no longer enough. Technologies, markets and business models evolve too rapidly for any company to develop everything in-house. It is in this context that <strong>open innovation<\/strong> has emerged: the ability to innovate by opening up to external knowledge and collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Popularised by economist <strong>Henry Chesbrough<\/strong>, the concept is based on combining internal and external knowledge to accelerate innovation and create new value. Companies are no longer closed systems but become part of broader ecosystems involving startups, universities, suppliers, customers, research centres and industrial partners. Increasingly, innovation is born from the interaction of diverse skills and expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Strategic Lever<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, open innovation has become a strategic priority for both economic and technological reasons. Developing new solutions internally requires significant time, investment and increasingly scarce expertise. By contrast, startups and specialised laboratories can provide mature technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence, sensors, advanced materials, industrial software, sustainability and robotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the <strong>Open Innovation Report 2025<\/strong> by Sopra Steria, 80% of large companies now consider open innovation to be important or mission-critical, up from 67% in 2023. In addition, 76% expect to collaborate with startups within the next 24 months. Governance also plays a key role: companies with dedicated open innovation structures report success rates of 73%, compared with 49% for those without them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Open Innovation Works: The Most Common Models<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are several ways to implement open innovation. The most common is collaboration with startups and scaleups through innovation calls, accelerator programmes or pilot projects. These initiatives are complemented by partnerships with universities and research centres, which are particularly valuable in high-tech industries, as well as by collaboration with suppliers, who often act as true technology partners within industrial value chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Customers are also playing an increasingly active role in product development, while tools such as corporate venture capital and venture building allow companies to invest directly in emerging businesses or create new ventures together with external partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Software to Heavy Manufacturing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Open innovation first gained traction in the software industry, where experimentation is faster, less expensive and easier to integrate. In manufacturing, however, implementation is more complex because it involves physical infrastructure, production facilities, certifications and substantial investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet this is precisely why, when open innovation reaches the factory floor, it often produces even more tangible results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Examples are numerous: machine vision systems developed with startups for quality control, integrated sensors enabling predictive maintenance, autonomous mobile robots introduced into logistics, and new materials co-developed with universities and research centres to reduce energy consumption and emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this context, trade fairs are taking on an increasingly strategic role. They are no longer simply exhibition spaces, but genuine <strong>open innovation platforms<\/strong>, where companies, startups, research centres and suppliers meet, test technologies and build partnerships. By bringing together specialised expertise and key players across the value chain, these events naturally accelerate collaboration, reduce technology scouting times and generate concrete industrial projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an increasingly open ecosystem, trade fairs are becoming physical hubs of innovation, where meaningful connections evolve into real industrial opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Open innovation is a model in which companies innovate by collaborating with startups, universities and external partners. While it has become widespread in the software industry thanks to its speed and flexibility, it is also gaining momentum in manufacturing despite greater complexity. When applied to industry, it drives tangible innovation in products, processes and business [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":922263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-922264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industrial-automation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Open innovation in manufacturing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how open innovation in manufacturing helps companies collaborate with startups, universities and technology partners to create new industrial solutions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hfitaly.com\/en\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open innovation in manufacturing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Discover how open innovation in manufacturing helps companies collaborate with startups, universities and technology partners to create new industrial solutions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hfitaly.com\/en\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hfitaly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hfitaly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/open-innovation-human-machine-collaboration-manufacturing-2-1-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"be-content\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"be-content\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/en\\\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/en\\\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"be-content\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/af5a77226c34b462b3bf96db17af4fc9\"},\"headline\":\"Open Innovation: When Innovation Comes from Outside the Company\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T08:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/en\\\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":600,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/en\\\/open-innovation-when-innovation-comes-from-outside-the-company\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hfitaly.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/open-innovation-human-machine-collaboration-manufacturing-2-1-scaled.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Industrial Automation &amp; 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