Posted on October, 12 2010

Sony Europe has launched Open Planet Ideas, www.openplanetideas.com, a new online community that challenges users to rethink a smarter use for today’s technologies in a way that addresses key sustainability issues like climate change, biodiversity and water conservation.

Community members from across the globe can draw their inspiration from the environmental information hosted on the platform itself, which gives a snapshot of current environmental challenges based on the latest facts and figures assembled by WWF.

”WWF is always on the lookout for new ways of tackling the threats to our living planet; we are therefore delighted to be collaborating with Sony on this innovative community-driven initiative that could help address some of the world’s important environmental challenges,” said Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, Corporate Relations Director at WWF International.

Open Planet Ideas will remain open until January 2011, when the most viable concepts – as selected by the community and a panel of top Sony and WWF experts – will be taken forward to examine their technical and environmental viability. The top collaborators and the creators of the winning idea will then work together with a team of Sony designers and engineers to develop the idea further in the ‘realisation’ stage of the programme.

Emily Nicoll, General Manager Environmental Communications for Sony Europe, said: “Sony is committed to help create a more sustainable environment for current and future generations. This project will harness the ingenuity and creativity that exists across the globe to show the positive role technology can play in bringing about positive environmental change.”

Participants are also invited to draw ideas from an existing selection of Sony technologies – from GPS units and PSP™ handheld consoles to dye-sensitised solar cells and presence sensing software. They can propose disruptive new applications from a total of nine ‘seed’ technologies, used either individually or in radical new combinations.

Open Planet Ideas was developed in collaboration with global design and innovation consultancy IDEO to harness the collective power of communities to foster environmental and social good. It draws on community input at every stage of the project – from the initial ‘inspiration’ phase to help refine the challenge through to evaluation and eventual realisation.

“People in the online community are working together to address some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time. IDEO’s platform gives them a meeting place — really, a workspace — to share inspiration, generate ideas, and work toward positive environmental change.” said Tom Hulme, design director at IDEO.

The platform’s inherent flexibility encourages collaboration via a range of different media. Inspirations and observations can be shared as digital photos, videos or simple notes.