The new ISO 56000 series of International Standards has been established to provide organizations with guidelines and processes to enable them to get the most out of innovation projects.
ISO 56003, Innovation management – Tools and methods for innovation partnership – Guidance, provides a structured approach for organizations looking to enter into an innovation partnership with another organization. The standard aims to assist with considerations including if collaborating with other organizations on their innovation project is worthwhile, how to select the right partners, how to align partners, and agree on a common understanding. ISO 56003 also provides guidance regarding how to assign roles and responsibilities and put effective governance procedures in place.
Technical report ISO/TR 56004, Innovation Management Assessment – Guidance, will help organizations to effectively review their innovation management processes, so they can continually improve and perform even better.
Also in the series, the soon to be released ISO 56002 Innovation management – Innovation management system – Guidance, will offer directions for the development, implementation, maintenance, and continual improvement of an actual innovation management system.
Alice de Casanove, Chair of the ISO technical committee who developed the ISO 56000 series, said effective innovation management allows organizations to flourish by leveraging the knowledge and creativity of their own people and those they collaborate with.
“Innovation is not just ‘big inventions’, it is the capability of an organization to detect and respond to changing conditions in its environment, to respond to new opportunities and to make the most of the resources it already has,” de Casanove said.
“In this way, the big new ideas we see often come as a result of lots of little ideas and changes that have been implemented and built on. These standards help organizations do just that by providing best practice procedures and guidance that help them capture the right information and use it most effectively.”
The committee has also been working closely with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to share common terminology and structure for innovation.