Commission funded project set to deliver innovation assessment tool for SMEs

Brussels, 03 Dec 2002

The product innovation profile score (PIP score) initiative is a collaborative project that aims to define a standard measurement for the level of innovation within a small or medium sized enterprise (SME), and provide an electronic self-assessment toolkit for use by companies and individuals.

The PIP score project is receiving 400,000 euro in funding from the Commission under the IST section of the Fifth Framework Programme, and involves partners from the UK, Germany and Greece. The toolkit is expected to cost between 700 and 800 euro and should be available from 2003.

Keith Jones, managing director of the project's prime contractor KAJ-ISIS, says: 'We are delighted with the reception given to the prototype by companies in Greece, Germany and the UK. The experiences of the field testing are being developed into 60 case studies. These studies will map the initial profile and will indicate improvements made to identified areas of the business and the consequential difference in the PIP score/benchmark.'

This benchmark, or PIP score, is used to measure an SME in terms of its level of product innovation. This is achieved by examining the products or services developed, the innovation process utilised, and the way the company project manages the product innovation process.

The end result will be a toolkit that allows any SME in Europe to assess its own level of innovation, and it is hoped that this in turn will contribute to efforts to increase levels of innovation throughout the European Union.

Peter Walters, for the DTI's support website UKISHelp, says: 'KAJ-ISIS is a fine example of a company which has benefited from participating in the European Union's IST funding programme. With consortium partners in both Germany and Greece, KAJ-ISIS will be bringing a product to market which will benefit users across Europe.'

For further information, please consult the following web address: http://www.kaj-isis.co.uk

CORDIS RTD-NEWS/© European Communities, 2001