NEWS22 February 2012
UK— Energy provider E.ON is kicking off a crowdsourcing initiative to support a five-part documentary on Channel 4.
Co-creation specialists 100%Open will manage the project, which is built on Chaordix’s crowd-sourcing platform. The series, Home of the Future, films the Perera family from Sheffield as their house is fitted with new gadgets and energy-saving projects such as domestic power stations and waterless washing machines.
100%Open co-founder Roland Harwood (pictured) explained that E.ON customers or viewers of the show can submit ideas for new E.ON products and services through an online community, where a £10,000 home energy makeover is at stake for the best idea. Anyone who comes up with a commercially sensitive idea can also send it directly to E.ON via 100%Open.
About 2,500 people are currently members of the community.
Harwood said: “This project illustrates a new model for innovation and the way companies engage with consumers, where E.ON can not only sell to customers, but also buy from then through a new kind of conversation. It’s a win-win collaboration between E.ON and the public to deliver new products and services faster, cheaper and better.”