In the technology disrupted world, the next wave of growth and competitiveness will come from continuous innovation. Businesses across various industries are looking for innovation to grow, compete and transform in the fast-growing digital economy. It is against this backdrop thatAccenture (NYSE: ACN) and partners, Transunion and The Da Vinci Institute, today launched the annual Innovation Index 2017, themed “Ignite Ingenuity”.
The Accenture Innovation Index measures, recognises and rewards innovation and systems of innovation in organisations of all sizes in the South African public and private sectors every year. The Index is designed to provide a national benchmark for innovation, providing businesses and policymakers with an authoritative and objective snapshot of the state of innovation within their organisations and in South Africa.
To participate in this year’s Index, organisations are encouraged to complete the registration form on the Accenture Innovation website before 30 April.
Last year’s Innovation Index highlighted that the pace at which South Africa is innovating needs to accelerate if the country hopes to continue to compete in the 21st century. The survey painted a worrying picture of 57 percent of companies scoring less than 52 points out of a possible 100 – they fall into the “innovation laggard” category. Only 29 percent could be categorised as innovation leaders.
“We need to see levels of innovation improving radically. This year, we hope to see some remarkable companies signing up to showcase what have been achieved. Those companies that may be laggards also have every opportunity to learn the lessons needed to begin their all-important journey to becoming true innovation leaders,” says Rory Moore, Innovation Lead at Accenture.
On average, South African companies invest 13.7 percent of their annual revenues in innovation and realising a 14.5 percent return. Innovation value champions invest 17.8 percent of revenues and their average return is 42.6 percent – almost three times higher than the market average.
“The Accenture Innovation Index showcases some of the great things happening on the African continent; entrepreneurs and established companies developing innovative responses to some of the biggest challenges faced by society. The fit with TU’s ‘Information for Good’ mission is both exciting and inspirational,” says Lee Naik, CEO of TransUnion.
“The Accenture innovation index plays an important role in facilitating the development of an innovation management system, which should make a meaningful contribution to the socio economic development of South Africa and Africa at large in the future. The alignment of the program with Da Vinci’s “development of sustainable societies” goal is essential to the continued progress of our society,” says Prof Bennie Anderson, CEO The Da Vinci Institute.
“Today’s launch means we are all systems go to begin vetting and short-listing. As always successful participants will receive awards at the Innovation Conference later in the year. This is becoming one of the highlights of the business calendar, where extremely useful insights on the levels of innovation in the country are highlighted – including areas of improvement – but also where the best companies can be rewarded for being true innovation champions. It’s time for companies to embrace innovation on a far broader scale or else they will be left behind by the increasingly complex, demanding and competitive market,” says Moore.