Conclusions and Path Forward

In this chapter, the editorial team looks across the cases and the emerging themes to offer insights about the standard and its implications for the innovation management community and the future of the innovation management discipline. For practitioners, the case is made for a call to action to rally around the benefits of the standard as a foundation for dynamic innovation capability and innovation community building that will stand the test of time. For academic educators and researchers, it is teaching about open, connected innovation models that go beyond internally focused ones and understanding through research the system element interdependencies and how these elements can be adapted in different organisational contexts. For standard developers, a key issue is to ensure that a core innovation management system can handle the variations and complexities of different organisations and types of innovations. For professional associations, it is about continuing to build the identity of the profession and supporting professionals to strengthen the innovation management discipline in organisations. For policymakers, it starts with understanding where the standard could have policy relevance and broadening the range of innovation policy instruments available. Finally, it is about imagining a future where in 10 years innovation management is a well-recognised discipline and profession, with systemic and systematic approaches that accelerate learning to realise value more quickly for a better world.