In 2023, the World Open Innovation Conference celebrated its tenth anniversary. But this was not the only anniversary that was celebrated at the conference in Bilbao on November 9 and 10, 2023. Twenty years had also passed since the publication of the book "Open Innovation - The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology" by Henry Chesbrough. This book can be seen as the starting point for the topic of open innovation.

The theme of the anniversary conference at the B Accelerator Tower in Bilbao was "Bringing stakeholders together to create shared value". The invitation was extended to submit scientific findings and practical examples relating to shared value creation.

In addition to Henry Chesbrough, the conference keynotes were given by Markus Nordberg (Head of Resources Development at CERN), Prof. Dr. Linus Dahlander (ESMT Berlin), Silvia Bruno (Chief Innovation & Technology Officer at Redeia), Jokin Lopetegui (Head of Corporate Development & New Business Area at CAF) and Roberto Mariscal (Head of Innovation at Iberdrola España).

After Open Innovation City had submitted a contribution in the scientific field for WOIC 2022, Ingo Ballschmieter, Henning Duderstadt and Mirko Petersen applied for the best practice field in 2023 with a presentation on the results of Open Innovation City in Bielefeld. The contribution was positively evaluated by the expert jury, so that Henning Duderstadt and Mirko Petersen were able to give this presentation in Bilbao. The presentation met with great interest. Henry Chesbrough also attended the presentation. He emphasized the importance of knowledge transfer in the OIC idea and asked about points of reference for other cities around the world, including San Francisco.

Photo: Mirko Petersen / Fachhochschule des Mittelstands