Open computer aided innovation to promote innovation in process engineering

• Overview of in computer aided innovation (CAI and their evolution) for process engineering.
• Framework and a tool to include two major evolutions in CAI: open innovation and Web 2.0.
• Framework based on collective intelligence concept in order to solve problem in an innovative way.
• Use of the wisdom of the community to analyse a problem and to generate and select relevant ideas.

Recent advances in theoretical approaches to innovation and in information and communication technologies provide a more structured knowledge-driven environment for inventors, designers and engineers. Consequently, a new category of tools known as computer aided innovation (CAI) has emerged, with goals of assisting designers in their creative performance and of effectively implementing a complete innovation process throughout the entire product or process life cycle. Based on the concept of Open CAI 2.0 introduced by Hüsig and Kohn (2011), this paper goes further by proposing a prototype software tool for the next evolutionary step of CAI arising from two major recent developments: new advances in technological possibilities in the software field commonly referred to as “Web 2.0” and a strategic paradigm shift from closed to open innovation in many companies. This contribution is one of the first attempts to create a concrete methodological framework based on collective intelligence (through Web 2.0 practices), a collaboration support (with the benefits of on-line social networks) and a problem resolution process. In the proposed Open CAI 2.0, the inventive problem solving method is inspired by the coupling between the innovation theory TRIZ and case based reasoning in order to support the generation of inventive technological solutions because problem solving often requires a reformulation of the initial problem to construct an abstract model of the problem. This paper highlights the importance of knowledge acquisition, capitalization and reuse as well as the problem formulation and resolution in collaboration. A case study on biomass gasification is used to illustrate the method and tool capabilities in the chemical process industry.