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Who We Are?

OpenIX is an Open Innovation Exchange that delivers tangible solutions to real challenges posted by solution seekers in government and the private sector and connects leading African researchers and entrepreneurs with new opportunities to commercialize their innovations. OpenIX is managed by The Innovation Hub, Africa's first internationally accredited science park with the IASP and a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), an agency of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development.

How is this Different?

OpenIX is leading a growing movement towards open innovation on the African continent and has built a track record of novel solutions and new deals for our members. Through our extensive relationships with both the growing African innovation community and global science and technology partners, we are able to access a unique mix of unconventional ideas and recognised experts. We source the appropriate solution for your need but also give you a picture of global trends and weak signals in your technology space. Our intensive campaign and wide reach accelerates the innovation process for organisations and the time to market for technology developers.

Team and Partners

OpenIX is run by a team based at The Innovation Hub that includes open innovation and PhD sector specialists, with strong backgrounds in innovation, research and management consulting in South Africa, Africa and globally. We have partnered in the launch of OpenIX with the City of Tshwane, home of The Innovation Hub, and a leader in driving innovation practices within local government; as well as the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS), a pioneer of open innovation services in South Africa.

A Proven Methodology

OpenIX connects solution seekers and providers by engaging the open innovation market to find solutions for Challenges posed by regional innovation seekers from government, state-owned enterprises, private companies and local communities; whilst creating opportunities for solution providers and entrepreneurs from the region.

We use a proprietary, rigorous and robust C⁴ methodology to define the organisation's need or Challenge which is then posted on the platform and activated through a focused campaign that funnels more than 50,000 potential contacts down to a handful of high potential solutions. A similar approach is used to assist innovators in showcasing their Technology Offers.

Open Innovation

Open Innovation, according to Henry Chesbrough in his landmark book, Open Innovation: the New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (2003) is defined as, “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively”. In short, he refers to a set of defined processes and engagements with virtual and physical networks to discover, isolate and implement innovative ideas, technologies, products and capabilities from outside organisations to address identified problems or innovation Challenges. In essence, open innovation advocates that firms use external, as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, to advance the commercialisation of technologies.

In South Africa, a number of organisations have embraced Open Innovation as a practice. Whilst these organisations have succeeded in raising visibility of Open Innovation, there remains a serious gap to be filled. There is a need for a neutral catalyst to bring the various actors in the innovation system together, hence OpenIX.