Workshop: Innovation Index

What are the parameters for developing an index of “internet” innovation and how could it be measured?

The draft paper
The Conference Paper titled “The Internet as Enabler for New Forms of Innovation: New Challenges for Research” was authored by Knut Blind, Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems, Public Innovation Berlin. The latest version of the Index-of-Innovation-Paper here.

The workshop
The workshop analysed the role of the Internet for different types of innovation not only focusing on the traditional set of product, process, organizational and marketing innovation, but also extending to innovation in the public sector. In addition to the role of the Internet—which affects also the question of what aspect of the ‘Internet’ is covered—for various types of innovation, it has also implications for new forms of innovation, especially for the new paradigm of open innovation, which involves collaborative efforts of numerous partners often with a heterogeneous background.

Discussion & remarks
The following discussion pointed out the importance of a fundamental definition: before thinking about indicators, it is necessary to clarify that there are several different types and models of innovation. Further questions would be: what kind of innovation be brought into focus, in the future. And which criteria should be involved. Based on the existing body of scientific literature on the role of ICT for innovation and the relevance of distance for collaborative innovation plus the various necessary conditions to exploit the functionalities of the Internet, a series of research questions combining these two interrelated, but not yet well integrated research themes, were identified.