Innovation is a key factor in companies’ development and competitiveness A strategic vision, a permanent flow of projects that bode well for the future, rapid exploitation on the market: these are the essential ingredients for steering an innovation policy.
Prospective Studies — Future Watch
■ As part of its FutureWatch ™ activity, Innovation 128 conducts international prospective surveys to reveal:
- key or emerging technologies for the coming years;
- major market trends and future change in demand;
- laboratories which work on the products of the future.
■ These surveys feed the strategic thinking of Management and enable research plans to be drawn up.
Creativity and management of innovation projects — IDWatch™
■ To make new product ideas emerge, Innovation 128 has designed the IDWatch programme.
■ Using different applied creativity techniques (brainstorming, bio association, creative ideas, etc.), these programmes can identify dozens of innovative ideas/concepts in a few days.
■ The ideas/concepts put forward then undergo a technical and commercial pre-assessment, which will lead to a project solution.
■ Depending on the company's wishes, Innovation 128 can help the project manager(s) throughout their development by providing external technical skills, data on the markets targeted, information on regulations, etc.
Search external opportunities — TechTrade™
■ The rise in R&D; costs, an ever shorter time to market, the complexity and interlocking of technologies are bringing about a new strategy in terms of innovation: the use of external sources via R&D; projects, in partnership with research laboratories or the acquisition of patents or licences from third parties.
■ Innovation 128 identifies technological opportunities based on a methodology:
- analysis of avenues for development and definition of the profile of opportunities sought;
- identification of existing potential sources on an international scale;
- identification from these sources of available opportunities;
- selection of opportunities that meet the company’s requirement, presentation of opportunities;
- if necessary, help in relational follow-up with bidders.
■ Innovation 128 has a base of several hundred technological opportunities, regularly updated and listing offers of patents, licences and partnerships from the main European and North American research centres.
Estimation of technological innovations — TechTrade™
■ To be profitable, any innovation must be rapidly exploited on the widest market possible. The globalisation of markets, as well as possibilities of multi-sector applications, oblige the laboratory that innovated to find partners.
■ Innovation 128 helps the laboratory to add value to its new product, process or know-how via a programme of actions, the main steps of which are:
- identification of applications and potential markets;
- technical and economical assessment and positioning of the innovation on its market;
- elaboration of a value-enhancing strategy (cession of patents, concession of licences, joint-ventures, etc.) and definition of the profile of partners sought;
- writing of a presentation folder;
- search and selection of interested partners;
- follow-up of contacts before signing agreements.
■ Since it was founded, Innovation 128 has given value to several hundred innovations from public or university research centres as well known as France Telecom R&D;, the CNRS French Scientific Research Centre, the INRA agronomical research centre, the INRIA French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control, the CNES French Centre for Space Study in France, and the MIT, BTG, TNC, Harvard Medical School and Technion internationally.