From climate change to economic volatility, from the energy crisis to geopolitical instability, the current landscape illustrates a range of complexities to which businesses are called upon to respond in a timely manner by embracing digital tools and new technologies that are capable of combining efficiency, flexibility and resilience.

Growth and sustainability are no longer antithetical concepts. On the contrary, we need to facilitate a radical paradigm shift in which innovation plays an increasingly pivotal role. Indeed, it is the main enabling factor through which new business models can be ushered in, where environmental performance, people’s wellbeing, transparency and good conduct are the pillars of a sustainable and long-lasting development.

After a long and productive collaboration between our experts and UNI – Italian Standards Body, this challenge can now count on a revolutionary operational tool: reference practice UNI/PdR 155:2023 “Sustainable innovation management - Guidelines for managing sustainable innovation processes in companies through open innovation.” This is a pre-normative document that not only represents a fundamental point of reference for the entire national arena but also provides practical support for all companies that want to steer their organizational and production innovation processes towards new models devoted to sustainability, efficiency and profitability. It is precisely from this philosophy that the name Innovability® was coined long ago, which sees innovation as a means to an aim, that of sustainability.

Through the guidelines contained within the UNI/PdR 155:2023, companies find concrete support and are accompanied in the discovery of an industrial vision that aims to ensure wellbeing and long-term growth through an intelligent capitalization on technological progress. In fact, it becomes a tool for environmental, economic and social wellbeing, in line with the objectives of Industry 5.0 and the circular economy already laid out by the European Commission.

In this regard, the UNI/PdR 155:2023 provides valuable guidance that helps companies to establish sustainable innovation processes, assisting them in identifying and balancing specific needs with new areas of opportunity. The goal is to research, validate and develop technological solutions that can be applied on an industrial scale, including through innovative tools and research methods such as crowdsourcing, innovation events, hubs for collaboration with startups, cross-functional work groups and corporate entrepreneurship programs.  

It is with this spirit of open innovation, which aims to foster the emergence of ecosystems of ongoing collaboration, that the UNI/PdR 155:2023 can be downloaded free of charge after registering on the UNI Store. The goal is to support, through this practical and accessible guide, all companies that want to implement a sustainable innovation strategy through Open Innovation, increasing their value and generating shared growth based on virtuous relationships with their stakeholders and the communities in which they operate.

Only in this way can sustainable innovation be a tool that ensures production efficiency and economic prosperity, to the point of creating a new vision capable of transforming businesses into pillars of progress, security and prosperity for present and future generations.