One of the main driving forces of the knowledge based society is knowledge itself, which is a fundamental element of competitiveness. Every product around us is the result of a chain of development processes. The innovation resulting in intellectual output (the product) is an essential driving force of the economic life. Nowadays, there is a strong focus on innovation, because the pace of development is rapidly increasing.

This project has developed new educational materials which improve adaptation of professional education to the needs of the labour market, and support harmonisation with the modern economic needs.

The main goal of the project was to develop an educational material based on Innovation Management Standard for senior and middle managers of corporations, to enable them to establish and manage a process - controlling system.

The consortium has developed 3 intellectual outputs, which are closely related to each other, being parts of a complex system; however, they can also be viewed as independent elements:

1 - Elaboration base of IMS (Innovation Management System)

This output includes the development of results supporting the first steps of implementing an IMS in organizations, namely the competence catalogue of a person able to manage this process, a database of questions for assessing the status of a company regarding innovation management and a Guidebook containing all the useful information of the IMS standard with examples and explanations.

• 1.1 Competence catalogue of innovation managers

Competence profile of innovation managers responsible for successful operation of the IMS based on the CEN/TS 16555-1 standard was elaborated on the basis of a survey carried out in 4 countries (Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Romania). Altogether 450 completed questionnaires and 32 personal interviews were analysed. Relying on the results, a separate report for each country as well as a summarizing report were elaborated.

• 1.2 Online questions database

A questions database customised for the scope of the standard have been developed so that companies/decision makers can assess innovativeness within their organisation. The database contains a total of more than 150 questions that can be filtered according to the corporate sector (Automotive, HR, Education / Training, Other) and filling manager position (senior / middle manager).

• 1.3 Guidebook

The Guidebook supports the understanding and practical utilization of the IMS standard with examples and good practices in 350 pages. It is available in printed and in pdf format in each partner language and in English. Main topics are: innovation in the European Union, innovation policy in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, types of innovation, context of organization, leadership for innovation, planning a successful innovation, innovation driving factors, innovation management techniques, steps of a CEN/TS 16555-1 audit.

2 – Training

Developing the training material included 3 actions: Joint staff training, e-learning platform development and blended learning courses. The educational material was first tested in the form of a 5-day training with the participation of the partners, while at the same time it was uploaded to an online platform in the form of an e-learning. Afterwards, following some modifications this platform served as a base for the blended learning course developed for the target group later on.

• 2.1 Joint Staff event

A 5-day-long innovation management training was organized between the 8th and 12th of May, 2017 in Budapest in order to test the content of the Guidebook as basis for a training on innovation management. Besides testing, the 40-hour training aimed at improving the knowledge, skills and competences of employees of InnoMe project consortium members needed for the implementation, evaluation and maintenance of the CEN/TS 16555-1 Innovation management standard.

• 2.2 E-learning

The project consortium has developed an online training material based on the findings of the survey conducted in the beginning of the project. Using the Guidebook as a source of information, the e-learning tool provides employees with the skills, knowledge and competences needed for the establishment and maintenance of an innovation management system at their organization according to the CEN/TS 16555-1 standard.

• 2.3 Blended learning courses

Blended learning courses on innovation management have been organized in each partner country to test the e-learning tool developed in the project. The e-learning training were complemented with face-to-face classroom sessions (contact days). The training materials have been finalized according to the feedback received from the participants.

3 – Online brainstorming platform

At the final stage of the project, an online brainstorming platform was developed to assist people separated in space to share their ideas related to particular questions or issues. The base of this tool is the use of the brainstorming technique, in which various ideas of solution can be generated to solve a certain issue. The ideas can range from less realistic visions to more useful suggestions that might also be implemented. These ideas then can be unfolded, and then useful suggestions selected and can be developed further.