Eskom – a Parastatal piloting Open Innovation
On 01 June 2011 Eskom launched its Open Innovation Pilot Project
– Amanda Dormehl K
armatchee Dhaver is the Innovation Circuit Manager at Eskom and leads the project team. This vibrant Polymer Scientist celebrates 14 years at the Parastatal in 2011 and her motto is, “turn innovation into business value.”
According to Dr Henry Chesbrough, University of California, open innovation is “a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as firms look to advance their technology.”
“The boundaries between a firm and its
environment are permeable; innovations are easily transferred inward and outward. The central idea behind open innovation is that in a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own research, but should instead buy or license processes or inventions from other companies. In addition, internal inventions not being used in a firm’s business are taken outside the company through channels such as licensing, joint ventures or spin-offs,” states another source. With this open innovation project, Eskom drives collaboration with external stakeholders to address their four defined challenges. Twenty responses to the call for innovation were received in the first week since project launch and they exceed the team’s expectations immediately.
Eskom is in partnership with local innovation management company RIIS (Research Institutes for Innovation and Sustainability) and with NineSigma, an American company that facilitates solving of challenges. NineSigma is represented locally by RIIS and gives Eskom access to a network of around 2 million innovators internationally.
74 Management Today | December 2011
What are the four challenges that Eskom identifies? Fi rst ly, to reduce domestic energy by 10% permanently; secondly, technology for the early detection of sagging, slipping, or fallen overhead conductors used for electricity distribution; thirdly, improvement of water utilisation and management for industrial processes; and lastly, peer review of Eskom’s modelling and methodologies with focus on their social, environmental and economic impact.
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