Lessons Learned from the Siemens Smart Grid Innovation Contest

© Siemens AG 2011. All rights reserved.

Dr. Michael HeissSiemens AGChief Technology OfficeOpen Innovation Program

Dr. Michael HeissSiemens AGChief Technology OfficeOpen Innovation Program

Smart Grid Innovation ContestLessons LearnedSmart Grid Innovation ContestLessons Learned

Photo: the four happy winners in front of the German Parliament, Berlin 2011.Photo: the four happy winners in front of the German Parliament, Berlin 2011.


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 2

Concept, facts and figures of the Smart Grid Innovation Contest: new top university cooperations

Phase II: Call for Research Proposalsfor universities only

Oct – Dec 2011

Phase I: Public Idea Contest(for everybody)

Apr – Jun 2011

Submission & social ranking

Evaluation by Siemens

Jurydecision

Award ceremony

(incl. MVC*)Rec. by MVC1)

1) Rec. By MVC: Recommendation by Most Valuable Contributors, pre-evaluated by Core-Team

Abstract submission(Qualification)

Submissionof full

proposal

RTR2)

decision

Contracting&

implementation

RTR2)

accept/deny

2) RTR: Research Topic Responsible (from Siemens)

Topic cluster NDA Research Topic (confidential)

• All submissions

• All comments

• Crowd ranking (5 stars)

• Internal ranking (5 stars): public

• no internal comments!

Public: Selected Siemens experts:

Recruiting of participants: via social media (e.g. LinkedIn groups)

15 000 € (total)+ Berlin trip

1 Mio. € budget (total)

• Nothing, except the generic topic cluster description,

• no crowd ranking

• Abstract submission• Full research proposal submission• Internal comments• Communication with submitter• Decisions

Public & Peers:RTR2)+Selected Siemens experts:

via SCOPUS all authors of scientific papers in the field were invited

• 100 countries

• 35 000 unique visitors

• 1 500 registered users

• 500 ideas

• 5 000 comments & evaluations

• 300 000 minutes on the site

• 40 countries

• 200 universities

• 400 registered users

• 172 abstracts submitted

• 25 accepted for full proposal

• 10 to be contracted

Pa

rtic

ipa

nts

Re

su

lts Awareness & branding High quality research proposals

Top experts

Vis

ible

Pro

ce

ss



Innovating Innovation is not for free

Lessons Learnedfrom the

Smart Grid Innovation Contest

Emotions Seismograph / Timeline



The „stock market price“ of the project shows the challenges of applying a new method

# Comments

1 Doubtfully at the beginning

2

Too many proposals that were not in Siemens business.

Loss of both power sponsors

3 Some interesting submitted ideas

4

New confidentiality policy disrupted plans and caused extra challenges for the tool.

5 Definition of Research Topic Clusters

and Detailed Research Question

6 The Award Ceremony in Berlin and the

community feeling hat was very positive

7 Technical issues behind the scene

8

The contest was successfully launched and immediate response was positive, but quality of submissions at the beginning not convincing.

9

Very high quality of submission. Due to the high number of submissions high effort.

10 Contracting on the way

Preparation Idea Contest Online13.4-15.6.2011

Jury Preparation21.7.2011

Topic Definition for

CfP

CfP Online4.10.-30.11.2011

1.4. 15.6. 21.7. 15.9. 4.10. 30.11. 14.12.

positive

negative

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Condensed Emotions Seismograph / Timeline

estimated Return of Invest based on your own investment

time

Award Ceremony

Berlin 15.9.2011

Evaluation of proposals

1

10

Research Topic Responsibles from BUCore Team


Lessons Learned in Phase I:Smart Grid Idea ContestLessons Learned in Phase I:Smart Grid Idea Contest



Crowd Ideation in complex technology fields is more challenging

Topic selection

http://led-emotionalize.com/ the winner http://smartgridcontest.com/ the winner

WYSIWYG*-topics (e.g. light design) can be understood & evaluated faster than complex topics like smart grid technology.

* WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get

web platform by



Attracting participants via social media communication is “free of charge” but hard work

Recruiting of Participants

1 Mio. to 90 Mio.* page impressions of contest announcements (more then 200 non-Siemens web platforms, e.g. smart grid communities, wrote about the contest)

35 000 unique visitors (50ct* each) would lead to approx. 17 500€ advertisement costs

1 500 registered users (12€ each)

500 ideas (35€ each)

* Facebook offers/recommends for contest advertisements approx. 50ct per click or 20ct per 1000 page impressions -> estimated conversion rate: 2 500

conversion rate: 30 to 2 500*

conversion rate: approx. 25

conversion rate: approx. 3

4 winning ideas

Addressing individually selected expert communities is more focused than just posting ads via Google or Facebook, but do not underestimate your effort:it will not be cheaper than via Google or Facebook.

Estimated* costs just for attracting participants(not including the costs of performing the contest)



Customers and Government are also attracted by the contest but are more observing than submitting own ideas.

Make the contest also attractive for technology providers – this needs special care at the terms and conditions regarding intellectual property rights (IPRs).

Recruiting of Participants



Obligatory key-visuals make submissions more unique, attractive and understandable

Idea Submission

Even for such complex technology fields like smart grids key-visuals work.Most of the submitters are better in visualizing than in writing ;-)


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 10

It is beneficial to ask the Most Valuable Contributors* for their recommendation of the winners

Involvement of Most Valuable Contributors

The Most Valuable Contributors have commented and evaluated more ideas than each Siemens expert. Their recommendation was very valuable.

João Batista GomesBrazil

Donatas GatavynasLithuania

Shmuel Goldfisher Israel

Niels MastNetherlands

* Participants with the highest number of valuable comments and evaluations


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 11

Meeting the winners personally and discuss their ideas was a highlight for all participants

Award Ceremony in BerlinAward Ceremony in Berlin

Vassilis Nikolopoulos GreeceVassilis Nikolopoulos Greece

Thillainathan LogenthiranSingapureThillainathan LogenthiranSingapure

Christian HuderGermanyChristian HuderGermany

Slobodan MaticBerkely, USASlobodan MaticBerkely, USA

Thillainathan LogenthiranSingapure (1st prize)Thillainathan LogenthiranSingapure (1st prize)


Lessons Learned in Phase II:Smart Grid Call-for-ProposalsLessons Learned in Phase II:Smart Grid Call-for-Proposals


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 13

If the research topic is confidential, a pre-qualification for (non-confidential) research topic clusters is helpful

Topic Confidentiality

confidentialtopic 3

confidentialtopic 2

confidentialtopic 1

non-confidential research topic cluster

Example:non-confidential research topic clusters athttp://smartgridcontest.com/university

Do not underestimate the additional effort for IT security for confidentiality.These requirements do not fit (economically) to a “two-month application”.


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 14

The abstract should be limited to 250 words.

Abstract Submission (Qualification)

If the abstract is 500 words, then submitters do not focus on the main idea.This leads to more evaluation effort of the abstracts and no clear separation of the abstract and full proposal submission.

Photo: © amras_de at http://www.flickr.com/photos/51243943@N00/423875472/in/pool-visualization


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 15

One of the main motivations of participants: be visible at Siemens and get a job at Siemens

Job Recruiting

When we met the winners and Most Valuable Contributors we asked them how we attracted them to participate. The surprising answer: not the award is the attraction but the chance to get visibility within Siemens.


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 16

Siemens Smart Grid Call-for-Proposals further lessons learned

Ownership Project needs to be fully adopted by the Business Unit –

Project Lead from Business Unit. Management support from CTO level required. A wide spread management support leads to robustness

against organizational changes. Early involvement of Product Managers.

Confidentiality The more concrete the search field description, leads to a

trade off between the more valuable the submissions the higher the risk of disclosing Siemens strategies.

The higher the security level of the tool, the more expensive, less flexible, more complex to handle.

The quality of the submissions is higher if it is submitted in a closed environment (not public) - at least in a highly competitive search field.

Timing It is more important to align the contest with the Siemens

budget planning than with the academic year. First receive all the submissions before making accept/deny

decisions.

Recruiting of Submitters SCOPUS gave us access to all the

scientists who published in the search field.

Optimization Having a pre-qualification process ensures

that the Siemens Experts spend most of their time with the best proposals and ensures that only trusted submitters have access to the more confidential information.

Limiting the words and having a tool-enforced structure helps to focus submitters answers – helps to minimize Siemens effort for evaluating.

Explaining what type of proposals Siemens wants and does not want helps to optimize the expectation of the submitters and the workload at Siemens.

Very high usability is required for the web tool both for submitters and backend operations – End to end process/workflow support.


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 17

Conclusion

“Call-for-Proposals are a great method to indentify the best university partner”

„I thought I knew the best universities but obviously didn’t“

“The Call-for-Proposals has a clear ROI*. A coupling with Phase I (Idea Contest) is not required”

* ROI: Return on Investment


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 18

Contact

Twitter: twitter.com/heisssSlideshare: www.slideshare.net/heisssXing: www.xing.com/profile/Michael_Heiss2LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaelheissFlickr: www.flickr.com/photos/michaelheissBlog: heisss.wordpress.comPhone: +43-664-88 55 15 26

Dr. Michael HeissSiemens AG

Chief Technology OfficeOpen Innovation Program


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 19

Appendix


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 20

Siemens uses the new rules of "Open Innovation“ to develop its portfolio of innovation methodologies

First university cooperation

First lead customer workshop

Siemens Technology Accelerator

Management of employees‘ ideas

First centers of Competence

~1900

TechnoWeb2.0

New options in the "Open Innovation" game:

Use unobvious sources IT-based methodologies ("Web2.0") New levels of scalability Enhanced speed in the dynamics of networks Balance between IP protection and openness

Open Idea Contests

2003

E-Broker

Traditional innovation mgmt. rules

Focus on bilateral partnerships Workshops or mailboxes as frame

for ideation Limited speed of network dynamics Default: Maximize IP protection


04/08/23 CT O OIPage 21

New Open Innovation approaches are set to complement the portfolio of innovation methodologies

Inte

rnal

TechnoSearch

Ext

ern

al

Absorptive Capacity

Integrated Technology Company

Find the expert to solve your problem

Collaborate with creative masses

E-broker

TechnoWeb 2.0

Open Idea Contest

TechnologiesIdeas