Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity (Sep 2024)
Leveraging the innovation index (IVI): A research, development, and innovation-centric measurement approach
Abstract
Background: In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, innovation is recognized as a critical driver of growth and competitiveness for organizations. As businesses strive to remain agile and respond to evolving customer demands, the need for effective tools to assess innovation performance has become increasingly vital.Problem Statement: To better understand Research, Development, and Innovation (RD&I) projects, it might be valuable to investigate and implement new approaches to improve the current innovation indexes. Such exploration could allow for a more detailed and nuanced analysis, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of various aspects of the projects. It may be beneficial to explore ways to enhance the current innovation indexes to provide more nuanced and comprehensive insights into RD&I projects. Traditional indexes are not designed to account for the uncertainty, non-linear progression, and the necessity for long-term impact assessment of RD&I projects. Moreover, projects that involve both hardware and software components introduce additional complexities due to their interdisciplinary nature, integration challenges, and differing lifecycle speeds, making their assessment particularly challenging. Goal: This paper describes the conceptualization and evaluation of the InnoVation Index (IVI), underscoring its role in the innovation assessment within the complex landscape of RD&I projects, focusing on those involving hardware and software components. Method: The methodology comprised a two-fold process. Initially, a literature review was conducted to comprehensively understand existing innovation indexes and their shortcomings, especially in hardware and software projects. Drawing on the insights from this review and leveraging the expertise of innovation specialists, we formulated the conceptual framework of the IVI. Subsequently, the IVI was implemented in an RD&I Centre affiliated with a public university in Brazil. Results: The IVI evaluation encompassed over 40 projects from collaborations with about 20 global IT companies. Rigorous data collection procedures were employed, involving at least three data collection sessions for different phases of each project. More than 150 data collection sessions engage project managers and business professionals to provide a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the project activities and their innovation levels. Using the IVI measurement, we successfully identified “disruptive”, “potentially disruptive”, “potentially innovative”, and “non-innovative” projects, allowing stakeholders to tailor their strategies and resource allocation accordingly. Conclusion: The application of the IVI has proven instrumental in aiding stakeholders in decision-making, resource allocation, and project activity realignment. These results underscore the pivotal role of the IVI in overcoming the limitations inherent in traditional indexes, offering a tailored and efficient approach to assess and enhance innovation efforts within the RD&I context, especially in projects that bridge hardware and software domains.
