Open Innovation "fever" in Silicon Valley. Discussed by Alberto Onetti

More and more Italian companies are consolidating their position on the international stage in terms of innovation, targeting new models and new forms of open innovation in Silicon Valley, the technology hub par excellence. This opportunity has also been seized by Terna. The Italian national grid operator has started building a presence in the increasingly developed San Francisco Bay Area, through its partnership with Mind the Bridge, an international organisation providing consulting and support for innovation to businesses and startup ecosystems around the globe. Based in California, with branches in Europe and Asia, since 2007, Mind the Bridge has built connections between large companies and startups, particularly in the “scaleup” phase. It began this process before open innovation was really being discussed in Italy.

We discussed why companies are starting out on a path of open innovation in Silicon Valley with Alberto Onetti, Chairman of Mind the Bridge. «Open innovation now represents a consolidated paradigm», basically meaning that «no company, however big, can plan its future internally».

This is why our companies must look abroad and engage in innovation scouting, selecting the most suitable solutions and technological partners to develop product and process innovation, which is very far from traditional procurement methods employed by big companies. The relationship has reversed. It is the companies, including big enterprises, that now compete for the attention of startups. The latter now lead the way. And, if they don’t see any substance, they won’t waste their time. Time passes quickly in Silicon Valley, measured in minutes and hours, not months or even years. The reason? «Because we can’t assume that what works today will still be valid tomorrow», he explains.

At the same time, Mr Onetti explains that «companies need innovative solutions that work, targeting a certain level of efficiency, and it is therefore quite natural and rational to look in the places with the highest concentration of innovation. The number of startups in Italy is quite low and there is also only modest investment. It is statistically difficult to identify good solutions if the pool of options is limited”.

The data, which is unequivocal according to Mr Onetti, tells us that Silicon Valley is the place with the highest concentration of innovative startups and scaleups in the world, «comparable to the whole European continent». On the global map of digital innovation, «Israel is in second place. There, we find a high concentration of innovation outposts for big global companies». And Mr Onetti considers that there is good reason for this. «It is much more efficient to find solutions where there are more innovative startups and they are also more mature». And this applies to both Silicon Valley and Israel, which «are not only countries with many enterprises concentrated in very limited areas, but also home to startups with access to large amounts of capital». Basically, «they are well financed, more mature, and therefore ready to be adopted by big companies».

This phenomenon is in no way just a current trend. «Today, it is a hot topic which has only recently become relevant in Italy, yet open innovation is a necessity for companies to remain in the marketplace». In a turbulent and shifting scenario like the current one, innovation is not only an opportunity for growth but the key to “survival”. And this applies regardless of the sector or size of a business.

«Size does not allow us to sidestep innovation», and small and medium companies, the backbone of the Italian economy, must also innovate. «Obviously, it is more difficult for them because it is a culturally complex process that also requires refined resources», but it is not impossible and above all «cannot be put off». Mr Onetti’s message is pretty clear: «It is necessary to look ahead, rather than looking at today. You either evolve or die out. There are no alternatives». It is necessary to adopt more ambitious open-innovation approaches with a truly international scope.

Furthermore, an open-innovation strategy offers numerous advantages, because companies can benefit from a considerable «saving in terms of costs and time, increasing efficiency of business processes» drawing on external resources and expertise. «Of course, technological innovation greatly improves performance. These are investments with an immediate return, and which can improve how companies operate today. Then there are innovations that enable the company to enter markets and develop new products, processes and services, which instead have an impact on the life of the company over time, offering the opportunity to change its skin» because «no sector has an immune response to simply being swept away. Blockbuster is one clear example. It is therefore necessary to be able to identify new directions in which to then pool all of the various expertise».

So how does Mind the Bridge’s model work? «The model that we have implemented in Silicon Valley with many Italian companies, including Terna, is a model which first and foremost offers an ‘innovation antenna’, with constant monitoring managed by us. Working with the company’s innovation team, we act as an ‘antenna’, picking up what is happening in Silicon Valley». The aim is to identify and intercept «emerging technological trends in specific fields of interest”, but also to “understand the direction of development from the company’s indications».

«The next step is the transformation of this ‘antenna’ into what we call an ‘outpost’», a privileged point of access to the ecosystem which gives rise to the main business and innovation opportunities. «It is therefore a more structured phase». This involves «hosting one of the company’s innovation team, who works alongside our own team, enabling greater capacity to achieve more extensive results. Typically, the process is launched, then various lines of interest are activated, which we refer to as ‘scouting', with the business in question, seeking innovative solutions... the startups». These are carefully «analysed and filtered, creating a shortlist, before organising meetings with the business units of the company». Only some of these meetings, Mr Onetti specifies, give rise to «continuing interest that is transformed into a pilot project and, if this is successful, moves on to production».

In conclusion, it is «a process that requires analysis of perhaps thousands of startups to actually launch a dozen partnerships. But those dozen partnerships bring results», enabling growth, innovation and «preparation for the future, which is today, not tomorrow!»