Quite often organizations are looking for a way to demonstrate the caliber of their innovation program and the outcomes it has produced, and in particular the level of impact that specific innovations have had on the organization at is markets & customers. This is especially true when these innovations are either internally process-oriented or else involve details that must be kept confidential for various reasons.
To meet this need, GInI – working through its AInPs® like Legacy Innovation Group – offers formal endorsement of specific, individual innovations that organizations have conceived, developed, and launched. These endorsements serve as a means of validating the organization's innovation efforts and outcomes, without requiring it to reveal confidential details. Many organizations, especially those in the public sector, as well as non-profits – where validation is not always derivable from direct market impact – require such validation when pursuing external assessments and awards, such as those awarded by government organizations for overall business excellence.
GInI innovation endorsements are intended for actual, real innovations that the organization has conceived, defined, developed, and deployed into real-world usage. The nature of these innovations can vary widely – from innovative new internal processes and/or process changes, to innovative improvements in existing offerings, to radical, breakthrough innovations that have never been seen before. All of these are fair subjects for endorsement, so long as they meet GInI's qualification requirements.
Endorsement by GInI thus signifies that the innovation has satisfied not only its qualification requirements, but just as importantly, has demonstrated its true merit as an innovation on the basis of its actual adoption, usage, and business impact, delivering real value where none existed previously. Thus irrespective of whatever acclaim, recognition, and/or financial success the innovation has realized otherwise, it is recognized here for the overall level of business impact it has created.
Endorsement also affirms that the organization involved is the one who has conceived, defined, developed, and deployed this innovation, typically for its own exclusive use. Since not every purported ‘innovation’ will meet GInI's strict qualifications, having one's innovations endorsed by GInI is truly an honorable achievement.
Once an organization has received an endorsement from GInI for one or more of its innovations, it is free to announce and/or otherwise market this achievement to the world. This is an excellent means for the organization to demonstrate to the world precisely how effective its innovation efforts have been, and by association, how innovative the organization is.
Learn more about Global Innovation Institute's Innovation Endorsement Program at www.gini.org/ine/.
In order for an organization's innovation to qualify for endorsement by GInI, it must satisfy each of the following criteria:
If an innovation can meet all four of these qualifications, then it is eligible for consideration for endorsement.
Accordingly, GInI does not endorse:
In terms of the nature of the organization, GInI places no restrictions on the nature or type of organization which may apply for an Innovation Endorsement. The organization can be in the private sector or public sector, privately-held or publicly-traded, for-profit or not-for-profit, SME or MNC, and so forth. The organization may even be a sole proprietorship. What is important in this process is the nature of the innovation and the details of its conception, definition, development, and deployment, regardless of who or what the organization is behind it. Accordingly, GInI does not discriminate on the basis of any factor relating to the organization itself.
Concerning intellectual property rights and exclusive rights of usage, GInI's endorsement of an organization's innovation – as recorded in the Endorsement Application and filed in the GInI archives – bears no relationship to the assignment of intellectual property rights associated with the innovation. Accordingly, the issuance of a GInI Endorsement is independent from, and irrespective of, whatever party holds the IP rights to the innovation.
That being said however, GInI Endorsement does require exclusive rights of usage to the innovation. Therefore, when submitting an Innovation Endorsement Application, the applying organization must attest that it alone holds the exclusive right to use (and, if applicable, commercialize) the innovation, irrespective of whether they or a different party hold the legal intellectual property rights to it.
If there is no formal intellectual property associated with the innovation, then in that case the applying organization must attest that they have had a key involvement in developing the innovation and that – to the best of their knowledge – they are the only ones in the world using the innovation in the context for which they are using it.
Within the Innovation Endorsement Program, GInI offers three (3) distinct tiers of endorsement. An innovation's endorsement tier is based on the type of innovation it represents and therefore the scope of effort that was associated with executing it.
The innovation type is derived from the following type classification, as defined by GInI:
Internal Process Innovations
Value Capture Innovations
Value Creation Innovations
Based on this type classification, the three (3) tiers of endorsement are therefore:
Successfully conceiving, defining, developing, and delivering a Type 2 (Value Capture) innovation typically requires more effort than does a Type 1 (Internal Process) innovation, and by the same token, conceiving, defining, developing, and delivering a Type 3 (Value Creation) innovation typically requires substantially more effort than does a Type 2 innovation. Thus, increasing tiers of endorsement reflect the increasing amounts of time, effort, and investment that likely went into realizing the innovation.
In terms of the longevity and maintenance of the endorsement, GInI innovation endorsements – once granted – are granted for the entire life of the innovation. There is therefore no maintenance or renewal required to keep an endorsement active.
As the flagship Authorized Innovation Provider® (AInP®) of Global Innovation Institute – Legacy Innovation Group helps organizations complete the GInI Innovation Endorsement Application, using a GInI Authorized Innovation Assessor® (AInA®) of its choosing.
In terms of the overall process for having an innovation endorsed by GInI, there are seven (7) main steps, as follows:
* GInI's Authorized Innovation Assessors® – AInAs® – are the only individuals authorized by GInI to submit Endorsement Applications to GInI via the AInP®. GInI only accepts Applications from AInAs® and AInPs® in good standing.
** Regardless of who completes the application (an internal employee or contractor, or the external Assessor), it must be verified in person, attested to (signed), and submitted by the external Assessor retained by Legacy Innovation Group. Thus if the organization has internal AInAs® on its staff, those individuals may complete the application, but they may not submit it to GInI or to Legacy Innovation Group. Only the external AInA® may submit the Endorsement Application to Legacy Innovation Group, and only Legacy Innovation Group may in turn submit it to GInI.
Some of the information gathered, reviewed, and documented in this process will be provided to GInI as part of the Endorsement Application, serving as its supporting evidence. All such information is treated as confidential by the AInA®, Legacy Innovation Group, and GInI.
The Innovation Endorsement Application Engagement typically follows these steps:
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