January 23 Member Update

Shaping Innovation Leaders Deadline is approaching

Thinking of enrolling? Don’t wait! You must notify IRI of your intent to register by February 10 to participate.

Wish your high-potential scientists could be high-achieving influencers within your company? This intense 1-week course at the top-ranked leadership business school, Kellogg, will provide scientists with an understanding of the business needs throughout the enterprise.

Are you looking to expand the use of smart glasses in your facilities?

Check out the lessons learned from Crown Holdings’ use of smart glasses in IRI’s Digitalization Community’s latest case study. Go deeper on these key takeaways:

• Understand the ergonomics of using smart glasses.
• Focus on both the hardware and software features of smart glasses devices.
• Work toward both a seamless and immersive work experience.
• Prioritize the use cases associated with smart glasses solutions.
• Tie smart glasses to a broader digital strategy and vision.

March 13-15, Charlotte

Spring Networks are around the corner

Attendees will learn new best practices from their peers, share knowledge, and troubleshoot innovation challenges. This conference is perfect for those working in external partnerships, innovation leadership, new product development, human resources, intellectual asset management, new business development, portfolio management, and more! 

Topics include: 

• Six Mistakes Business Leaders Make That Stunt Growth (Guest Speaker: Dan Adams, The AIM Institute
• Innovation ROI Best Practices (Guest Speaker: Lydia Carson, Eureka! Ranch International)
• Magnifying Innovation: Understanding Organizations’ Adoption of Novel Designs (Guest Speaker: Georgia Institute of Technology)
• Turning Supply Chain Issues into Opportunities
• Adapting Retention Strategies to New Generation of Workers
• Managing IP in Innovation Ecosystems
• Prioritizing Products – How To Determine Where To Focus Your Energy
• Developing Effective Mentorship (and Reverse Mentorship) Programs

IRI members may use a complimentary registration to attend this event. For more information, please contact Mallory Smith. IRI and NAM members receive discounted registration rates. This event is open to the public.

January 30, 12pm – 1:00pm

The Human Side of Technology: Leading People Through Digital Transformation – PILOT Project Update

This project is focused on creating insights related to the human side of digital transformation, learn more about it here. In this webinar, they will focus on how companies can prepare for cultural changes associated with digital transformation.

Monday, February 6^th at Noon ET

Innovation ROI Best Practices – PILOT Research Project Update

This project is working to identify best practices for measuring the ROI of innovation. In this webinar, we will hear the latest updates from the project leaders on their research so far.

May 22-25, Philadelphia

IRI 2023 Annual Conference

Registration opens February 1, 2023

CTO’s Talk About Sustainability!

Summary of the 2022 CTO Forum Part II

15 CTOs met in Washington DC to discuss current challenges to accelerating top line growth through innovation. Regarding sustainability, the discussion identified key challenges and related actions such as:

• Proposed development of an environmental, social, and governance calculator to help in the product design process since renewables and offsets are not typically factored into this process.
• Consider shifting evaluation of sustainability initiatives from value to risk-avoidance (because competitors are actively pursuing these initiatives and governments are incentivizing them).
• Use UN goals at the corporate level to drive the research agenda; increase the percentage of H3 investment targeted to sustainability goals.
• Incorporate sustainability goals into the Stage-Gate process, with a clause that products will not be brought to the market that do not contribute to sustainability objectives.
• Engage the marketing department so that truly sustainable new products are not lumped into a vague bucket (as has happened, for example, with “organic” foods).
• Focus on adjacencies that may improve sustainability.

New Innovation Community!

Challenged integrating sustainability into your innovation practices and processes? We are excited to announce the launch of IRI’s new Sustainability Community! The Sustainability Community will help you address this, and other needs related to sustainable development goals. Through the community, you will be able to access:

• Monthly interviews with sustainability thought leaders
• Kick off interview: Sustainable innovation with Rick Michelman, President & CEO of Michelman
• How does a global chemical manufacturer integrate sustainability into new product development? How do they assess the ROI on investments in sustainability and capitalize on regulatory changes?
• Thursday, January 26 at 12pm ET
• Monthly roundtable discussions
• Join your peers each month to share challenges and bounce ideas off of one another.  
• Receive the calendar invitation.
• Case studies
• Our first in the series will be out early this year. Stay tuned!

Seeking R&D Portfolio Managers to Assist in a one-hour Computer Simulation 

Alicia Hong, Product Development Engineer with The Boeing Company is currently working to complete her PhD. To do so, she is looking for R&D Portfolio Managers who are willing to spend an hour to participate in a portfolio management computer simulation. Data from this simulation will be used to investigate new methods in R&D decision making under uncertainty. Responses are kept anonymous and participants will receive a summary of the insights which may be used to improve their portfolio management process. The initial study will be running from 1/6-2/3.

A Research Team Needs Your Help!

Our Innovation ROI Best Practices research team is investigating specifically WHAT to measure, WHEN to measure and HOW to go about collecting ROI data in a way that’s reliable and systematic. They are currently looking for survey respondents to give them a more robust data set they can incorporate and would appreciate hearing from IRI member companies. Beyond the survey, the research team is also looking for a few in-depth interview subjects.