Open trial challenges
Real-life challenges opened by the City or another body, solutions for which are tried out in the genuine environment.
In the trial challenges, the City, another organisation or a company opens their real-life development topics for companies and teams to solve. Examples of this are the programmes of fast trials in which the City seeks trials to be carried out through a bidding contest. In this case, the trials are conducted as compensated, i.e. the trial executor gets a small compensation for covering the expenses of the trial.
Challenge-driven events
The open innovation services provide the opportunity for companies to generate new ideas and solutions from outside the company. Inclusion, fast innovation and agile trials are at the focal point when the challenges are solved. BusinessOulu’s ready-made operating models, schedules and concept make open innovation easy and successful.
Particularly beginning companies or small and medium-sized enterprises do not need to own everything themselves, but they can get resources and benefits by collaborating and sharing. New perspectives fore development and results can be obtained by including others openly and boldly.
Agile methods speed up and boost the innovation process. This way it can meet the user’s needs better and provide a quick response to the demands of a changing business environment. As the cycle of product development gets faster and faster, it is better to try things out already at the product development phase than to do it after market entry. Fast innovation leads to fast success or failure!
Product development and marketing are inseparable. Marketing involves finding out customer needs and acquiring information about the target market and the operating environment. Product development needs data gathered by marketing all along the line.
Success demands a good challenge
A well set, understandable challenge is an important basis for successful innovation. A good challenge not only highlights the problem but also presents a genuine opportunity for solution and innovation.
A good challenge is easy enough to understand, inspiring, and arouses curiosity. Challenges suited for ordinary users have been made even with difficult development topics presented by research groups – such as polymers. In addition to the challenge, it is important to define the expected results: what is expected from the event and what is the user group from which solutions are sought. University students are a user group often used by BusinessOulu as innovators and solution providers. It is relatively easy to form multidisciplinary teams with them.
The best operating model for every situation
When the challenge has been completely thought out and its solvers have been selected, BusinessOulu finds the best operating model for the innovation process. This could involve an IdeaSprint, a co-creation process, a fast trial, a hackathon, or a competition.
One of the operating models for university students is sOULUtions – the opposite of an individual and random innovation event. SOULUtions is an event concept in which certain type of events are repeated as a sequence – the predictability of the concept lowers the threshold for companies to participate. Asemathons focus on BusinessAsema as an environment for trials and development. The IdeaSprint events offer the challenge presenter with a bunch of new ideas and solutions in a reasonably short time.
The open Patiolla.fi user forum enables development with users free of time and location. Exactly the right people can be sought as testers and developers from among the group test users. The Patiolla.fi service can be used for developing all kinds of products and services.
