Event Alert: From Open Innovation to Innovation Partnerships - A New Paradigm in a Troubled Economy

Christine Flanagan
March 18, 2009

Interested in collaborative innovation? There's a great event taking place next month at the Consulate of Switzerland in Cambridge, MA called From Open Innovation to Innovation Partnerships - A New Paradigm in a Troubled Economy. The event takes place on April 30th and May 1st and will present several proven open innovation methods, practices and processes by companies who have not only coped - but also succeeded - within our troubled economy.

The keynote address will be made by Dr. Helmut Traitler, VP Innovation Partnerships at Nestlé Co. Nestlé has been very successful in adjusting to the new paradigms of open innovation. Dr. Traitler will be sharing the various types of co-development innovation partnerships he's helped Nestlé build over the past several years which have spawned many new business models across the company's network of customers and suppliers.

BIF chief catalyst Saul Kaplan will follow Dr. Traitler with a session which includes panelists:

• Dr. Val Livada, Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan and Innovation Consultant
• Charles Wilson, Global Head, Strategic Alliances, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
• Dr. Ken Zolot, Kauffman Foundation, MIT Sloan
• Harry West, VP of Design Strategy, Continuum  

The event takes on Thursday April 30th and Friday May 1st at: swissnex Boston, Consulate of Switzerland, 420 Broadway, Cambridge, MA (close to Harvard Square).  The program will start at midday on Thursday with a working lunch. The afternoon will be a combination of panels and breakout sessions with topics such as “Managing partnerships with research organizations” and ”Crossing the discipline boundaries to find new partners”. A networking reception will close the day. Friday morning will focus on the role of sustainability in innovation.

The fee to participate in this event is $150 the 2-days, or $80 per day (either April 30 or May 1). Seating is limited. Please contact Pascal Marmier at swissnex Boston for more information: pascal@swissnexboston.org

Related

Read more about Nestlé Co's co-development innovation strategies in the latest edition of Food Technology Magazine. Creating Successful Innovation Partnerships is a great overview of the company's "Sharing is Winning" business model.