Open Innovation Academy is thrilled to announce a series of transformative events designed to ignite everybody’s entrepreneurial spirit and foster innovation. Here’s a detailed timeline of our upcoming activities.

PRE-REGISTER TO THE OI ACADEMY 2024 PROGRAMME HERE

🟨06.09 – Pre-Hackathon Event

Start with an engaging introductory session that sets the stage for our main hackathon. Meet fellow participants and get a preview of what’s in store.

🟨20.09 – Hackathon

Dive into the heart of innovation by forming teams and tackling exciting challenges. Focus on transforming business ideas into reality and developing creative problem-solving skills.

🟨04.10 – Initial Idea Presentations

Teams present their initial ideas, focusing on effective team building and the fundamentals of developing innovative products and services from concept to market readiness.

🟨18.10 – Development Progress

Showcase your progress in product and service development. This session emphasizes team building and initial project advancements, including presentations, mentor feedback, and collaborative discussions to refine ideas and plan the next steps.

🟨01.11 – Prototype Presentations & Market Fit

Focus on personal development, utilizing prototyping technologies, and refining market fit strategies. Present your prototypes, receive feedback, and ensure your products are market-ready.

🟨15.11 – Team Development and Market Launch

Prepare for market launch with strategies for customer engagement and product introduction. Learn about market entry and how to successfully launch your products.

🟨29.11 – Grand Finale

Celebrate your achievements at our culminating event. Showcase your final projects, receive constructive feedback, discuss future steps, and participate in the awarding ceremony to recognize outstanding efforts and innovations.

Join us for these exciting events and take your innovation journey to the next level. For more details and to register, visit our Open Innovation Academy website. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn, innovate, and grow!

On December 14, 2023, the closing seminar of the Open Innovation Academy (oiAcademy) Tartu pilot program will take place at the University of Tartu’s Delta Centre, coinciding with the “Delta X” competition. OiAcademy is an initiative designed to foster open innovation and entrepreneurial skills among participants, connecting entrepreneurs, investors, academic units, and students interested in solving challenges posed by companies.

The Tartu pilot programme , which began in October 2023, will culminate with the closing seminar on December 14. At the seminar, University of Tartu master’s students and Tartu Vocational College VOCO students will present solutions and business models to challenges set by industrial companies. The seminar is open to all interested parties.

Concurrently, oiAcademy pilot projects are also taking place in Germany and Spain. In 2024, the program will launch in full scale, inviting participants from across Europe. What makes the program special are the tailored learning snippets on the Skills.move e-learning platform, designed to support participants’ development in technology entrepreneurship. These educational materials also offer significant value to companies and their employees, contributing to continuous professional development and lifelong learning.

The program includes innovative methods to tackle real-world challenges. It’s more than just solving industrial companies’ challenges – it’s about learning key skills such as leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurial mindset, technology transfer, and innovation management. Companies participating in the Tartu pilot program include AS HANZA Mechanics Tartu, Leidi Consult OÜ, Steelmonitor OÜ, OÜ YANU and R-S OSA Service OÜ.

Schedule for the event on December 14:

• 14.15 Open Innovation Academy Programme Director Aivar Pere – Welcome speech
• 14.20 Deputy Mayor of Tartu Raimond Tamm – The role of the public sector in open innovation concept, Tartu’s experience.
• 14.35 HANZA Group, Cluster Baltic, Cluster President,  Liivar Kongi – Industries promoting innovation, global company perspective.
• 14.50 University of Tartu PhD student Tairi Leis – Learning innovation, entrepreneurial student’s view.
• 15.00 Presentations by University of Tartu master’s students and VOCO students on solutions and business models. 6-minute presentation + 6-minute public discussion with entrepreneurs and investors
• 16.10 Conclusion

The seminar takes place in UT Delta Center, room 1018 and will also be broadcast live via ZOOM. ONLINE LINK TO EVENT  (Password: oiacademy)

Please register to participate using this link. Register

The importance of innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) has an instrumental role both at the EU and global level. In all sizes of organisations in manufacturing, there is a constant need of people who can turn new ideas into profitable realities.
To engage in open innovation processes requires both high-level vertical, domain-related skills, as well as horizontal skills in tech transfer and innovation management.

Also, participating in open innovation processes requires both high-level vertical competences related to the technological domain and horizontal soft skills competences leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurial mindset, technology transfer and innovation management.