Requirements engineering in open innovation

During the last two decades a slow but steady change of external factors has set-up new conditions affecting the way in how software producing firms create and leverage innovations. Firms now need to look outside of their boundaries and start interacting with the open environment that encompasses them in order to stay innovative and keep a competitive advantage. To facilitate this shift Requirements Engineering needs to consider the increase and complexity of new requirements sources as well as networks of stakeholders. Based on the research agenda described in this paper we expect to make a contribution by establishing guidelines and tools for how Requirements Engineering should be adapted to cope with possible challenges implied by Open Innovation, foremost in the areas requirements selection and decision making when using Open Source Software as a way to leverage Open Innovation.