Meet SunShot Catalyst: an open innovation program that empowers the public to develop solutions that address near-term problems in the U.S. solar space. In 2014, the program asked the public to weigh in on the 130 problem statements that addressed the soft costs of solar energy. And then later in May, the platform opened a new open innovation effort asking for ideas from outside the solar industry in the form of five-minute videos describing high-level plans for addressing the toughest issues. This November, more than thirty solutions were offered before the November 7th deadline.
When people think about sustainable innovation, oftentimes they are thinking about innovation that results in solutions to long-standing problems that could negatively impact our environment (an example: creating and offering renewable energy sources). However, the Department of Energy is still a great example of the other form of sustainable innovation – innovation programs that build an ongoing relationship with potential innovators who can help solve problems.
And organizations of every size are looking for solutions to numerous problems – some of which they’ve already identified and some that they haven’t even thought of yet. Whether those organizations are public or private, it is far more likely that they will be able to meet these challenges in actionable ways if they have existing innovation programs that are soliciting solutions on a regular basis. But how does a company or government department go about constantly generating new interest and new ideas?
One of the best ways is to have a great communications team on board (certainly something that the Department of Energy benefits from) that can build a network of innovators, constantly re-engage them in new ways, offer new resources that those innovators can build on, and celebrate the successes of those programs. But there are several other things that innovators must consider when they are building ongoing innovation strategies.
To hear from the Department of Energy about how they orient their challenges to for the SunShot Catalyst program, join the Sustainable Innovation webinar on November 9th at 9 a.m. PST: http://bit.ly/1xVnpUu
