ISPIM (The International Society of Professional Innovation Management) just completed their Innovation Forum in Boston from March 14 – 16. There were about 200 attendees at the conference with strong academic and non-US (primarily European) participation. Both the tone and the content of the summit were quite different than your typical innovation conference dominated by corporate innovation executives and innovation luminaries. Quite interesting were the many ‘research in progress’ reports made by student researchers who had interesting hypotheses and were grappling with innovation problems to try and understand both the theoretical and the practical aspects of innovation.
One key feature of the Forum were the nine ‘excursions’ to local sites that are a part of Boston’s innovation ecosystem. Just the fact that there were 9 outings was itself an impressive logistical feat. The fact that they were all relevant and interesting made this part of the forum especially enjoyable.
All told, the Forum was an excellent event for connecting with a research community that is wrestling with the thorniest innovation problems and trying to figure them out. It is amazing to recall that even just a few years ago, there were no programs, degrees or even very many courses in innovation and innovation management. Now is is an accepted, mainstream area of legitimate study and forums like this will be one of the ways that theory gets connected with practice.
Inovo’s Innovation Strategy Workshop and Panel
This forum was the ‘coming out’ event for Inovo’s new innovation strategy framework and offerings. Inovo held a workshop for people interested in learning about innovation strategy. As part of the workshop, we released an Innovation Strategy Assessment, a short (10 minute) survey you can take to determine the level of your organization’s innovation strategy efforts. Please click the button below if you would like to take this assessment.
Take the Innovation Strategy Assessment
At the workshop, a new innovation strategy canvas was introduced. This canvas is designed to provide a framework that allows an organization to systematically think through its innovation strategy and make it a part of the overall business strategy of the company.
The Innovation Strategy Canvas
In addition to the workshop, Inovo also participated in a panel discussion on the same topic. The paper used as the basis for the panel discussion, as well as the slides used for the panel discussion, can be accessed by clicking on the two buttons below.
Innovation Strategy White Paper
Innovation Strategy Panel Presentation