Utilizing Mobile Phones in Open Innovation Platforms : A New Business Model Especially Geared to The Mobile Phone Sector in Developing Countries

The objective of the paper was to propose a new business model for an open innovation platform especially geared to the mobile phone sector in developing countries. Open innovation has in many cases proven to be a superior means to innovate, but in developing countries open innovation has so far been utilized only scantly. The ways to use open innovation that have been successful in developed countries can not directly be used in developing countries. Thus, a new business model is proposed. Increased potential in innovation development and penetration of mobile phones in developing countries are discussed in the paper. The proposed platform will offer both indirect and direct financial benefits. Indirect benefits are attained as the service provider operating the platform is able to develop new and better services based on a better understanding of its customer needs. Direct financial benefits take the form of revenue from advertisements on the platform, subscriber fees, and commissions from trading done by using the platform. Initial investment costs of the platform as well as platform maintenance and promotion costs are considered in the paper. It seems very likely that the business model of the open innovation platform would be profitable. Challenges faced by open innovation platforms are pointed out