The 2010 EMC Innovation Contest has been announced and already 200+ ideas are in the queue. These ideas are coming from all around the globe. The contest generates more and more buzz each year as people capitalize upon the opportunity to submit ideas onto a level playing field.
The slide below highlights the global nature of the contest. The yellow circle indicates that Bangalore hosted the event in 2009 (Cork will host in 2010). The top map also lists the global locations where employees planned their own local events (in addition to linking in live to the main event in Bangalore). The bottom globe highlights the 19 different countries that participated in idea submission.
The results from last year’s contest can be found here. Upon closer inspection you’ll see that the top idea was submitted by none other than The Storage Seeker and his merry band of Iomega cohorts.
What makes a great idea? It’s anyone’s guess. As Stu wrote last year, the process if pretty fair. The general employee base gets a say, and so do the company’s top technologists.
We’ll find out in October!
Steve
http://stevetodd.typepad.com
Twitter: @SteveTodd
Steve,
What is *new* with the contest this year? I had voiced concern that after 3 years of asking for any idea on any topic that we needed to shake things up.
We had discussed possibly posting a number of challenges (like your contests) to spice up the contest.
There is also the opportunity of engaging the external communities (possibly through ECN). Seeing that 3k EMC employees participated next year, there is lots of opportunity to get ideas from customers and partners who might enjoy putting on an innovation hat.
Looking forward to updates.
Thanks,
Stu
Stu,
The main thing is more BU sponsorship this year, groups such as RSA, HR, Sales, etc., specifically jumping in and not only rewarding great ideas but potentially offering resources to implement as well. The COEs are also offering rewards for best idea that comes from their geography.