Orange UK Open Innovation Challenge - The Next Orange Wednesday?

Have you heard of Orange UK Open Innovation Project? It’s a clever and innovative approach to generating service innovation and potentially Service Design for Orange in the UK. I thought readers of this blog might find using methods such as co-creation and collaboration to grow new streams of revenue of some interest. It is relatively unique and reminds me of trying to find the next “Orange Wednesday”.

Orange UK are looking for start-up businesses that they can partner with to provide more compelling online and on-phone services that increase their audience Open innovation project.

The project (OSCR) is an open innovation project that is being run as a collaboration between:

• NESTA (The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts)
• Orange UK and
• in partnership with Livework (a leading UK Service Design firm) and Wireless Innovation (Satellite and Wireless solutions)

The project is based on the underlying concept of “shared risk and shared reward” and aims to demonstrate how Corporates can work with partners outside of their organisations on a mutually beneficial basis. As this is a call for innovations in services (which are difficult to patent), Orange is aiming for an ongoing business relationship with Orange that can embrace a range of different business models, including licensing, joint ventures or other forms of partnership.

Responses to the brief will then be submitted to the “Trusted Agent Team” (NESTA, Livework and Wireless Innovation) who will select the most promising to enter the “airlock”. It is important to note that Orange will not see any ideas at the selection stage and will not see any ideas until they leave the “airlock” (Trusted Agents will act on Orange’s behalf). Companies selected to enter the “airlock” will receive funding and support from the Trusted Agent Team to develop, protect and present their idea. After leaving the “airlock”, they will pitch their ideas to Orange who will then have 90 days to decide which ideas to pursue further. After this “right of first refusal”, those ideas that Orange rejects remain the intellectual property of the originator.

OSCR will launch on October 22nd, when companies interested in submitting ideas can meet with representatives from Orange to further understand their requirements.

If you would like any information on leveraging Customer Experience to improve your engagement and profitability of your customers please feel free to contact me directly at experience@protopartners.com.au or visit Proto.