Constant development is a must for small companies as well as large corporations

These days the world is highly dynamic – everything changes in the blink of an eye, literally. And keeping up with these changes is no longer just a matter of personal curiosity but a necessity for those struggling to climb the career ladder. 

In the era of massive worldwide digitalization and, obviously, rapid technological advancement, businesses – both small companies and large corporations – have to keep pace. Constant development and expansion allow organizations to remain relevant, grow, retain existing customers, and at the same time attract new ones, strengthen their positions, enhance their influence, generate bigger revenue, and so on. The benefits are numerous. 

It takes a company to steadily improve the quality of its services while applying the latest technologies in order to gain a competitive edge. 

Be the first to bring innovations to your working operations effectively. How? Here’s where we come across open innovation. 

You must have heard about it but do you know what it means? Let’s figure it out in detail together!

What is meant by Open Innovation

Open innovation is a business strategy that involves collaborating with external entities – be it individuals, organizations, or partners to gather and integrate external ideas, knowledge, and resources into the innovation process. It’s a departure from traditional, closed innovation models where companies primarily rely on internal R&D for innovation.

In an open innovation model, companies actively seek and incorporate external input that meets their core goals. This allows for enhancing their products, services, processes, and technologies. The open innovation model comes in a variety of forms, such as partnerships, collaborations, licensing agreements, joint ventures, acquisitions, crowdsourcing, and open-source collaborations.

It goes without saying that the open innovation approach is extremely beneficial. If choosing it, a company will enjoy such perks as accelerated innovation, lower development costs, access to a wide pool of ideas and talent, better flexibility and adaptability, and improved competitiveness in the market. However, it also requires effective management, robust intellectual property protection, and a cultural shift within the organization to embrace external collaboration and openness.

Tech Scouting in Open Innovation

The main concept of the open innovation model is a company’s ability to spot the right patent collaborations that align with its objectives. And this is where we move to technology scouting. This approach gives corporations a chance to unlock entirely new levels of innovation that are only accessible through collaboration. 

Technology scouting helps to effectively bypass a number of obstacles associated with the development of new innovations in-house, and deliver new products, services, and solutions therefore scaling up value proposition.

To cut a long story short, tech scouting in open innovation facilitates the identification and adoption of top-notch technologies, enabling companies to stay competitive and agile in an ever-evolving technological landscape.

And here’s one more important thing to know: tech scouting is not about generating new product ideas, engineering a solution, or making market analysis. It is about searching for existing technical solutions to enable new product development or manage certain product or process issues. 

Explore different types of technology scouting

When it comes to technology scouting, several types are distinguished. The choice depends on a company’s specific needs. Below check out the main tech scouting types and learn what each one means.

• State of the Art involves thorough research aimed at forming a complete picture of a specific technology context or a comprehensive comparison of the best technologies available.
• Problem Solving is applied when a specific technological problem must be resolved.
• The Suppliers/Competencies/Key Players type involves the identification of suppliers for cooperation.
• Patent Analysis means observing the engagement in the patenting activity of selected competitors or a specific technology area.
• Technology Foresight involves studying the major technology trends.
• Quick Search means collecting technical and scientific documentation on specific technologies.

The benefits of tech scouting

By going with tech scouting, your company will see considerable gains. Discovering emerging technologies, innovations, and startups opens up a whole bunch of new business opportunities. 

We say: tech scouting must become a pivotal practice for every company willing to remain competitive in the ever-evolving business landscape.​ And here are a few reasonable points:

• It unlocks innovation. In this fast-paced digital world, companies should not only rely on internal Research & Development departments but also look outside to spot out-of-the-box ideas. 
• A company gets ready-made solutions instead of spending valuable resources on in-house development. And it may turn out less effective. 
• It helps to increase the value of existing products or services. This way, a company gets long-term benefits.
• Approaching talents standing behind innovations for further fruitful collaboration. 
• Catching insights and getting inspired. Remember that the journey is not less important than the result. take advantage of every step on your way to adopting innovations. 
• It boosts operations for technical as well as business reasons. Discovering new revenue streams, establishing new partnerships, and enhancing agility and adaptability are just some of the biggest perks that tech scouting introduces. 

Pitfalls & Challenges

Even though a powerful tool for companies seeking to identify and integrate external technologies to enhance their products, services, or processes, tech scouting, however, like any strategic initiative, comes with certain pitfalls and challenges. And these must be managed effectively. Here, check out the most common challenges you might encounter in the course of tech scouting:

• Identifying suitable opportunities
• Getting overwhelmed with information
• Keeping everything tracked
• Ensuring seamless information flow

The factors listed above won’t cause big problems as long as there’s a well-defined strategy, a dedicated team with expertise in technology evaluation, and effective risk management practices.

Building an effective innovation technology scouting program

As mentioned earlier, getting started with an innovation technology scouting program requires well-thought-out strategy. 

Each program may have minor differences but there are several key aspects that must always take place:

• Clearly define your organization’s innovation goals, areas of interest, and the specific technologies or solutions you are looking to scout. Align these objectives with your overall business strategy.
• Define the criteria for evaluating potential technologies, startups, or collaborations. Consider factors like technology fit, scalability, market potential, IP considerations, alignment with strategic goals, and compatibility with existing systems.
• Research and identify relevant innovation ecosystems, conferences, networking events, academic institutions, startup incubators, and industry-specific platforms. These are valuable sources for scouting new technologies and potential partners.
• Define the best commercialization approach. The choice is mostly determined by your specific requirements and budget limitations. It may be procurement, partnerships & licensing, or mergers & acquisitions. Each one has its peculiarities. Make sure you pick up the option that matches your objectives and needs perfectly. 
• Manage internal stakeholders properly. Consider the innovation team, C-suite, R&D department, and a business development team. All these parties do their fair share in the process of tech scouting. Ensure seamless collaboration with each one and gather feedback and meaningful insights.
•  Select the proper methodology to make the most out of the technology scouting process. As an option, you can merge several methodologies. Just make sure you do it right. 
• Decide on the tools you are going to utilize. The most widely adopted tools include search engines, spreadsheets, custom solutions, PM apps, databases, and advanced innovation scouting software. The last is sophisticated software solutions designed specifically to help with an innovation scouting process effectively. Even though pricey, these solutions offer a variety of top-notch features.

Endnotes

The significance of tech scouting is unquestionable, and it has only been growing lately due to the rising demands of the evolving technological landscape.

These days, businesses varying in terms of scale do need tech scouting in order to be at the forefront of adopting innovations. This allows them to expand, prosper, and take their products and services to the next level. 

With a well-organized systematic approach, tech scouting empowers businesses to tap into a rich source of external innovation, fostering agility, competitiveness, and sustained growth in today’s dynamic business environment. Make use of it and uncover solutions that can save you precious time, expenses, and frustration.