Bridging the Gap: Open Innovation, Digital Platforms, and the Role of Government

Guest Wim Vanhaverbeke

Bio

• Expert in digital strategy and open innovation.
• Professor at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
• Well-known for his work in open innovation, large companies, and memes.
• Made significant contributions to digital platforms, particularly regarding their strategic role in reshaping highly regulated industries like healthcare.

Summary This episode features Professor Wim Vanhaverbeke, an expert in digital strategy and open innovation. The conversation begins by defining digital platforms as online infrastructures that facilitate interactions between different user groups. Vanhaverbeke emphasizes the importance of moving beyond two-sided markets to consider the complexities of multi-sided platforms in a B2B context. The discussion explores the interplay between open innovation and digital platforms, highlighting how platforms have enabled new forms of open innovation, such as crowdsourcing and internal innovation platforms.

Vanhaverbeke emphasizes the evolution of open innovation strategies, noting the shift from companies relying on third-party platforms to building and managing their platforms for internal and external collaboration. This evolution presents new challenges for managers, who must now decide whether to build, buy, or partner for platform solutions while considering the implications for data ownership, governance, and value creation.

The episode concludes with a discussion on the challenges of platform adoption in highly regulated industries like healthcare. Vanhaverbeke argues that governments play a crucial role in fostering platform adoption by proactively shaping regulations that encourage data sharing and interoperability. He contrasts the European approach of regulating in advance with the Chinese model of allowing innovation to flourish and then addressing emerging challenges.

Publications & Papers Mentioned Vanhaverbeke, W., Chesbrough, H. W., & West, J. (Eds.). (2006). Open innovation: Researching a new paradigm. Oxford University Press. Vanhaverbeke, W., Chesbrough, H. W., & West, J. (Eds.). (2014). New frontiers in open innovation. Oxford University Press. Vanhaverbeke, W., Roijakkers, N., & Hannan, M. T. (2023). Legitimizing digital technologies in open innovation ecosystems: Overcoming adoption barriers in health care. California Management Review, 65(2), 110-132.

Website wimvanhaverbeke.be