In the new age of innovation, there could be a need for facilitating knowledge sharing on new ways of innovation. The Danish government has, as part of its program for user-driven innovation, opened a possibility for government to co-fund projects in user driven innovation, where companies can learn about new methods for user driven innovation.

In this project for user-driven innovation, the Danish company Grundfos - one of the world’s leading pump manufacturers – and knowledge institutions collaborate in an open environment to identify lead users and get access to their innovation potential. The lead or advanced user approach is a theory in the area of user-driven innovation. However, there are no specific instructions on how companies can use the theory in practise. The partners in the project will deal with this puzzle and develop an innovation model that will help integrate advanced users in companies’ innovation projects.

This public-private partnership is comprised of Grundfos, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Copenhagen Business School and Aarhus School of Business. The project started in November 2007 and will last for 2 years and 8 months. It has received a grant of approximately 400.000 EUR from the Danish programme for user-driven innovation.

Source: http://www.ebst.dk/brugerdreveninnovation.dk/

For more details on the case, contact FORA at FORA@newnatureofinnovation.org.