Collaborate and Innovate with LG

LG, a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, has launched Collaborate & Innovate as a vehicle for initiating and developing relationships with global partners who have great ideas and technologies.

I like this initiative for a couple of reasons.

One thing is that it is simple. There is no need to make such initiatives more complicated than needed. I also like how LG shows their general and specific needs. Furthermore, there are several indications that LG really try to make this initiative inviting and worthwhile for their partners.

They have set up a dedicated team responsible for managing collaboration relationships with partners and if you submit an idea, you are assigned to be a specific member from this team. Handholding like this helps build trust and should also help make a process go faster and better.

Actually, their review process is worth checking out so I inserted it below.

What is the expected response time after submitting an idea?
We aim to respond to you directly within 4~8 weeks of receiving your submission. Every submission is different, so it may take us more or less time to effectively evaluate your idea.

What is your review process?
LG’s Collaborate & Innovate team sits above all the business units and divisions in the company. When you submit your ideas using this website, your submission is assigned to a Collaborate & Innovate team member who is responsible for incubating your idea and we make sure to introduce your hard work to the most relevant people in our organization.

Each business unit is different, but most have a dedicated technology innovation team who can help us with this process. If your idea is interesting, or we need more information, we’ll contact you and may even put you in touch with the engineer who wants to know more.

In addition to the process above, all submissions can be viewed by anyone in LG, meaning that even business units who were not initially considered for introduction can request more information from us.

Is it possible to arrange a meeting to present my idea?
Late in the review process, it might be a good idea, or even necessary to organize a meeting, but it is not necessary for the initial evaluation. If you have a prototype or demonstration available, then please mention this in your proposal, as it will be considered during evaluation. If you feel that a demonstration is really important, another good idea is to attach a video of your demonstration as additional material to your proposal.

What happens if LG likes my idea?
Every situation is different, and deserves to be treated as such. There are many different possible business relationships if we decide to collaborate with you, for example; Licensing, Supply Agreement, Co-development, Investment, M&A, etc. We are looking for long term partners though, and prefer this to short term transactional relationships.

This sounds inviting to me and it reflects the words of Dr. Woo Paik, President and Chief Technology Office at LG Electronics, whose team is responsible for the Collaborate & Innovate initiative. He said: “Open innovation is not about simply finding technologies and acquiring them in a transactional approach. It is about building mutually beneficial relationships by collaborating and innovating together towards a common goal.”

Yes, I like this initiative and hopefully, they can live up to the good intentions. Check out Collaborate & Innovate and let me know what you think.