Open vs closed ideation

Ideators strive to come with wholly original ideas whereas in fact most ideas are combinations of pre-existing ideas. Think how the proverb "new wines in old bottles" suggests something new or innovatory added to an existing or established product or service, or how "old-wine-in-a-new-bottle" refers to an existing product or service offered as though it were a new one. Both sayings though point to innovation possibilities. That is, of adding value to existing products or services through creative combinations. Now, if ideas are sourced openly, that is, in open creative environments, and algorithmic software trawls the internet and indexes almost every ideas on it by default, then data driven ideation carries huge combinatorial potential. That is, if datas sets can be combined and recombined many times over using algorithms, then ideators could discover new untold design possibilities, and the range of products and services could be far greater and realised much faster than traditional approaches to innovation. The first approach is often referred to as "open" or "mass" innovation where ideas move freely across borders, with no, or few restrictions or border controls. On the other hand, in traditional innovation settings, or "inhouse" or "closed innovation" ideation happens in directed or staged environments. Open vs closed ideation, however, may seem a contradiction in terms as ideas are commonly perceived as "free agents". Yet big corporations, notably in the high-tech industries often expand and develop by buying smaller technology firms and then incorporate their innovations into its own products. However, it should be noted that ideas per se carry no copyright.