ARTECULATE
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Premium
  • Features
    How Can System Integrators Solve Digital Transformation Problems?

    How Can System Integrators Solve Digital Transformation Problems?

    National Research and Education Networks LEARN and BdREN

    Bridging the Digital Divide in Asian Academia: A Novel Proposal from LEARN and BdREN

    How Ackcio from Singapore is Unlocking the Full Potential of Wireless Technology

    How Ackcio from Singapore is Unlocking the Full Potential of Wireless Technology

    Channa de Silva, CEO of LankaClear

    LankaClear Paves the Way for A Future in Sri Lanka with Less Cash

    Moneta Sri Lanka Positive Credit

    Moneta’s Efforts to Build Positive Credit Discipline in Sri Lanka

    BankOyo

    With a Robust Tech Platform Bankoyo is Removing Barriers in the Banking Industry

    Why Do Rich Investors Invest 10x More into Alternatives than the Rest?

    Why Do Rich Investors Invest 10x More into Alternatives than the Rest?

    Malaysian Startup Curlec

    How Curlec is Enabling the Subscription Economy in Malaysia

    Council for Business with Britain

    Conversations on Making Workplace Diversity & Inclusion the Norm

    Lanka Education and Research Network

    $1 Million Success Story & Supporting Regional Academics: How LEARN Navigated the Pandemic

  • Startups
  • Events
  • Hotpicks
  • Community
    Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

    Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

    The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

    The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

    Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

    Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

    First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

    First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

    Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

    Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

    ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

    ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

    Trending Tags

    • Contributor
    • Billboard
    SUBSCRIBE
    • News
    • Premium
    • Features
      How Can System Integrators Solve Digital Transformation Problems?

      How Can System Integrators Solve Digital Transformation Problems?

      National Research and Education Networks LEARN and BdREN

      Bridging the Digital Divide in Asian Academia: A Novel Proposal from LEARN and BdREN

      How Ackcio from Singapore is Unlocking the Full Potential of Wireless Technology

      How Ackcio from Singapore is Unlocking the Full Potential of Wireless Technology

      Channa de Silva, CEO of LankaClear

      LankaClear Paves the Way for A Future in Sri Lanka with Less Cash

      Moneta Sri Lanka Positive Credit

      Moneta’s Efforts to Build Positive Credit Discipline in Sri Lanka

      BankOyo

      With a Robust Tech Platform Bankoyo is Removing Barriers in the Banking Industry

      Why Do Rich Investors Invest 10x More into Alternatives than the Rest?

      Why Do Rich Investors Invest 10x More into Alternatives than the Rest?

      Malaysian Startup Curlec

      How Curlec is Enabling the Subscription Economy in Malaysia

      Council for Business with Britain

      Conversations on Making Workplace Diversity & Inclusion the Norm

      Lanka Education and Research Network

      $1 Million Success Story & Supporting Regional Academics: How LEARN Navigated the Pandemic

    • Startups
    • Events
    • Hotpicks
    • Community
      Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

      Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

      The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

      The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

      Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

      Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

      First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

      First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

      Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

      Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

      ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

      ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

      Trending Tags

      • Contributor
      • Billboard
      No Result
      View All Result
      ARTECULATE
      No Result
      View All Result

      John Keells X Innovate: The Bridge of Open Innovation Between Startups and Enterprises

      Arteculate Arteculate
      January 20, 2022
      · 6 mins read
      John Keells X Innovate: The Bridge of Open Innovation Between Startups and Enterprises
      Share on Facebook Share on LinkedinShare on Whatsapp

      For the longest time, the idea of open innovation was merely a buzzword thrown around at tech conferences. Most conglomerates were wary about exposing too much internal information about the challenges they were tackling. Though an exception to this rule was the John Keells Group. Since the inception of the John Keells X programme, the conglomerate and its many subsidiaries have been working alongside startups to solve critical issues. Now in its fifth year, the programme has refined itself, with one of its three tracks dedicated to open innovation known as JKX Innovate. As the COVID-19 pandemic forces companies large and small to realise the importance of collaboration, the JKX Innovate programme offers a foundational blueprint for open innovation. 

      You may also like

      Food Delivery through Electric Mobility: PickMe in Collaboration with Rhoda

      Food Delivery through Electric Mobility: PickMe in Collaboration with Rhoda

      May 26, 2022
      PickMe Launches Carpooling in Sri Lanka with PickMe Hitch

      PickMe Launches Carpooling in Sri Lanka with PickMe Hitch

      May 25, 2022
      Volopay | Visa | Fintech

      Volopay Partners with Visa to issue its own Corporate Cards for Businesses across APAC

      May 19, 2022
      Volopay Fintech Singapore

      Volopay’s Successful USD 29 Million Series A: Empowering Businesses Across APAC and MENA

      May 6, 2022

      The importance of open innovation

      By definition, open innovation refers to a large organisation collaborating with external parties to develop innovative solutions to existing challenges. It’s an approach that has benefits for all involved. A startup can utilise its rapid execution speed to solve a burning problem creatively. The conglomerate can bring deep insights into problems, offer valuable domain expertise, and also assist the startup with market access for their solution across the industry. More importantly, it widens the scope for value creation. 

      However, despite these clear benefits, most organisations rarely practised true open innovation in the past. Concerns over protecting intellectual property and trade secrets outweighed the opportunities. That all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Overnight, organisations lost control due to disruptions across their value chains. As a result, they returned to the drawing board and looked at problems in a non-linear fashion. 

      Group CIO of John Keells Holdings, Ramesh Shanmuganathan, explains, “It meant moving away from trying to own the entire value chain and instead look at value ecosystems. Businesses would compete based on price and efficiency in such ecosystems while forming partnerships to deliver value to their consumers.” 

      John Keells X Innovate: A driver of open innovation

      John Keells X | Open Innovation
      Charitha Subasinghe – President of Retail at John Keells Group sharing his insights with the startups of John Keells X

      While organisations grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and begin to explore opportunities for open innovation, John Keells Holdings has been proactive in exploring such opportunities. The primary driver has been the John Keells X programme, which has served as a bridge between startups and the conglomerate. In a previous story, we explored how the programme connected startups such as SenzAgro, Helios P2P, iLoan, and more with its vast networks. This open innovation process resulted in companies across the John Keells Group unlocking new value and the startups receiving valuable feedback to refine their offerings to scale up. 

      The programme is doubling down on its efforts to facilitate open innovation for its latest edition. Hence, the creation of a dedicated track known as JKX Innovate. Head of John Keells X, Wishanth Wijesinha, introduces it as, “An open innovation platform which directly bridges the demand and supply components of the innovation ecosystem. We will publicize a list of challenges put forward by companies in our networks inviting solutions from other companies or teams.”  

      How does John Keells X Innovate work?

      John Keells X | Open Innovation

      The programme is centered around many challenges put forward by many companies in the John Keells X corporate networks. Any startup, scale-up, or an established company with the required domain or technological expertise can apply to solve these challenges. After applications close, the programme would shortlist up to three teams for each challenge. 

      Once in the JKX Innovate programme, each team will work closely with challenge owners to solve their respective challenges. These challenge owners would be dedicated individuals from the respective businesses assigned to support the startups. This support includes access to mentors, data, APIs, and a sandbox environment where relevant. Further, the selected teams will also receive training in areas such as customer-centric design, developing problem statements, design and development sprints, etc.  

      The teams would then pitch to a panel of industry judges who will decide whether to greenlight a proof of concept. After the proof of concept is deployed, its success will be evaluated. Based on this and feedback from the challenge owners, the teams can get the chance to win a further paid pilot opportunity, funding, or a long term commercial agreement.  

      What are the challenges?

      Five companies have proposed challenges as part of the John Keells X Innovate programme. Among them is Keells, which seeks intelligent warehousing solutions.

      A number of companies in the John Keells Group have put forward challenges for the JKX Innovate programme. Below is a quick introduction to the challenges. You can find more details on the JKX website by clicking here. 

      The first of these is Union Assurance, which has given two challenges to the participants. One challenge from the insurance provider asks participants to reimagine how life and health insurance can be obtained through a Direct to Consumer (D2C) channel by developing new customer journeys and designing new digital distribution methods. Another challenge from Union Assurance seeks solutions to obtain quality data instantly to make higher quality decisions regarding insurance policy underwriting. 

      Keells has given a challenge revolving around smart warehouses in the retail sector. The supermarket chain has an aggressive outlet expansion plan. Hence, enhancing order fulfilment capabilities and driving centralised warehouse efficiencies are key strategic priorities. Thus, it’s seeking digital solutions that will help it increase efficiencies and reduce costs at its warehouses. 

      Another challenge from John Keells IT asks participants to reimagine digital office experiences. In most organisations today, employees utilise several independent applications for their work. However, this becomes cumbersome as the number of tools increases. As such, John Keells IT is looking for a Smart Office solution built on the Microsoft Azure framework and will serve as a single point of integration for different platforms and lifestyle features.

      The next challenge comes from John Keells Stock Brokers. The company is seeking to work with startups and expand its jksbonline.com platform with tailored dashboards and toolkits. By doing so, JKSB aims to disseminate better data to retail investors, thereby allowing them to make better-informed decisions. Thus, improving the overall investing experience. 

      Finally, there’s the challenge from John Keells Group Legal department. Every company in the conglomerate currently contacts the legal department for all legal agreements. At times, this includes clarifications on minor amendments, which results in inefficiencies for the lawyers. Hence, the department is looking for solutions that utilise technology to drive efficiencies and monetise the standard legal processes and documents. 

      The benefits of an open innovation approach

      John Keells X | Open Innovation

      Applications for the John Keells X Innovate programme are now open. If you’re an entrepreneur with suitable solutions that solve these problems, the initiative offers you much support and funding to develop your product. Furthermore, you’ll also be able to tap into the expertise of the challenge owners and leaders of the John Keells Group of companies to build your company and credibility as innovators. Thereby, such credibility and experience allow you to widen your solution’s commercial application. 

      Click here to learn more about the John Keells X Innovate programme. Further, at the upcoming JKX Innovate Open Day, you’ll get a chance to connect with the John Keells X team and learn more about this track. You can register for the JKX Innovate Open Day by clicking here.

      Tags: John Keells XSponsored
      ShareShareSend
      Previous Post

      Volopay from Singapore is Helping Companies take Control of their Finances

      Next Post

      The Storied History, Benefits and Successes of LEARN: The Lifeline of Sri Lankan Higher Education

      Arteculate

      Arteculate

      Arteculate is your guide to the Asian tech industry. We give you unparalleled insights, accurate, local tech news, thoughtful features and sometimes scathing opinions on where things are headed. Stay tuned for the best of Asia!

      Recommended Stories

      Food Delivery through Electric Mobility: PickMe in Collaboration with Rhoda
      News

      Food Delivery through Electric Mobility: PickMe in Collaboration with Rhoda

      May 26, 2022
      PickMe Launches Carpooling in Sri Lanka with PickMe Hitch
      News

      PickMe Launches Carpooling in Sri Lanka with PickMe Hitch

      May 25, 2022
      Volopay | Visa | Fintech
      News

      Volopay Partners with Visa to issue its own Corporate Cards for Businesses across APAC

      May 19, 2022
      Volopay Fintech Singapore
      News

      Volopay’s Successful USD 29 Million Series A: Empowering Businesses Across APAC and MENA

      May 6, 2022
      Nations Trust Bank - Banking - Fintech
      News

      Nations Trust Bank’s Self-Onboarding Platform: Reimagining Banking in a Digital World

      May 5, 2022
      Worx Co-working Nawala Sri Lanka
      News

      Home to a Growing Community: WORX Opens its Newest Co-Working Space

      March 16, 2022
      Leave Comment

      Recommended Stories

      Food Delivery through Electric Mobility: PickMe in Collaboration with Rhoda

      Food Delivery through Electric Mobility: PickMe in Collaboration with Rhoda

      May 26, 2022
      How Can System Integrators Solve Digital Transformation Problems?

      How Can System Integrators Solve Digital Transformation Problems?

      May 26, 2022
      LOLC Technologies Boosts Efficiency Through Innovation Within the LOLC Group and Beyond

      LOLC Technologies Boosts Efficiency Through Innovation Within the LOLC Group and Beyond

      May 26, 2022
      PickMe Launches Carpooling in Sri Lanka with PickMe Hitch

      PickMe Launches Carpooling in Sri Lanka with PickMe Hitch

      May 25, 2022
      Volopay | Visa | Fintech

      Volopay Partners with Visa to issue its own Corporate Cards for Businesses across APAC

      May 19, 2022
      Revisiting EVOLUTION AI

      Revisiting EVOLUTION AI

      May 16, 2022

      Popular Stories

      • Coca Cola and Avocado: A Partnership Rewarding Food Experiences

        Coca Cola and Avocado: A Partnership Rewarding Food Experiences

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Leveraging the Power of AI: How EBI is Building a Digitally Inclusive Sri Lanka

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Spotify Expands Into Sri Lanka: Exploring What It Has To Offer

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Rhoda: The all-electric Sri Lankan Roadster

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • The DirectPay Story: Building a Virtual Bank One Digital Brick at a Time

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      No Result
      View All Result
      • News
      • Premium
      • Features
      • Startups
      • Events
      • Hotpicks
      • Community
      • Contributor
      • Billboard

      © 2020 Arteculate™ All Rights Reserved.

      Are you sure want to unlock this post?
      Unlock left : 0
      Are you sure want to cancel subscription?