Open Innovation: Chesbrough's model applied
What Open Innovation is
Open Innovation is an innovation model formalized by Henry Chesbrough (UC Berkeley) in the early 2000s. The idea, simple in substance, is that today no organization — however large or specialized — holds within its walls all the knowledge needed to innovate.
The best skills are distributed: across clients, partners, universities, startups, employees, communities of practice. Innovating in the open means designing processes that systematically let in and let out ideas, people, and technologies across the organization’s boundaries.
At Open Innova this is the foundation of every project, not a slogan.
How we apply it
Our work doesn’t start from a pre-packaged solution, but from the people who will use that solution every day. That’s why our software and our consulting paths emerge from a direct dialogue with the client and with their stakeholders.
In practice:
- We involve the people who operate the processes — not just those who design them or sign off on them
- We analyze the real processes, meeting the client repeatedly and observing them as they go about their daily work, so we can recognize recurring patterns and abstract models that faithfully reproduce the activity
- We integrate different operational practices, even when they come from contexts that at first sight look distant
This approach lets us build digital management systems that respond to concrete needs, reduce repetitive work, and free up time for activities that generate value.
Beyond rigid solutions
Watching many different organizations, we noticed one thing: “standard” solutions tend to force organizations to adapt to the software, instead of the other way around. We work to propose solutions that meet the client where they are, and let them step away from inefficient practices.
The systems we design are:
- Flexible — they adapt to different contexts without requiring invasive code customizations
- Scalable — they grow with the organization, without technological bottlenecks
- Compliant by design — regulatory requirements (GDPR, audit, traceability) are part of the architecture, not a patch applied afterwards
The result is genuinely simplified bureaucracy, with technology serving people rather than the other way around.
Why it works
Open Innovation is not a conference fad. It’s an approach that, properly applied, produces concrete and measurable results:
- Faster time-to-market — because you start from problems already validated in the field
- Lower R&D costs — because part of the discovery work has already been done by the ecosystem
- More resilient business models — because they rest on a network of relationships, not a single source of value
- Natural adoption — when users take part in design, they use the product because they recognize it as their own
The companies leading their sectors today don’t innovate in isolation: they collaborate with startups, research centers, strategic partners, customers, and external communities. It’s the model we propose to those who work with us, too.
Further reading
If you want to go to the source, here are some references we use ourselves when working with clients.
Videos
- 20 Years of Open Innovation — Henry Chesbrough A 2024 talk in which Chesbrough revisits twenty years of the model and discusses its evolution. The fastest way to see where Open Innovation is heading today.
- Open Services Innovation — TEDxESADE A more accessible talk by Chesbrough applying Open Innovation to services (not just products). A good starting point if it’s your first time encountering the topic.
Research centers
- Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation — UC Berkeley Haas The center founded by Chesbrough. Publishes research, case studies, and teaching materials on Open Innovation.
- Open Innovation Labs — UC Berkeley Haas A lab that applies Open Innovation methodologies to real challenges brought in by partner companies.
Want to see Open Innovation in action? Discover Gestiscu.it, the platform co-created with Servizio Civile entities.
Want to understand how to apply it to your organization? Let’s talk.