New ISO 50501 To Promote Innovation

We Germans in particular are used to everything being certified, tested, sealed and tested, from the smoothie in the supermarket to the sports shoe, and even more so in everything that has to do with technology. Did you know that there is even a DIN standard for letter forms (DIN 5008)? When it comes to innovation management, on the other hand, creative chaos is still the rule in some places. But experts from 47 countries want to change this from the beginning of 2018. ISO 50501 is the magic word. ITONICS, a pioneer in innovation management, welcomes this development and briefly explains what it is all about.

What is ISO 50501?

The International Organization of Standards (www.iso.org) is an independent international organization with the goal of defining requirements, specifications, guidelines or behaviors in order to achieve consistent knowledge and a common understanding of professional processes. ISO is currently represented in over 160 countries.

The ISO 50501 guideline refers to the topic of innovation management and is to be operational at the beginning of 2018, thus describing the first common standard for innovation processes worldwide. Experts from 47 countries have been brooding over this for several years. They want to provide companies with tools that can map innovation management in a binding manner.

What is Behind it?

Hakan Ozon, one of the ISO experts, describes the provisional principles of ISO 50501 as follows*:

The principles form the core of the standard. They are designed in such a way that an organization that wants to be classified as innovative (from the point of view of the standard) must meet these principles (at least in part). The principles of innovation management describe what constitutes an innovative organization and are mainly intended as guidelines for improvement. I will give you a brief insight into the principles here, but I must point out that the work is not yet complete and this may not be the end result.

1. Realization of value
2. Future-focused leaders
3. Purposeful direction
4. Innovation culture
5. Exploitable insights
6. Mastering uncertainty
7. Adaptability

What is it Good for and for Whom?

ISO 50501 should be aimed at private and public companies as well as NGOs of all sizes and cover these areas of innovation:

• Marketplace Innovation
• Value Chain Innovation
• Process Improvement Innovation
• Organizational Culture Innovation
• Product/Service Innovation
• Social Innovation

The ambitious goal of the ISO experts is therefore to create an innovation turbo so that innovation management will function in the future in one language and with a uniform standard.

We at ITONICS have long been using standardized processes and leave innovation management neither to chance nor to chaos, with our worldwide partners and customers. Therefore we welcome this necessary general professionalization by ISO 50501 and are happy to answer your questions and suggestions!