Insights on Open Innovation

Innovate Israel Founder and CEO Itai Green speaks to participants of the Innovation Forum on how corporations can stay relevant through innovation and how to best collaborate with startups.

What the tech startups are looking for the most in Ayala is not your money. They want to integrate their technology to Ayala. They want to run a pilot with you. They want to get married with Ayala.

ITAI GREEN
Innovate Israel CEO

We hope this gathering will provide us with valuable opportunity to gain fresh perspectives on the global trends and best practices in the field of innovation.

JOSE RENE ALMENDRAS
AC Public Affairs Group Head

In times of rapid technological change dominated by fast-moving startups, how can big corporations innovate? This is the question that Itai Green, founder and CEO of Innovate Israel, sought to answer at the Innovation Forum held on August 8. The forum was organized by Ayala Innovation in partnership with the Embassy of Israel in the Philippines.

“Until 10 years back, the leading methodology for innovation in corporations was internal innovation," said Green, adding, "Nowadays, in terms of time to market, no one is going to wait till you develop internally anything. In most cases, what you want to develop is already out there. So it’s by far cheaper, but also timewise makes much more sense, to collaborate with startups and bring them in.”

Green emphasized the importance of open innovation, believing that external innovation and collaboration with startups are crucial for large corporates to remain relevant in today’s business landscape. He also presented Israel’s innovation ecosystem, in which several multinational companies participate. He explained that in such ecosystems, startups and large corporations that are solving challenges form partnerships to capitalize on each other’s resources to bring their solutions to the market.

“If the pilot is successful, […] that’s the best moment to invest in the startup. Because if the startup solved your pain, it’s going to solve the pain of thousands of companies like you around the world,” stressed Green.

AC Public Affairs Group Head Rene Almendras said he was particularly impressed with innovations in agriculture during a visit to Israel. He quoted a line that explains the country's leadership in innovation: "'In Israel, one must achieve success with the resources at one’s disposal, not the resources one wishes to have.’" So with a very limited resource, they decided, 'We’re going to do great things. We’re going to have to reinvent things. We’re going to have to innovate on anything and everything to meet the challenges that we have.'"