OpenUp connects people with an interest in food and packaging!

News in the industry - Monday, June 16, 2014

 Both consumers and food producers place high demands on food and packaging. With the web-based and open innovation platform, OpenUp, Skåne Food Innovation Network along with the packaging cluster Packbridge, want to help improve the innovation landscape for food and packaging. Text: Johan Mårtensson, OpenUp.

Dare to benefit of external expertise

- No single company or person can be an expert about everything and this is something that we at Skåne Food Innovation Network and Packbridge has focused on when we developed OpenUp. It is clear that in today's rapidly changing business landscape it will become increasingly important for companies to dare to open up and take advantage of external expertise, says Amanda Magnusson, OpenUp. OpenUp allows all its users to openly, or more privately, share their challenges and ideas to anyone with an interest in food or packaging. - By OpenUp, we offer the opportunity to connect with multiple industries and stakeholders in the exciting boundary between foods and packaging. With OpenUp as a tools, our respective member companies and other stakeholders can meet, interact and create opportunities to jointly develop new food and packaging innovations, says Johan Mårtensson from Packbridge, project manager for OpenUp.

OpenUp - the natural meeting place in the future

In just six months OpenUp has become an active collaboration platform with over 500 users from all over the world. During this time different food and packaging related challenges have received ideas and solutions, but we have also established a network between two industries. We look at OpenUp as the natural meeting place for employees in the packaging and food industry and individuals with and interest in food and packaging. - We are aware of that the industries are facing many challenges, but we also see the enormous potential that cooperation and openness can create. It will be exciting to see what exciting innovations that will be created in OpenUp in the future. There is no cost in participating on OpenUp! The idea is that anyone who wants to make their voice heard and stay on top of what's happening are welcome to join.

Voices from users

One user wanted to find new ways of using IT to simplify meeting meal preferences for health care patients: - An unexpected effect was that I discovered that there are connections between what I work with and a field such as nano science. Innovation builds on encounters between different fields of knowledge and for that to happen we need arenas such as OpenUp. Another user who participated in a challenge and won said: - It was super easy and fun to be able to contribute with my idea on OpenUp, and the fact that it was so appreciated that I won the challenge was a wonderful bonus! I definitely plan to participate in more of OpenUps challenges ahead”.

Ecolean invites you to try OpenUp

All initiatives that strive for innovation and thinking in new ways is something that we often embrace at Ecolean. We are keen to hear what other people has to say, so to browse through OpenUp on a regular basis feels natural to us and in the future we definitely will use this forum for developing our own challenges and ideas. Sign up to see how you can benefit from OpenUp and we will meet you there!

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