About IIC

The Innovation Index Coalition is a global collective committed to infusing the customer perspective into the discourse surrounding invention and innovation.

The Innovation Index Coalition (IIC) was founded in 2023 by researchers from The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH, Norway), and now includes prominent institutions like The Hanken School of Economics (Finland), Karlstad Business School (Sweden), Aarhus University, the School of Business and Social Sciences (Denmark), Hasselt University – School of Business (Belgium), University de Carlos 3 Madrid (Spain), Fordham University – Gabelli School of Business (USA), University of Queensland – School of Business (Australia), and VinUni (Vietnam). 

The driving force behind this collaboration is the seminal work carried out in the development of the Norwegian Innovation Index (the world’s first customer-based ranking of most innovative firms) at The Norwegian School of Economics in 2016.

The research agenda is shaped by the unique strengths and histories of its research partners and the diversity of expertise allows IIC to conduct cutting-edge research on the role of customers in innovation.

  • Research findings are disseminated through a variety of channels, including academic journals, industry publications, and the IIC's own newsletter. Our collaborative effort extends to annual conferences, workshops, and the publication of a newsletter authored by diverse IIC researchers, presenting insights on the subject matter. The publication format caters to a leadership style, meant to be accessible to business leaders and industry experts.

  • The Coalition hosts annual networking opportunities to cultivate working relationships between researchers, businesses, and policymakers. These relationships are essential for ensuring that the IIC's research has a real-world impact.

  • Together with our consulting partners, we offer training programs to develop the skills of future innovators. Courses are offered on a variety of topics, including customer-driven innovation, design thinking, and agile development.

  • IIC is committed to making a positive impact on the world through innovation. IIC's research, dissemination, networking, and training activities ensure that innovation is customer-driven, evidence-based, and sustainable.

Our Mission

IIC's mission is to improve the impact of innovation, value creation, and transformation by ensuring that crucial design, implementation and communication decisions are science and evidence-based.

Amplifying the customers’ voice in innovation

Use customer-based insights to see which innovation efforts are noticed, understood, and valued by those they are meant to serve.

Build Confidence

Use IIC’s newsletter, publications, and free reports to stay informed about customer-centered innovation research, methods, and practical applications.

Navigate Future and Trends

Translate customer perceptions into clearer priorities for strategy, service design, communication, and transformation.

Turn Insight into Action

Conferences, summits and workshops bring together researchers, businesses, and innovators to discuss the role of customers in innovation.

Strengthen Your Foundation

Engage with researchers, companies, and policymakers working to improve how the true value of innovation is measured, captured, managed, and communicated.

Join the Conversation

FAQs

  • Customer-based innovation is measured by asking customers how they perceive a company’s ability to create value through innovation. This goes beyond internal metrics such as R&D spending, patents, or expert assessments. The focus is on whether customers notice, understand, value, and respond to what companies introduce. This matters because customer adoption and usage ultimately determine whether an innovation succeeds in the market.

  • Companies can use Innovation Index insights to identify whether their innovation efforts are visible and meaningful to customers. The results can support decisions about product development, service design, communication, customer experience, and strategic transformation. They can also help companies understand whether they are seen as innovative in ways that strengthen loyalty, competitiveness, and value creation.

  • Technological innovation focuses on what a company develops, such as new systems, products, platforms, or technical capabilities. Customer-perceived innovation focuses on what customers actually experience and value. A company may invest heavily in innovation, but if customers do not recognize the benefits, the innovation may have limited market impact. The customer-based approach therefore complements traditional innovation measures by adding an outside-in perspective.

  • Researchers, companies, and institutions can collaborate with the Innovation Index Coalition through research partnerships, country-level index initiatives, applied projects, workshops, data collaborations, and knowledge-sharing activities. The coalition connects academic partners across countries and works to advance customer-centered innovation research and practice.