Crowdsourcing and Open Innovation: Powering the Sharing Economy

An SMA Research Report

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Author(s):

Denise Garth, Partner

Publication Date:

October 31, 2014

Number of Pages:

12

Price:

$995.00 USD

The evolution of mankind and society has always been based on knowledge, expertise, collaboration, and good ideas. Famous inventors like Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod and bifocals, Thomas Edison the light bulb and phonograph, and Tim Berners-Lee the World Wide Web/Internet. All of these individuals and their inventions inspired a chain reaction of bigger and better ideas and inventions that have resulted in disrupting, transforming, changing, and creating a new world of businesses. Today, the Internet and collaboration are powering a movement built around crowdsourcing and open innovation to gather and share more ideas, knowledge, experience, and input than ever before. And there will be no going back … only moving forward to embrace the changes and the pace of change, itself.

And now, mass collaboration is rising to a new level via crowdsourcing and open innovation, creating disruptive and transformative outcomes – like the sharing economy. Crowdsourcing enables companies to leverage and tap into the power of the masses, or communities, while open innovation helps identify, develop, and market new ideas, products, services, and more within these communities. Together, the combination obliterates the traditional internal, hierarchical, or linear thinking and development approaches and creates an entirely new playing field that accelerates the execution of innovation within organizations, from ideas to development to implementation. Crowdsourcing and open innovation are rapidly becoming a strategic core mandate. They are the capabilities that are defining a new era of winners and losers and reshaping companies, industries, businesses, and even countries. 

Crowdsourcing and Open Innovation: Powering the Sharing Economy answers the following questions: 

• What are crowdsourcing and open innovation, and how are they reshaping industries and powering the sharing economy?
• What are the new business models in the sharing economy?
• What are the implications and opportunities for insurance in the sharing economy?
• How should insurers respond?

 

 

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