About ISPIM

ISPIM has its origins in an initiative taken by Prof. Knut Holt at the University of Trondheim in 1973. He started and organised a programme of comparative cross cultural studies on Needs Assessment and Information Behaviour: the NAIB Program. The objective was to present an array of tools, as well as guidelines for their practical application for the assessment of user needs in the product innovation processes. During the NAIB Project an international group formally founded ISPIM in Trondheim, Norway in June 1983. Since then, ISPIM has succeeded in developing a strong international network, leading to professional cooperation across nations and cultures.

The history of the first 13 years of ISPIM can be downloaded here.

ISPIM Presidents/Executive Directors

Iain Bitran	United Kingdom	2003 - present (Executive Director from 2008)
Umberto Del Canuto	Italy	2001 - 2003
Ferdinando Chiaromonte	Italy	1997 - 2001
Arie Nagel	Netherlands	1993 - 1997
Jens Arleth	Denmark	1989 - 1993
Villko Virkkala	Finland	1985 - 1989
Knut Holt	Norway	1981 - 1985

International Events

2008: Tours, France - "Open Innovation: Creating Products & Services through Collaboration" (IC - XIX)
2007: Warsaw, Poland - "Innovation for Growth: The Challenges for East and West" (IC - XVIII)
2006: Athens, Greece - "Networks for Innovation" (IC - XVII)
2005: Porto, Portugal - "The Role of Knowledge in Innovation Management" (IC - XVI)
2004: Oslo, Norway - "Successfully creating innovative products and services: integrating academia, business and consulting" (IC - XV)
2003: Manchester, United Kingdom - "Innovation through Collaboration: Clusters, Networks, Alliances" (IC - XIV)
2002: Rome, Italy - "Successful Managerial Choices in Innovation Management: Their Socio-Economic Implications" (IC - XIII)
2001: Lappeenranta, Finland - "Challenges of Innovation and Technology Management for the New Millennium" (IC - XII)
1999: Tokyo, Japan - "New roles and issues facing innovation management in the 21st century" (IC - XI)
1998: Vienna, Austria - "The power of Innovation leadership" (WS)
1997: San Sebastian, Spain - "Theory and Tools for Innovation Management" (IC - X)
1996: Stavanger, Norway, "The Effect of Networking" (WS)
1995: Rome, Italy - "Dissemination of Innovation and its Implications" (IC - VIX)
1994: Kassel, Germany (WS)
1993: Eindhoven, The Netherlands (IC - VIII)
1992: Copenhagen, Denmark (WS)
1991: Jerusalem, Israel (IC - VII)
1989: Berlin, West Germany (IC - VI)
1987: Brighton, United Kingdom (IC - V)
1985: Innsbruck, Austria (IC - IV)
1983: Trondheim, Norway (IC - III)
1979: Frankfurt, West Germany (IC - II)
1974: Trondheim, Norway (IC - I)

IC denotes International Conference
IS denotes Innovation Symposium
WS denotes International Workshop

Collaborative Research Projects

ISPIM is involved in participating in or promoting research projects in the field of innovation management. If you would like to contact ISPIM with regard to participation in or promotion of a project, please contact info@ispim.org.

Publications

ISPIM Newsletter: A quarterly newsletter for members with the latest news from ISPIM, company profiles, member profiles and other interesting articles on innovation management.

Memobiblio: An electronic service for ISPIM Members. Published monthly, it contains a selection of abstracts from relevant papers on Innovation Management published in a set of specialised international journals.

Publication of Conference Proceedings: The proceedings of each conference are published on a CD with an ISBN number and are available to all conference delegates.

Professional Cooperation

ISPIM is strongly committed to establishing links with synergistic associations worldwide. These links range from hosting joint events and collaboration on research projects to networking and promotion opportunities. A list of partner associations and organisations can be found on our links page.