Innovation in times of economic challenges means taking risk in a risky environment. With systematic Innovation Management and true entrepreneurial skills these risks can be prudently managed for value creation. If Innovation Management is geared to tangible business impact it helps companies to grow faster than their competitors that do not innovate at all or do not manage their innovation projects effectively. This is proven by the IMP3rove database, the various IMp3rove research results and other (academic) research. IMP3rove has developed service offerings to develop the Innovation Management capabilities on a European scale. These services will be provided in the future by the IMP3rove - European Innovation Management Academy in response to the demand for better Innovation Management support and to the need for professionalization of these services.

IMP³rove has created the basis for a European mod­el to develop the Innovation Management capa­bilities in Europe. The IMP³rove Approach provides a comprehensive suite of Innovation Management support services for the different actors in the in­novation eco-system. It combines Innovation Man­agement assessment and benchmarking for SMEs with Innovation Management consulting services, with training and certification in Innovation Man­agement and in Innovation Management consult­ing.

The IMP³rove Approach has become part of the first European pre-standard on Innovation Management assessment. It is also congruent with the CEN Tech­nical Specification that is currently developed on In­novation Management System. Thus IMP³rove has contributed to the development of a common Euro­pean approach to Innovation Management support and a common market for Innovation Management support services.

This publication has been produced as part of the IMP³rove action under the Europe INNOVA initiative.