Considering the economic context of the coming months, when great difficulties for businesses in several sectors are foreseen, innovation is the keyword to guarantee a sustainable future for businesses and society. As a contribution to the response of leaders and employees of companies and startups to the upcoming scenarios, Beta-i launches a free online course on collaborative innovation, alongside other European institutions, and starts a podcast dedicated to what’s next on the innovation ecosystem facing the current situation.
The “Co-Innovation Journey for Startups and Corporates” free online course starts on April 22 and is the result of a year-long effort carried out by a European consortium that includes Beta-i, representing Portugal, and universities, companies and institutions from six more countries (Hasso Plattner Institute – Germany, FH | JOANNEUM – University of Applied Sciences and AVL – Austria, European Startup Network – Belgium, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences – Finland and University of Economics Krakow – Poland). Over six weeks of training, the course addresses specific topics and teaches companies and startups the fundamentals and modalities of collaborative innovation, as well as exercising the initial design of this collaboration through the “Co-Innovation Builder”, a map that organizes the start of open innovation projects between the two entities.
The course is aimed at managers and employees of companies in any sector, and entrepreneurs interested in better understanding the functioning of collaborative innovation projects with companies, which often do not involve direct investment or venture capital. With a duration of six hours a week, the curriculum consists of lectures, informative articles, questionnaires, discussions and practical activities to bring together different players.
In addition to online training, Beta-i is also betting on the creation of a podcast that appears as a new source of information for the innovation ecosystem. The weekly BetaCast, available on the Beta-i YouTube channel, will explore topics that can be applied to the current challenges of companies and startups, also giving the audience the possibility for live participation in the content of the debate with comments and questions.
The first episode of the Beta-Cast will be broadcast live this Thursday, March 26th, starting at 7:00 PM GMT, discussing the theme “Innovation in Times of Crisis” with David Braga Malta, Domingos Cruz and Filipe R. Portela.