At MT Lab, our definition of open innovation is based on the principle of collaboration and exchange with internal and external sources to accelerate innovation and be competitive. As Martin Lessard, Director of MT Lab, pointed out at the Gueuleton touristique – Tourisme 2021: entre défis et occasions d’affaire, innovation requires collaboration: “It is essential for players to work together to serve a common customer, and not see others only as competitors, in order to achieve critical mass“.
The MEI states in its presentation of open innovation that the application models are varied: “product development platforms, an ideas competition, immersion in user communities, collaborative product design and development as well as innovation networks.”[1]
MT Lab’s open innovation approach is based on the innovation network model, and relies on the iterative method. The emphasis is on sharing knowledge between the 11 MT Lab partners, who are encouraged to exchange ideas with each other, to experiment with MT Lab support, and then to share the results of their experimentation in order to obtain feedback and continue their iterative progress.
Our actions can serve as a guide if you want to encourage collaboration to bring innovation to your community. Here, we share what we’ve learned to help you make innovation your own.
1. Know your environment and the players involved
To collaborate with the ecosystem, you need to discover it. There are a number of ways to do this: innovation cafés to learn about the latest industry trends presented by players in the field, keeping up to date with the field via the website, reading recognized sources such as the Transat Chair in Tourism’s intelligence network, etc.
2. Exchange with the ecosystem
Once you’ve discovered the ecosystem, it’s time to open up to others and exchange ideas with industry members, through events and practice groups. Two other examples of relevant groupings are theAlliance de l’industrie du tourisme du Québec, which enables ATRs to exchange and learn from each other, and Tourisme Montréal, which is a member organization.
3. Dare to experiment
Exchanging allows us to discover, but to learn we need to experiment. You have to put what you’ve learned into practice. Innovation is achieved through incremental, iterative experimentation, with initial trials enabling discovery, adaptation and validation.
4. Sharing with local players
Sharing with industry makes it easier to assess the impact of experimentation, and to gain another perspective and ideas for continuing to iterate the innovation process (continuous improvement).
In conclusion, open innovation is within your reach, and the MT Lab is ready to lend a hand to help you get there. The Palais des congrès de Montréal has seized the opportunity the opportunity to create the future of events and conventions.. They took part in the MT Lab and discovered the ecosystem, exchanged with other partners and the community. They worked with some fifteen entrepreneurs, and dared to experiment with them. This experimentation enabled them to innovate.
Open innovation is within your reach, and the MT Lab is ready to help you get there.
Originally published on Tourisme Express on January 25, 2021
