Reflections on my inaugural lecture at Eindhoven University of Technology, October 7, 2022

I used to hate running. I really struggled to complete 5 kilometers. But something changed when I lived in Copenhagen—I decided to give it another shot, forced myself to run a longer distance than felt comfortable, and suddenly, I caught the bug. What started as a reluctant experiment has become one of the most meaningful ways I push my boundaries and, perhaps more importantly, get to know myself better.

This week, I had the privilege of presenting alongside Maarten Steinbuch at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven about our vision for the Fourth Generation University (4GU). The Campus² Tech Talks provided the perfect setting to discuss how universities are evolving from closed knowledge houses to open innovation hubs—a transformation that's particularly relevant here in the heart of Europe's innovation ecosystem.

The announcement of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics brought welcome recognition to a concept that has been central to innovation studies for decades: creative destruction. The prize was awarded to Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University, Philippe Aghion of INSEAD, and Peter Howitt of Brown University for their groundbreaking work explaining innovation-driven economic growth.

When I took over as Conference Chair of the World Open Innovation Conference (WOIC) in 2021, I didn't fully anticipate what an incredible learning journey it would become. Almost five years later, as we prepare for WOIC 2025 in Bilbao, I find myself reflecting on what it truly means to orchestrate an ecosystem—and how leading this conference has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic career.

When I look back at my first published article—"Users as Innovators: A Review, Critique, and Future Research Directions" in the Journal of Management (2010)—I can't help but smile at how it came to be. It wasn't supposed to be a standalone paper. But sometimes the most meaningful work emerges from unexpected places.