With rapidly shortening product life cycles and the constantly evolving business environment, accelerating, adapting, and managing innovations have become indispensable steps for sustained productivity enhancement, especially in SMEs in highly competitive markets with limited resources.

Pursuing innovation can be challenging without clear guidance and standards. To enable organizations to promote innovations systematically, the ISO has published a series of standards on the terminology, tools, and methods under the ISO 56000 series, which provide the vocabulary, fundamental concepts, principles of innovation management, and approaches for systematic implementation.

Course Objectives

The main objectives of this course are:

1. Understand the concept and importance of innovation management in SMEs;

2. Learn about the ISO 56000 series for innovation management in SMEs; and

3. Examine best practices of innovation management.

This e-learning course will cover the following modules:

Module 1: Key Success Factors of Innovation: Management and Related ISO Innovation Management Standards (56000 Series)

Module 2: Supporting SMEs in Developing their Innovation Strategies in Line with the ISO 56000 Series

Module 3: Supporting SMEs in Developing Innovative and Innovation-focused Organizations and Cultures in Line with the ISO 56000 Series

Module 4: Supporting SMEs in Developing Innovation Processes in Line with the ISO 56000 Series

Module 5: Supporting SMEs in Developing Innovation Systems in Line with the ISO 56000 Series and Beyond

Important Notes:

1. Participants who register to take this course and pass the final examination with a score of 70% or higher will be eligible to receive the APO certificate. Please note that the final examination can be taken only once. Therefore, the most appropriate time to take the examination should be chosen carefully. The self-assessment quizzes are for personal evaluation only and are not related to the final examination results.

2. Participants who perform well in this course and receive the APO certificate will be given preference, on a merit basis, for selection to attend follow-up face-to-face multicountry APO projects on similar topics, when nominated by their NPOs and if slots are available.

3. Notes 1 and 2 are applicable only to participants from APO member countries. Participants from nonmember countries are welcome to take the course for self-improvement, although they will not have an opportunity to attend the follow-up face-to-face multicountry APO projects.

4. Each module is in a prerecorded video format in which the expert delivers presentations by explaining each slide. Participants can access the video by clicking on the link provided under the title of each module.