by Cecilia Thirlway, on 5 Apr 2017 3 min read
Please note: in February 2018 Solverboard for Business became Solverboard Work, and Solverboard Open became Solverboard World. Find out more about these changes here.
It’s a whirlwind of lycra, pedals and helmets in the Solverboard offices today as we launch Team Sky’s first ever open innovation challenge – the first of a series designed to help the professional cycling team scale even greater heights. Team Sky has always been a byword for innovation, so it made complete sense for them to work with us to start sourcing and rewarding ideas from their fans and other innovators.
For this first challenge Team Sky wants to find interesting, innovative and untried ways of involving its fans in the excitement of professional cycling. Their race calendar is a packed and complex one and takes them all over the world, which makes engaging with their global fan base difficult. So over the next six weeks, they’re looking for ideas to help them do better at this vital element of running a professional sports team.
Solvers who come up with the best ideas can win exclusive signed Team Sky kit and accessories, but that’s not all. As part of its commitment to innovation, Team Sky wants to hear from people keen to work with them on generating and developing new ideas. We asked David Callan, Team Sky’s Head of Partnerships, to tell us more about why the Team chose to work with Solverboard:
“Professional cycling is a hugely popular sport, and Team Sky has a large and incredibly diverse fan base. Solverboard is the ideal platform for Team Sky as it represents an innovative way to get people thinking.
“Fans are the life blood of any sport and we recognise that in cycling it’s not always easy to reach all of those who are passionate about the team and our sport. We are hoping this initial challenge with Solverboard will let fans tell us what they would like to see us do more of.”
Solverboard co-founder Charlie Widdows said: “It’s always been a dream of mine to work with Team Sky, and seeing as I’m unlikely to win the Tour de France in the near future, this is the next best thing! It’s amazing to be helping such an innovative organisation push forward to the next level.”
