GE adopt Open Innovation

General Electric and startup companies alike say they benefited from the company's call for ideas about the smart grid.

Last July, GE launched what it called an "ecomagination challenge," a competition in which startups and inventors were asked to present technologies that could help GE accelerate its development of products and services related to the smart grid. GE got 4,000 submissions. It gave $100,000 cash awards to five young companies and formed strategic partnerships with 12 others; all of them are expected to help GE's business in one way or another in such areas as energy storage, utility security, energy management software, and electric-vehicle charging services.

Original article here.