Innovation is key to sustained corporate success. Innovative firms grow twice as fast, both in employment and sales, as firms that fail to innovate.
However, European companies spend less on innovation than their competitors. Despite a gradual upwards trend in innovation performance, further efforts are needed to ensure Europe’s global competitiveness.
One noticeable trend over recent years has been an increasing move towards open innovation and, in particular, collaboration with startups.
This is especially observable in high-tech industries where the rate of innovation is rapid and where knowledge is distributed across multiple organisations, making it more difficult to innovate alone.
Done well, this provides a route to scale for young companies, and an important means by which larger firms can innovate.
Mind the Bridge and Nesta have published new research titled “The Status of Open Innovation in Europe”. This report includes data from the top 36 companies that have been recognised as active in open innovation in Europe.