Today 34 companies--including Boeing, DuPont, Novartis and Procter & Gamble--use InnoCentive to find solutions from 90,000-plus scientists in more than 40 disciplines across 175 countries. Scientists receive payments of up to $100,000 for their ideas, which have launched such innovative products (and huge revenue generators) as P&G's Swiffer floor mop. (For more on innovation culture, see ".")

The success of sites such as Inno­Centive has spurred Internet-enabled innovation in myriad industries.

At the Society for Information Management's Advanced Practices Council (SIM's APC), we see the CIO's business strategist role evolving to include leading innovation efforts, outpacing the competition and anticipating customer needs. Yet identifying innovative opportunities and solutions can be costly and difficult. Internal R&D is expensive and doesn't always yield profitable results. Employees at large companies who don't get a fair hearing for their ideas often get discouraged and stop trying--or worse, take their good ideas elsewhere.

Over the last few months, APC researchers and members identified some successful low-cost approaches to finding innovative opportunities and solutions. What all of these approaches had in common was this: smart use of the Internet and of company intranets.