Minister Verhagen will today give his response to the proposals he received from the nine top sectors this summer. In these proposals, he will indicate how he will invest in these sectors in the coming years, in addition to the sectors' own investments. In this way, the cabinet wants to strengthen the economic strength of the Netherlands and improve the Dutch competitive position. However, it seems very likely that the minister, just like the top sectors of companies and scientists, is overlooking an important source of innovation: the 'wisdom of crowds'.
A to innovate more and faster, it will have to learn to guatemala phone number list use the potential that is present in society: among the general public, consumers, individual experts, artists, designers and amateurs. Innovations require new ideas, knowledge, skills, manpower and knowledge of the consumer. Thanks to the internet and social media, these can now be used to think up and develop new products. Various companies such as Procter & Gamble, Nike and Dell have developed new products in recent years with input from groups of consumers and generate more than 30% of their turnover with this.
Successful ideas come from outside
There are also striking examples in other sectors. For example, a 13-year-old American boy came up with a new design for a solar cell that generates 20-50% more electricity than conventional panels. Thanks to Galaxy Zoo, astronomers were able to create a map of Mars in just a few weeks instead of months and use it to take targeted extra photos before the probe returned. Thousands of citizens volunteered to help orient and group the photos taken by the Mars Oribiter space probe.