Intermediaries and Platforms for Open Innovation

Abstract

Abstract Intermediaries are an inherent part of value creation in open innovation, especially crowdsourcing. They connect organizations seeking external input or solutions for an innovation-related problem (seekers) with potential solution providers (solvers). To bridge between the innovation problem and external knowledge sources, intermediaries deploy different search strategies and offer complementary services. Drawing on three market surveys conducted among open innovation intermediaries over the last decade, this chapter introduces the market of open innovation intermediaries, provides descriptive information about their value chain, structures the professional services offered by them, and comments on the ongoing challenges of these essential actors of the larger open innovation ecosystem.