2016 User and Open Innovation Conferences

The CFPs have been issued for #OUI2016 and #WOIC2016, the premier conferences for user innovation and and open innovation (respectively). The OUI rotation brings the conference back to the U.S., while WOIC is making its first ever European appearance.

Open and User Innovation Conference: HBS, Boston, August 1-3

This year the official title of Eric von Hippel’s conference is the “14th International Open and User Innovation Conference,” acknowledging the conference’s origins as a small workshop in Vienna back in 2003. It is (to my knowledge) the first time the word “International” has been used in the title.

The key dates:

• March 1, 2016: submission website opens
• May 13, 2016: deadline for submitting papers
• June 1, 2016: notification of accepted papers
• July 1, 2016: registration deadline

There are two policies that are newly explicit. The conference is intended for “academics and scholars who are faculty, postdoctoral fellows or students currently enrolled in PhD programs,” which would appear to exclude industry, master’s or undergraduate students. Secondly, research that is “not yet completed or in the planning stages” should be presented as a poster rather than a paper presentation.

As before, the conference is being run using tracks:

Topics	Chair(s)
Communities: User Innovation and Open Source	Christopher Lettl, Vienna University of Economics & Business Johann Fuller, Universität Innsbruck
Contests, Crowdsourcing and Open Innovation	Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School Frank Piller, RWTH Aachen University
Crowdfunding	Lars Bo Jeppesen, Copenhagen Business School Pedro Oliveira, Católica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics
Firm's Interactions with User Innovation	Christina Raasch, TUM School of Management Joachim Henkel, TUM School of Management
Law, Policy and IP	Katherine Strandburg, New York University School of Law Andrew Torrance, University of Kansas, School of Law
Toolkits and Problem Solving	Nik Franke, Vienna University of Economics and Business Georg von Krogh, ETH Zurich Eric von Hippel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
User Innovation and Diffusion	Dietmar Harhoff, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Jeroen de Jong, Utrecht University School of Economics
User Innovation and Psychology	Ruth Stock Homburg, Technische Universität Darmstadt
User Innovation in Healthcare	Pedro Oliveira, Católica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics Stephen Flowers, Kent Business School, University of Kent Eric von Hippel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sharing Economy and Platforms	Christoph Hienerth, Otto Beisheim School of Management

While in recent years there hasn’t been much open innovation (as commonly defined) in OUI, this year brings a marked improvement. The grouping with crowdsourcing is a logical one given that crowdsourcing is both a highly popular theme at OUI each year and a major part of the recent open innovation literature. Lakhani and Piller are prolific, influential and (with Lakhani’s recent tenure at HBS) senior scholars who are thought leaders in these overlapping research streams.

Still, those who want an open innovation audience may find Spain a better venue this year.

World Open Innovation Conference: ESADE, Barcelona, December 15-16

After its inauguration in Napa Valley and subsequent session in Silicon Valley, the WOIC leaves California (Henry Chesbrough’s home turf) for Europe — specifically the coastal capital of Catalonia (and Spain’s second largest city). As in previous years, we hope to continue the mix of industry and academic attendees, which was highly valued by the 2015 attendees.

Although it’s not yet up on the website, here are the relevant dates.

• July 1, 2016: submission website opens
• August 15, 2016: deadline for extended abstracts
• September 15, 2016: notification of accepted abstracts
• December 1, 2016: submission of full papers

The conference leadership include some new and familiar faces from the first two WOIC meetings:

• Conference Chair: Henry Chesbrough (UC Berkeley & ESADE)                     
• Conference Co-Chair: Wim Vanhaverbeke (Hasselt, ESADE & NUS)
• Academic Program Chair: Marcel Bogers (U. Copenhagen)
• Associate Program Chairs: Jonathan Sims (Babson) & Ann-Kristin Zobel (ETH Zürich)
• Industry Program Chair: Solomon Darwin (UC Berkeley)

The conference will be combined with the annual Chesbrough-Vanhaverbeke OI Ph.D. short course, which will be held Dec. 13-14.

This will be the first year that I won’t be leading WOIC, after being co-chair (with Chesbrough, Piller and Chris Tucci) of the inaugural conference, and last year being program chair (with Chesbrough as the sole chair).

However, after managing submission process for two years — where we had more Europeans than Americans — I have long felt that the "W" in WOIC meant we need to sometimes meet in Europe. ESADE was the natural venue, given Chesbrough and Vanhaverbeke’s long ties there — and that Barcelona in December is a lot more temperate than many of the other possible venues.

I look forward to seeing friends and colleagues in Boston and Barcelona. (Because AOM was kind enough to bring its annual conference to me — I drive or take the train through Anaheim every day en route to work — I will also be there, but the chances of seeing friends among the horde of 10,000+ are slim at best).