Whether a researcher is in need of an innovative solution or has the answer to a difficult problem related to household and personal product chemistry, www.innocentive.com can help.
This online forum allows world-class scientists and science-based companies to collaborate in a global scientific community to achieve innovative solutions to complex challenges.
Since its inception in 2001, InnoCentive has developed a roster of 85,000 problem-solving scientists from around the world who have worked on hundreds of complex problems related to chemistry, biology and material sciences. The researcher who finds a solution for a “seeker company” reaps financial rewards that can be as high as $100,000, according to InnoCentive.
And just how successful is this cadre of online experts? Procter & Gamble, a long-standing InnoCentive customer, noted that 33% of the problems it has posted have been solved.
“That’s in line with our expectations,” insisted Cesar Castro, vice president, sales, InnoCentive. “If we were constantly successful, it would prove that we’re not pushing the envelope when it comes to solving difficult problems.”
The InnoCentive business model dovetails with the growing trend among corporations to search beyond their corporate walls for solutions to complex problems. InnoCentive’s list of clients includes P&G, Henkel, Ciba and Dow Chemical.
“For household and personal product companies, we can provide spot capacity for R&D with minimal transaction costs and time. We offer risk management for the most risk-intensive operation of the business [R&D], and our large solver population can generate a wide diversity of ideas and approaches, often originating from outside the normal fields of inquiry,” concluded Mr. Castro.