Technology Record - Issue 24: Spring 2022

65 Hosted by Microsoft partner Sopheon, Innovation+ Talks is a podcast that highlights why and how different forms of strategic innovationandnewproduct development are transforming the modern marketplace. Featuring insights from Sopheon executives, academics, authors, and cross-industry thought leaders, the podcast explores concepts such as innovation processing and how people and culture impact the production and reach of businesses and products. One recurring theme throughout the podcasts has been governance, process, and portfolio, with guests looking at how different types of methodologies such as agile, phase gate, scrum, Scaled Agile Framework and lean can help businesses to expand the reach of innovation. A wider audience and larger profit can be achieved through good project management and a society-based framework of thinking. Adaptability and collaboration are key skills that can drive innovation. An organisation can increase the development and reach of ideas by collaborating with a strong ecosystem of partners or subsidiary companies. Other guest speakers highlighted how start-up thinking could lead to disruptive and radical innovation. The ability to measure, account for, allocate and fund start-up thinking is a recurring challenge for organisations that come to Sopheon for solutions. Furthermore, the pursuit of sustainability is driving innovation. For example, one of our guest speakers focused on the rising demand for green chemistry, which involves designing chemical products and processes in such a way as to reduce the production of hazardous substances. Technology adoption is also a key factor when it comes to driving business innovation. Sopheon is helping multiple organisations to optimise their existing Microsoft technology investments and extend them to cover new uses. When businesses have a good solution to organise and coordinate their innovation processes, they have access to a single source of truth, allowing them to make decisions faster and better align their teams. The podcast also explored how companies are learning to adapt the ways they engineer products to meet demand for hybrid products that combine both physical and digital elements. By establishing the changes in a work environment, businesses can adapt to improve their efficiency; if we relearn how we think, we can spot mistakes and encourage employees to use their imagination, thereby improving innovation. These innovation themes demonstrate the need for solutions to adapt with the market, so that organisations can remain in control. It is without a doubt, though, that innovation will continue to shift in 2022, changing as the challenges of employment, hybrid working environments and supply chains develop. Listen to Innovation+ Talks at www.sopheon.com/podcasts. Paul Heller is chief evangelist at Sopheon Improving innovation Process, adaptability and sustainability were some of the key trends in our Innovation+ Talks podcast in 2021, but things may be changing in 2022 PAU L HE L L E R : SOPHEON V I EWPO I NT

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