THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR PROFESSIONAL INNOVATION MANAGEMENT LTD

Their core work

ISPIM is a professional association connecting innovation management practitioners, researchers, and executives across industry and academia. Their H2020 work centered on building rigorous, data-driven methodologies for segmenting innovative SMEs by lifecycle stage, industrial sector, and regional characteristics — translating academic research on SME behavior into actionable support frameworks. They also participated in research on scaling up co-creation between scientific institutions and broader society, reflecting their role as a bridge between research communities and the business world. In consortia, they bring established practitioner networks, dissemination channels, and direct access to innovation managers across multiple industries and countries.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only two projects spanning a short window (2017–2021) and no keywords recorded for the second project, drawing a strong evolution narrative is not warranted. What can be observed is a progression from tightly scoped SME methodology work (SMEthod) toward broader science-society integration themes (SCALINGS), suggesting a gradual widening of focus from operational SME support to governance-level questions about how science engages with society. This is a small signal from limited data, not a confirmed trend.

Based on the two available projects, ISPIM appears to be broadening from practitioner-focused SME methodology work toward larger questions of how scientific and innovation systems integrate societal input — but two projects are insufficient to confirm a sustained directional shift.

How they like to work

ISPIM has participated exclusively as a non-coordinating partner across both H2020 projects, contributing their professional networks, practitioner expertise, and dissemination reach rather than leading research design. Despite only two projects, they engaged 19 distinct consortium partners across 11 countries, indicating they enter broad, multi-national consortia where their value lies in access to practitioner audiences rather than technical execution. They are a dissemination and community-engagement asset for consortia targeting business and innovation management audiences.

ISPIM connected with 19 unique partners across 11 countries through just 2 projects, reflecting the typically large, geographically diverse consortia of RIA projects in the Innovation & SME pillar. Their reach spans at minimum Western and Central Europe, consistent with a pan-European professional association.

What sets them apart

ISPIM is one of the few professional associations in innovation management with active H2020 research participation, meaning they bring both a credible practitioner community and research legitimacy to a consortium. For projects that need to validate findings with real innovation managers, disseminate outputs to business audiences, or reach SME networks across Europe, ISPIM offers access that a university or research institute cannot replicate. Their Manchester base places them in a major UK entrepreneurial ecosystem, though post-Brexit project eligibility should be confirmed for future EU funding rounds.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SMEthod
  Their most substantive H2020 contribution, directly aligned with ISPIM's core identity — developing a segmentation methodology for innovating SMEs that bridges academic research on enterprise lifecycles with practical regional and sectoral intelligence.
• SCALINGS
  Represents a thematic expansion into science-society co-creation, positioning ISPIM at the intersection of responsible innovation and public engagement — a growing area of EU research policy interest.