Innovation is poised at the nexus of theory and practice. Close observation of industry innovation practices Open Innovation, which in turn has contributed to the evolution of academic thinking on innovation. Too often, managers practice open innovation with little or no knowledge of the topic, while academics often cling to their ivory towers, and ignore the efforts being done for an organization to improve itself. What is needed is a vehicle to bridge the gap between theory and practice in open innovation.

To that end, we announce the 1st Annual World Open Innovation Conference. This conference will bring together practicing managers and academic scholars, and seeks to foster stronger connections between the two.Our goal is to invite the world’s leading innovative organizations to come forward with their open innovation challenges and achievements, to then share their knowledge and experience with our academic colleagues. We also invite all academic scholars to come and present their own research on the topic, and consider how their results might improve upon the performance of already established organizations. Ideally, each will leave with a greater understanding of the other’s work, and with strategy on how they might advance their own.

For more information, visit our website:
http://corporateinnovation.berkeley.edu/woic2014