This paper addresses the issue of Big Data in relation to knowledge transfer and the new concept of Crowd Innovation. The internet has made a huge amount of data available, which is exponential increasing. Different systems are already available for handling the colossal amount of data. However within the field of research driven innovation we do not yet see the full benefits of this. Consequently it is the aim of this paper to present a strategic perspective on the use of Big Data, when planning and implementing a research driven innovation process. The paper will discuss what is considered as respectively Small, Big, Hard and Soft Data. Furthermore, it will present cases in which the intelligent use of big data is put to beneficial use. The paper will strategically outline where and how the full innovation process from idea to market can benefit from an intelligent use of a combination of hard and soft big data. Finally, the paper will discuss and outline the perspective of how research-based innovation could be moving from push to pull and finally reach the concept of crowd-based innovation. Crowd-based innovation understood as the comprehensive and structured use of social media as important platforms for interaction, exchange of ideas and development of products. There are already cases exemplifying this new approach, which we could call Version 3.0 of research driven innovation.