Innovation competitions are a great tool for using crowdsourcing in your open innovation process. When you use an open innovation competition the world becomes a valuable resource for your R&D team, giving your organization a more diverse perspective. These are some of my personal insights about actions for successful innovation competition result. Ask me if you have questions!

1. Sqore. It’s official.
5 ACTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL
INNOVATION COMPETITION
RESULTS
by Jacob Westerlund – May 2015

2. Sqore. It’s official.
Earmark the prize money
A pool of prize money is still one of the prizes that attracts the most entrants.
To make sure the money doesn’t end up sitting in someone's pocket, the prize
money should be earmarked in advance. When innovation is your goal,
consider earmarking prize money for the production of a prototype, or for
taking a concept to the next stage of development.

3. Sqore. It’s official.
Place winners in an incubator
More and more companies are benefiting from having their own incubators, or
creating partnerships with incubators that already exist. These can provide an
startup environment to work on projects that are more distant from your
company’s core business area, and create great potential from taking on the
project within your company once it has been more developed. Include a spot
in an incubator as a prize in your innovation competition, granting access to
company patents, contacts and other resources.

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Dedicate a team
Create a team within your company dedicated to developing the winning entry.
Involve this team early in the planning phase of the competition to engage them
in the process. You can also let this team be part of the jury. This early
involvement will create a shorter start-up time when they eventually start working
with the winning concept.

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Support, don't own
In many cases, you don’t need to own the winning concept to benefit from an
innovation competition. Your company has tools that can help the winner take their
idea to market successfully, and you can take advantage of the close relationship
you've developed.

6. Sqore. It’s official.
Private Label
Some innovation competitions target existing companies with innovative
technologies. A great prize for this type of competition is the creation of a private
label for the winning concept, with a revenue split between your company and the
winning company. The result is an arrangement that is fair and attractive to both
parties. The innovator still owns the rights to their innovation, but they have more
opportunities for commercialization

7. Sqore. It’s official.
Hope you enjoy, and remember,
sharing is caring!
Sqore organizes and develops innovation
competitions on a global scale. We’ve earned a
reputation for creating tailored competitions, and
for delivering on our client’s innovation needs.
Let me know if you are interested in arranging an
innovation competition, or if you know someone
who is interested please spread the word!
Read more about what we do:
http://services.sqore.com/topics/innovation
Jacob Westerlund
+46 70 644 77 76
jacob.westerlund@sqore.com