Are You Prepared to Innovate?

R&D Today – sharing ideas, good practice and innovation in R&D management

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Latest News

Industrial sustainability – an interview with Professor Steve Evans

“If you're in R&D management and you're ignoring sustainability, you are limiting your future job prospects,” says Steve Evans, Centre for Industrial Sustainability. He explains the importance of the energy transition to enabling sustainability and the role of value as tool for determining how to create change for the better.

Cambridge Value Mapping Tool identifies failed value

What does failed value mean in the world that’s interested in sustainability?

New business models are key to sustainability, but many of the traditional tools fail to provide a solution. Our value mapping exercise unlocked the intellectual logic. What we found was designers didn't need better design tools, they needed tools to understand failed value, and that's all they needed.

Precision meets accountability: The future of AI in R&D

AI isn’t just a tool for faster research – it’s a catalyst for discovery. To support this, Elsevier has launched ScienceDirect AI, a cutting-edge generative AI tool for researchers that enables them to instantly extract, summarize and compare trusted insights from millions of full-text articles and book chapters on ScienceDirect.

Digital twins are increasingly used to accelerate product development. Physical AI

Who’s steering future innovation – humans or AI?

AI generated digital twins have the potential to transform product innovation and development. The emergence of ‘Physical AI’ offers a potential step change for new product development, according to Andy Walker, Head of Commercial for Deep Tech at TTP.

AI can help you win at new product development - GM 10 best 2025 feat

AI can help you win at new product development – Dr Robert Cooper says now is the time to act

The number one benefit of AI is improved innovation. As an estimated 70% of new product developments never become a commercial success, it is time to apply the power of AI, says Dr Robert G Cooper.

Innovation for a sustainable future – call for contributions

“If you're in R&D management and you're ignoring sustainability, you are limiting your future job prospects,” says Steve Evans, Director of Research at the Centre for Industrial Sustainability, IfM. Aligning innovation with the challenge of decarbonisation will create new market opportunities - if you have a story to share do contribute to our special feature.

Valentina Re looks forward to a warm, engaging conference

The R&D Management Conference is a highlight in the year for many working in this discipline - a chance to meet up in person and discuss new and emerging ideas in your field. We asked Valentina Re about life behind the scenes.

Your life is manufactured – can manufacturing become regenerative?

In his entertaining book, Tim Minshall explains how huge inefficiencies in each of the make, move and consume stages of the manufacturing process are not sustainable, but then reveals how looking at issues from a different perspective can address these challenges.

IKEA uses its supply chain influence to promote sustainability goals

By leveraging its 'buyer-driven' powers to impose sustainability standards on its suppliers and supply chains, IKEA is able to drive change in a way that national governments are not, concludes research by Arabella Mocciaro Li Destri.

Arts Value Map: an alternative way to measure creativity

Companies introduce the arts, not just as an organisational and management initiative but also as an experience-based process that will provide enjoyment and drive value to the business. How do you measure the value created?

Measuring value created by innovation at the firm level to improve economic policy

The ability to measure value created through innovation at a macro-level, would make it possible to assess to contribution of government policy to the stimulation of innovation and the value created by funding and investment. David Stroll argues that Productivity Cost Accounting would bridge the gap between firm and economic level.

How to value innovation in emerging technologies

In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, knowledge is the only sure source of lasting competitive advantage. If knowledge is a company asset then how do you measure its acquisition and value? Valerie Lynch discusses the benefits of a value process.

Introducing RADMA Scholars

R&D Today is the outreach site for the Research and Development Management Association, a charitable organisation that supports research, best practice and innovation. www.radma.net

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Roman Schumacher

Sara Hajnassiri

Leon Pietschmann

Nopparuj Chindasombatcharoen

R&D Conference Tracks

R&D and Innovation Management is a dynamic field. The conference aims to capture the current interests of researchers and practitioners, curated into a number of tracks.

Sustainable Innovation

Sustainable innovation supports growth and profitability by facilitating product reuse and circularity and making business operations more efficient and safe. It is also essential for the health of the planet.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Innovation Ecosystems and platforms

With the growth of digital platforms the need for Entrepreneurial Ecosystems to be geographically co-located has become less crucial. This is creating the opportunity for looser, more dispersed innovation ecosystems.

Business model innovation

Business model innovation is vital to the future sustainability of organisations and firms. With digitalization, electrification, and the circular economy, among the factors reshaping the ways industries operate, adapt, and innovate, necessitating novel business models.

Intellectual Property Rights

Around 90 per cent of the value of modern-day companies is determined by their intangible assets, which includes Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and design rights. Formal and informal leverages can be used to create and protect value.

Innovation Leadership

Although inherently risky, innovation management has an underlying body of knowledge, tools and approaches that can be widely applied. Here is an introduction to some of these concepts.

Best books for innovation management?

There are many inspirational books for R&D management practitioners and scholars. Here is a short list of some of the best books for innovation management.

Must read papers on aspects of R&D Management

Want to know about R&D Management but too busy to read all the journals? The editors for R&D Today have each selected a journal and have made a selection of the most interesting papers of recent years.

Are these the best tools for R&D Management?

There are many excellent tools and techniques for R&D management, but all too often people re-invent the wheel as knowledge of these gems is not shared. Here are some of the tools that RADMA trustees and contributors to R&D Today have found useful, but we are keen to know what has been missed or what others think of these tools.

Eight principles of Innovation Management

Which of the eight principles of Innovation Management do you think is most important? Victoria Milne and Joanne Hyland discuss how the framework is universally applicable but can be customised as required.

R&D Project Exchange

The R&D Project Exchange offers a unique platform for collaboration between university students and companies. This initiative invites students and businesses to co-develop research proposals, ensuring a balanced approach that addresses both academic objectives and real-world industry challenges.

The innovation disconnect

There is a disconnect between R&D spend and performance, says Professor Magnus Karlsson. Ahead of the launch of the international standard ISO 56000 he explains that the purpose of an Innovation Management System is to improve an organisation’s ability to realise value under conditions of uncertainty.

Is it time to professionalise Innovation Management?

The challenge of how Innovation Management can gain the recognition it deserves stimulated a lively discussion in our webinar “Is it time to professionalise Innovation Management”. If you missed the webinar – you can watch the presentations from our two speakers and listen to the full discussion via a podcast on Soundcloud.

Innovation Management System ISO 56002:2019

Innovation is the driving force for companies to stay relevant in the market, observes the guidance for ISO 56002:2019 Innovation management system.

Innovation Manager job description

The innovation management professional job role is broad. It encompasses both strategic and operational elements. These elements can be combined into a single role, or divided into separate roles. Innovationsledarna has created this useful job description that can be used as a guide to assembling one’s own job description or to create a new role as appropriate.

Special Features

Events

AI for Innovation

Virtual event 7 May, 11am. Hosted by LIV.INNO. The disruptive impact of AI is already here – so now is the time to gain an objective assessment of the benefits for your organisation. This conference aims to provide context for recent AI developments, offer insights from data scientists, and share real-world industry experience from those who have started their journey.

Festschrift to honour Henry Chesbrough

20-21 April 2026 at Luiss Business School in Rome. 2026 will mark Henry Chesbrough‘s 70th birthday. In honour of this milestone, some of his colleagues have organized a conference, a special issue of California Management Review, and a special section of Industrial & Corporate Change.

ISPIM Innovation Conference 2025: Innovation Powered by Nature

15-18 June 2025, Bergen, Norway. Engage with fellow innovation professionals from academia, industry, consulting and the public sector in a truly diverse event with people attending from across the globe.

R&D Management Conference 2025

30 June – 2 July 2025, Institute of Management of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa