Sveinung Grimsby is an externally funded PhD candidate at TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation, and Culture. This seminar marks his final evaluation prior to submission of his dissertation.
Project
The food industry may be described as an old rooted and mature low-tech industry, and little innovation research has been conducted in this sector. Inspired by the open innovation paradigm my PhD project aims to gain insight in knowledge flow accelerating innovation in this sector. Flow of knowledge across organisational boundaries has been mapped through selected cases of open innovation in the cereal industry and radical new product development within the transparent EU novel food regulation system. Understanding innovation processes as inter-organisational alliances, licensing agreements and collaborations within communities, are valuable perspectives for successful open collaboration. The main research question in the project is; how can selective partnership, appropriability regimes and food policy affect innovation in the food industry?
Results
In my work I have found that successful types of innovation in the Norwegian cereal industry are associated with transparency and interaction with suppliers. Further, mutual trust, asset control and control of distribution is positive for companies’ openness. For radical and novel European food product development, I found interactions with R&D suppliers to be common and fruitful. However, the first movers under the European novel food regulation have been vulnerable to knowledge spillover, resulting in conscious IPR strategies , including ownership of knowledge, in order to protect unintended spillover.
Policy implication
My findings should be of interest for policymakers and publicly funded innovation schemes in order to reduce the gap between R&D and commercialization of new food. With this new insight policy makers can provide more efficient R&D schemes and regulations. Food industry actors will get new insight in collaboration and openness and learn how such aspects can be combined with various appropriability regimes.
Supervisor
- Professor Magnus Gulbrandsen (UiO)
- Seniorforsker Cathrine Finne Kure (Nofima)
Opponent
The PhD project is funded by the Research Funds for Agriculture and the Food Industry (FFL and JA) through the InnoFood project (2017-2020).