All the man-made changes that the world has witnessed are a result of this tendency to look for something new and different. The desire to try something else is a prominent human characteristic. There is no end to the new ideas in the world, but when these ideas create value, it becomes innovation.

The world is shifting from an industrial age to a knowledge age. In the continuously changing global environment, strategic advantage can only come from being leaders rather than followers of change, and the only way that firms can be leaders of change is through innovation.

The future revenue of companies derives from their innovation activities of today. Innovation is not an issue only for high-tech industries, any company can be innovative.

Innovation is a process, not a destination.

The minimum requirement for an innovation is that the product, process, marketing method or organisational method must be new (or significantly improved) to the firm. Our fast-changing world brings challenges and opportunities for businesses. Innovation can help businesses make the most of these changes. Changing customer needs and expectations, changing competitors, changing technology, changing external regulatory environment, and an increasingly global and dynamic marketplace - all bring opportunities for innovation.

“Innovation is creating new value. Value is the key word, as innovation is moving at lightning speed, allowing business to grow and flourish in ways they never could before. The success of my start-up was possible due to the principle of frugal innovation (doing more with less) and open source innovation, but I moved to business innovation as well.” - Adrian Muresan (CEO), Printivate, start-up, RO