News: A selection of relevant news items

June 30 2008: CNBC Business of Innovation – The Execution Plan
The current series of the Business of Innovation has just been aired on CNBC and featured a number of Innovaro clients. In addition, Tim Jones, Principal of Innovaro, took part in the programme on the execution of innovation. Talking in particular about the success and future challenges for Ireland in sustaining economic growth through innovation, Tim highlighted he key role to be played by the food and drinks sector going forward.
To access the Business of Innovation site and watch the video: http://innovation.cnbc.com/en/programmes/the_execution_plan

June 18 2008: Open Alchemy – Reaction Chamber
In collaboration with Oracle and NESTA, Innovaro today ran the first Open Alchemy Reaction Chamber as part of a new programme designed to identify and create new innovation opportunities across key organisations. Bringing together around 20 companies including Arup, BBC, BP, BT, Cancer Research, Oracle, Pfizer, Rolls Royce, Unilever, Virgin Atlantic and Vocalink as well as several specialist SME’s, this programme was based on Innovaro’s proven future growth approach. Recognised as a major step forward in the way open innovation activities could be undertaken, the 5 major new opportunities identified are now being progressed.
For more information on Open Alchemy: www.nesta.org.uk/open-alchemy/
To access the dedicated website: www.openalchemy.co.uk

June 11 2008: Innovaro Joins UTEK
Innovaro is being acquired by UTEK Corp (www.utekcorp.com), based in Florida. UTEK is a fast growing open innovation company that is creating the premier mix of global innovation services from strategic consulting and technology transfer to patent search and external technology sourcing. In what has traditionally been a highly fragmented marketplace, Innovaro is pleased to be part of a unique combination of firms with distinct areas of expertise but complementary ambitions that can provide clients with a full range of innovation services. This acquisition brings together within the same group, Innovaro and Strategos that over the years has helped build significant new innovation capability in a wide range of organisations including Microsoft, Roche, Shell and Whirlpool.
For more information: http://www.utekcorp.com/pressRelease/InnovaroAcquisition6-11-08.pdf
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/utek-corporation-acquire-innovaro-limited/

May 1 2008: Innovation Leaders 2007/8
The latest Innovation Leaders analysis has just been undertaken and again highlights the key companies across 25 major sectors that are currently delivering the greatest innovation impact. Now in its eighth year, this analysis has become the primary reference point for many seeking to gain a better understanding of who are the leaders, how they are achieving their success and what lessons can be learnt from them. This year, as well as an updated website, a new book has been published that contains the profiles of all 25 companies, identifies the ones we are watching for the future and also details some of the key dynamics impacting across the board.
To access the website: www.innovationleaders.org

To buy the book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Innovation-Leaders-Profiles-Worlds-Innovators/dp/1904902952/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211388526&sr=1-4http://www.amazon.co.uk/Innovation-Leaders-Profiles-Worlds-Innovators/dp/1904902952/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=12113885

Download the summary pdf

April 17 2008: Embedded Water in the FT
In a very good overview of many of the key sustainability challenges facing companies around the world, Fiona Harvey, Environmental Editor, included an article ‘wake up to the value of water’ dedicated to the issue of water scarcity. Quoting the perspectives of a number of organisations, including Innovaro, she highlighted the forthcoming challenges that the world is facing in terms of water scarcity and how several leading firms are tackling the issue.
To access this article: http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto041720081001009318&page=2

April 16-17 2008: Managing R&D in Chemicals
Tobias Rooney and Tim Jones of Innovaro presented an updated view on innovation leadership in and outside the chemicals sector at this industry event. Drawing on insights from the Innovation Leaders analysis and in depth views of what is working in adjacent areas, this talk focused on how and where the chemicals sector can best improve its innovation performance,
For more information on the event: http://www.jacobfleming.com/conferences/chemical/3rd-annual-chemical-managing-r-d-for-business-growth-

April 10 2008: Shell Technology Futures 2007
The latest public summary of the Shell Technology Futures programme has just been published. This major initiative designed and run by Innovaro in conjunction with Shell’s GameChanger group has this time taken a closer look at some of the emerging global challenges with a particular energy focus. Following on from the highly successful programme in 2004 that also brought together a unique mix of expertise from around the world to discuss and debate how technology will impact society over the next twenty years, the 2007 programme also identified a number of major new opportunities for the participating organisations. This time round the pdf of the book detailing the programme and the key insights is available to download directly from the Shell website:
For more information and to download the 2007 book: http://www.shell.com/home/content/innovation/alternative_energy/technology_futures/technology_futures.html

Download the book of the 2004 Technology Futures programme

January 28-30 2008: Front End of Innovation Europe
At the FEI Conference in Vienna, Tim Jones of Innovaro gave one of the most highly rated presentations of the event. Mixing together key insights from the annual Innovation Leaders analysis and Innovaro’s work in supporting a wide range of companies in identifying major future growth opportunities, this talk was seen by many participant to be one of the richest and most thought provoking talks of the conference.
For more information on the Front End of Innovation event: http://www.iirusa.com/feieurope/home.xml

November 11-14 2007: Future Trends Keynote
At the annual Future Trends conference held in Miami, Tim Jones of Innovaro gave the opening keynote. The talk highlighted the approach used by Innovaro to support key clients such as Shell in identifying major new growth opportunities and differentiating between possible and probable futures. It also included a number of key insights from the Shell Technology Futures programmes and other growth focused activities undertaken by Innovaro.
To download the presentation: Future Trends
For more information on the Future Trends Conference: www.iirusa.com/futuretrends

October 13 2007: Economist Special Report on Innovation
In a comprehensive twenty page report on innovation by the Economist a number of Innovaro’s perspectives were included and quoted. In sections dealing with globalisation of innovation, the management of innovation, open innovation, innovation clusters and consumer led innovation, elements of several recent Innovaro briefings on similar subjects were reaffirmed. In addition, in the section on globalisation ‘revving up’ our highlighting of Vodafone’s transformational M-PESA micro-payments service in Africa was quoted as a lead example of innovation in developing companies leapfrogging that in the US and Europe.
To download the full report: http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9928154

August 1 2007: Innovaro opens Cambridge UK office
Innovaro has just opened a second UK office in Cambridge, adding to its existing offices in London, Munich and Amsterdam. This new location enables Innovaro to better service companies in the Cambridge cluster - a well-known hotbed of activity for start-up firms and innovative businesses - in addition to engaging with innovation related activities within the region. Tim Jones, founder of Innovaro, commented "Several members of the Innovaro team have a background working in and around the ‘Cambridge phenomenon’ and this is a natural next step in the growth and development of the business". David Excell, Head of Innovaro's Cambridge office, added "in addition to the vibrant local community of businesses, many global firms look to the Cambridge cluster for inspiration - particularly when it comes to technology-enabled innovation. Our increased presence in the area helps us to add to our already strong global network of innovation and technology expertise and support our clients across a broadening remit."
To contact the Cambridge office directly, call +44 (0) 1223 393 507 or email: cambridge@innovaro.com

June 20 2007: Tomorrow’s Communities RSA / Innovaro Lecture
The second Innovaro / RSA lecture was held on June 20th and looked at how some communities changing the context within which and for which innovation is occurring, how people are connecting with each other and with organizations in new ways to change the rules of the game, and how individuals see themselves within a community and how are some leading organizations innovating within this context. The speakers for this evening were Alex Algermissen, Marketing Director of LEGO who gave insights around LEGO’s highly successful use of fan-base driven innovation and and Nick Hughes, Global Head of International Mobile Payment Solutions at Vodafone who provided an overview of the leapfrog innovation occurring in Africa through the ground-breaking M-Pesa micro-payment service.
For more details of the event: http://www.thersa.org/events/detail.asp?EventID=2285
To listen to the lecture and panel discussion

10 May 2007: Brand Forum - Dublin
Tim Jones of Innovaro gave the opening talk at Bord Bia’s 2007 Brand Forum event which was focused on 'Is there business in Making a Difference?'. This annual seminar covers key topics related to the food industry and this year other speakers included Co-founder of Green and Black's, Craig Sams and Michael Smith, Marketing Director of Cadbury Ireland. The Innovaro talk looked at ‘doing the right thing’ as a growing driver of innovation across several sectors – from telecoms and automotive to food and then identified some of the key future challenges for companies seeking to both improve performance while at the same time taking a more sustainable approach to innovation.
For more information: http://www.bordbia.ie/go/Industry/initiatives/brand_forum/brandforum-0109-upcoming.html

May 1 2007: New Addition to Innovaro Team – David Excell
David Excell, formerly Head of Innovation & Technology Management at Sagentia in Cambridge, has joined the Innovaro Team to further strengthen the firm’s support for clients in developing innovation-focused technology strategies and to also lead work in the telecommunications and media sectors. He brings over 20 years' experience of helping organisations achieve profitable growth though innovation. David was previously also been a member of the strategy and TMT practices of Andersen Business Consulting and Arthur D Little and, over the years, has supported many of today’s leading companies including Orange, Inmarsat, News International, Pace, Cambridge Semiconductor, Telent, Polaroid, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices, Bayer Material Science, Asea Brown Boveri and PepsiCo
To contact David and discuss developing high impact innovation and technology strategies: david.excell@innovaro.com

April 2 2007: Innovation Leaders 2006/7
Innovaro's annual look at the most innovative companies around the world in 20 different industry sectors has just been launched. Increasingly regarded as the most authoritative assessment of which companies in the world are making the greatest innovation impact in their varied sectors, this year’s analysis included 5 new sectors – consumer goods, insurance, IT services, hotels and leisure and telecom operators . New leaders for 2006/7 include Aviva, Boeing, Du Pont, Infosys, LEGO, NTT DoCOMo, Starwood, and Tesco.
Download a summary of the analysis: Innovation Leaders 2006/7 Analysis Summary
To access the dedicated website: www.innovationleaders.org

March 23 2007: International Herald Tribune
In an article profiling the success of Michael O’Leary of Ryanair in the low cost airline market in the International Herald Tribune, Tim Jones of Innovaro was quoted on the role that Ryanair is playing in the continued development of this sector. Drawing on Innovaro’s annual innovation leaders analysis and insight, particular focus was made to the increasingly basic service model that is profitably supplemented by additional payment for both traditional standard offers such as checking in hold baggage through to an increasing range of new products ranging from lottery tickets to credit cards.
To access the article: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/23/business/wbspot24.php

January 22-25 2007: Front End of Innovation Europe - Munich
The first ‘Front End of Innovation’ conference was brought to Europe in January 2007 and Innovaro were pleased to be a leading supporter of this. Providing a unique opportunity for many leading companies to highlight and discuss how they are meeting the challenges of gaining deeper insights, working collaboratively, generating break-though ideas and building an innovative culture, this two day event in Munich was a major success. Tim Jones, Principal of Innovaro, was invited to reveal the companies that have topped the most recent Innovation Leaders analysis and other speakers at the conference included Eric von Hippel, Professor of Innovation Management at MIT, Kell Ryan cofounder of Ryanair and Emmo Meyer senior vice president of R&D at Unilever.
For more details: http://www.iirusa.com/feieurope/5565.xml

December 27 2006: BBC Radio Five Live – Innovation Leaders for 2007
The Tuesday 27 December edition of Drive on BBC Radio Five Live included an interview with Dr Tim Jones of Innovaro looking at which organisations are likely to be those making the most innovation impact in 2007. Drawing on the most recent Innovation Leaders analysis currently being undertaken, the companies discussed included LEGO, Aviva and adidas.
For more details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/drive.shtml

December 7 2006: MCT Conference Turkey – Innovators Guide to Growth
Alongside Tom Kelly, Jonas Ridderstale and Peter Fisk, Dr Tim Jones of Innovaro was a keynote speaker at the 7th International Marketing Conference that took place in Istanbul and focused on innovation driven growth. The talk, reviewing current Innovation Leaders and the lessons for aspiring innovators, was covered in a number of media including Haber Mynet, Pazarlamaciyizbiz, Capital Magazine and CNN.
For more information:
http://pazarlamaciyizbiz.wordpress.com/2006/12/11/innovaro-yenilikcilikte-20-farkli-sektorden-20-firmayi-acikladi/
http://haber.mynet.com/detail_news/?type=Business&id=X1154000043890&date=27Temmuz2006
http://www.capital.com.tr/
http://www.cnnturk.com/
http://www.gidasanayii.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11124
http://www.btinsan.com/1013.asp

November 27 2006: Business Week – Wal-Mart With Wings
In a profile of RyanAir as its highly profitable growth leads the low-cost airline sector globally, Business Week included one perspective from Innovaro on how the company is consistently searching for margin growth at each and every opportunity. Although not considered to be the innovation leader in the sector like Virgin Atlantic, RyanAir is nevertheless continuing to demonstrate ongoing refinement of its business model and is incrementally innovating through adopting and adapting such practices as product bundling, cross-selling and simplicity from the retail, banking and electronics sectors.
To access the article: "Wal-Mart With Wings"

October 1 2006: New Addition to Innovaro Team – David Humphries
David Humphries, formerly Director of Design Strategy at PDD, has joined the Innovaro Team to lead the firm’s consumer and market insight support for clients. With a background encompassing design strategy, user-centred design and delivering innovation for a wide range of multinationals, David is building Innovaro’s customer driven innovation activities, extending existing support into new sectors and also evolving our consumer futures programmes to tackle major challenges and identify new growth opportunities across the FMCG, telecoms, financial services food and consumer goods sectors.
To contact David and discuss consumer focused innovation: david.humphries@innovaro.com

September 4 2006: New Design – World Domination
The September issue of New Design included an article looking at Interbrand’s most recent Brand Value scorecard and included perspectives from Innovaro on the linkages between brand value and innovation performance. Looking at common top performers such as Toyota, Samsung, BP, Ikea, Microsoft, Google, UPS and Nokia, it examined key drivers of both innovation and brand growth.
To download a pdf of the article: World Domination

July 6 2006: Brand Eins - Innovation
The July edition of Brand Eins, the leading German business magazine, included an interview with Tim Jones, Principal of Innovaro in which he discussed the relationship between innovation success and business performance. Examining such organisations as Adidas, BP, Toyota, Nokia and UPS, the interview highlighted a number of relevant innovation achievements and challenges.
To download a pdf of the interview: Agieren statt reagieren
To access the Brand Eins website: www.brandeins.de

June 15 2006: RSA Disruptive Innovation Lecture
The first Innovaro / RSA lecture was held on June 15th and addressed the topic of “Using disruptive innovation to drive growth and change” Chaired by John Naughton of the Open University and The Observer, and introduced by Tim Jones, Principal of Innovaro, this highly successful event included presentations from Patrick Sheehan, partner 3i; Leo Roodhart, VP Group GameChanger, Shell Technology Futures; Matt Locke, Innovation Director, BBC Innovation Team.
To listen to the lecture and panel discussion: http://www.rsa.org.uk/events/textdetail.asp?ReadID=775
To download a pdf of the lecture text: http://www.rsa.org.uk/acrobat/innovaro_150606.pdf

April 24 2006: Innovation Leaders 2005/6
Innovaro's annual look at the most innovative companies around the world in 20 different industry sectors was launch on 24th April and highlights were presented on 25th April at the 4th annual Innovation Summit held in London. New leaders for 2005/6 include Apple, Google, IKEA, Novartis and Rolls-Royce. Now in its seventh year, the Innovation Leaders analysis is widely recognised as the most authoritative assessment of which companies are making the most of their innovation investments.
To download a summary of the analysis: Innovation Leaders 2005/5 Analysis Summary
To access the dedicated website: www.innovationleaders.org
For more information on the 2006 Innovation Summit: www.innovation2006.co.uk

November 17 2005: Innovation for the Nation – Computing Business
The launch edition of Computing Business, a new magazine for IT directors, included this article asking whether UK firms are equipped to innovate at a global level. Amongst a number of perspectives quoted, it includes several views from Innovaro on the role of innovation in a growth economy, the differences between large and small company innovation and the challenges faced by the UK RDAs in providing a focus for innovation leadership.
To download a pdf of this article: Innovation for the Nation
To access the article on-line: Computing Business

June 17 2005: Perspectives add to understanding of innovation
The FT Innovation special on 8 June highlighted a number of key challenges being faced by companies today. This letter from Innovaro added some additional clarity, firstly on the real balance of innovation performance between Japan and the US, and secondly on some of the drivers behind the rising trend for off-shoring R and out-sourcing D.
To download a pdf of this letter: Perspectives add to understanding of innovation

May 18 2005: Innovation: Where are all the new ideas?
In this article by Jane Simms looking at the reasons underlying the current innovation mix, a number of different perspectives on the varied issues were quoted. Amongst these were three comments by Innovaro on innovation success ratios, the balance of risk and reward for significant versus incremental innovation, and the impact of individual and team rewards on innovation performance.
To download a pdf of this article: Where are all the new ideas?

May 3 2005: Marconi’s Technology Fails the Price Test - Financial Times
This piece in the FT looked at some of the potential implications of the scaling down of Marconi’s R&D activities in the UK. Tim Jones, Principal of Innovaro, was quoted on the relative impact of this today compared with the company’s past, the implications for the UK talent pool and concerns for the R&D capability of UK plc in the long term.  
To download a pdf of this article: Marconi’s Technology Fails the Price Test

Mar 31 2005: Global Innovation Leaders:
A major new profile of those organisations that are today’s innovation leaders is being launched. Providing a detailed overview for each of the 20 companies identified by the most recent Innovation Leaders analysis, all supported with key data and an innovation scorecard, this also includes an assessment of the innovation drivers in each of the associated sectors. Copies of the full profile are available through Amazon.co.uk.      
For more information on the full profile available from Amazon: Innovation Leaders
To download one of these Innovation Leader profiles: H&M
For related press coverage:
The Scotsman
Manchester Evening News

Feb 21 2004: Changing Behaviour – ASO
At the Association for the Study of Obesity Conference, Tim Jones of Innovaro provided an overview of some of the challenges and characteristics of achieving successful behaviour change. Comparing the attitudinal behaviour changes that can be achieved by consumer brands with the performance of public health campaigns, this talk also highlighted the opportunities for greater partnership in tackling society’s major problem of the continued rise obesity in children.  
To download the abstract of this presentation: Changing Behaviour

Oct 25 2004: 2004 R&D Scoreboard
The 2004 R&D Scoreboard published by the UK Department of Trade and Industry again included analysis of US patents provided by Innovaro. This provides an expanded overview on the 2003 summary of how US patent activity varies across the sectors assessed.
To request a copy of the R&D Scoreboard e-mail: publications@dti.gsi.gov.uk
To access the scoreboard data and analysis on-line: www.innovation.gov.uk/finance

Sept 1 2004: Innovation Leaders
Our latest innovation leadership analysis highlights those organisations that are seen to be the most innovative across 20 key sectors based on their performance in 2003/4. Drawing upon assessment of a wide range of issues including financial performance, product launches, R&D effectiveness, brand impact and culture, this is the first time that that this has been shared widely.
To download a pdf of this summary: Innovation Leaders

Nov 22 2003: Thunderbird Innovation Challenge
Innovaro supported a new international competition that presents MBAs with the challenge of coming up with a new product or service. Hosted by the Thunderbird Graduate School of Management, this attracted significant attention with teams entered from all over the world. Tim Jones of Innovaro was one of the judges choosing the winning proposition in Arizona.
For more information: www.innovationchallenge.net

Nov 1 2003: Innovation Index Summary
The 2003 Innovaro Innovation Index analysis highlighted who are the innovation leaders - this time across 10 key sectors. Looking at which organisations make the most of their investments in R&D to deliver tangible output, this is a full update on the analysis included in the 2002 Reuters Innovation Leadership report.
To download a pdf of this summary: 2003 Innovation Index Summary

Oct 20 2003: 2003 R&D Scoreboard
The 2003 R&D Scoreboard published by the UK Department of Trade and Industry included analysis of US patents provided by Innovaro. This was the first time this major report has included a look at the output of some companies' innovation activities and the analysis provides an overview of how US patent activity varies across the ten sectors assessed in the annual Innovaro Innovation Index analysis.
To access the scoreboard data and analysis on-line: www.innovation.gov.uk/finance

Sept 9 2003: Goodbye South Korea: Hello World - Financial Times
This article in the FT Creative Business looked at how Samsung has evolved from a low cost imitator to become an innovation leader. Innovaro's perspective that Samsung's rise can be clearly tracked by looking at its investment in focused areas of R&D is one of several quoted sources.
To download a pdf of this article: Goodbye South Korea: Hello World

Mar 11 2002: Reuters Innovation Leadership Report
In partnership with Reuters Business Insight, Innovaro produced an important report looking at who are the innovation leaders today and what influences their performance. Based on the annual Innovaro Innovation Index analysis that measures performance without bias of company size or revenue, Innovation Leadership is a cross sector review of how effective the world's leading companies are at maximising their investments in R&D and innovation.
For further information: www.reutersbusinessinsight.com/report.asp?id=rbtc0054

Sept 27 2001: Innovaro Perspective on Measuring Innovation Performance in the FT
In the Financial Times' 2001 review of the implications of the annual R&D Scoreboard and what it means for corporate innovation, Innovaro was quoted on the alternate Innovation Index perspective on innovation performance that we have been using for a number of years to provide unique insights into innovation performance.
To download a pdf of this article: R&D Scoreboard 2001 Survey