Information technology support for the knowledge and social processes of innovation management

While the management of innovation is the most knowledge-intensive organizational process, its information technology support has received only fragmented attention. The majority of systems proposed are either aiming at augmenting individual creativity and productivity, or at increasing the productivity of communication among the actors involved. In this paper, building on the view of innovation as a process of consecutive problems resolution, we present an information systems framework that aims at integrating different actors' perspectives and tools across different activities, by explicitly addressing the knowledge and social dynamics of the whole process. The framework is based on a systemic problem-knowledge representation scheme and an evolutionary problem-resolution methodology that supports the innovation process in its entirety, enabling the gradual 'breeding' of innovation concept(s). After reviewing the relevant literature, we present the structure, functionality and use of Knowledge Breeder, a web-based software system that implements this methodology through a structured dialogue and a formal argumentation scheme. By means of a use case we show how this system can support the innovation process effectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.