EDHEC Open Innovation: students and companies hand in hand in order to innovate

On 11 and 12 March this year, the third edition of the EDHEC Open Innovation seminars came together on the campus of Lille. The event consisted of more than 570 students, 50 managers representing 18 companies, and a dozen teachers. This friendly event was an opportunity to develop creative concepts in terms of product innovation and branding.

This annual event allows students from EDHEC to work side by side with managers, test their skills in innovation management, as well as building relationships for potential internships or jobs. EDHEC "Open Inno" is very popular with students because it offers them the opportunity to immerse themselves in innovation and how to discover the mechanisms of operation. It was also an opportunity to share the latest trends and professionals techniques for marketing, customer relations or product design.

This year for the first time EDHEC also had the pleasure of welcoming students of Lille Centrale, with which EDHEC has developed a double master's degree in engineering and management.

EDHEC partners are also fond of this event because it allows them to work with motivated young talents by providing their knowledge and skills to try to resolve difficult issues. Beyond the treatment of problems of innovation, companies had the opportunity to interact with students in a more relaxed atmosphere and to offer internships and jobs at the end of the day.

By its very principle (that of a co- generation students / managers), this kind of experience highlights the creed of our school: EDHEC for Business.

The highlight of this event was the pitching contest in the main auditorium which consisted of the best teams to present their ideas to a grand jury comprising managers and teachers. Winners of the EDHEC Open Inno 2014 were "Bento Box" (a new offer for occasional vegetarian), inspired by the Casino team , and the board game "Hide and Fish" by TF1 Games for children between the ages of 4 to 8, inspired by the movie " Finding Nemo ."

The Twitter hashtag #EDHECOpenInno allowed participants to exchange information and pictures.

Delighted, students were keen to share their feelings: 

"It was an opportunity to talk to managers in order to discover the world of business and to confront real world problems, all under a much less formal format as a lecture! "

"The seminar is dynamic and you can actually see the challenges of innovation. The stakeholders are friendly "

"This is different from what we usually do, we learn by having fun! "
 
We thank all the teams, students, managers and teachers who participated. A big thank you to: Aegis Media, BETC, Bouygues Télécom, Carrefour, Casino, Dassault système, Decathlon Sporeka et Domyos, Dim B Apparel, Etam, Fred & Farid, Happy Chic, La Banque Postale, Orange, Schneider Electric, TBWA, TF1, Ubisoft, et Viadeo.