Innovation Pipeline Management: Lessons Learned from the Federal Government and Private Sector

January, 2012
IDA document: D-5367
FFRDC: Science and Technology Policy Institute
Type: Documents
Authors:
Authors
Bhavya Lal, Nayanee Gupta, Christopher L. Weber See more authors
The Assistant to the President, Chief Technology Officer, and Associate Director of Technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) asked the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) to examine innovation pipelines in a range of public and private organizations and to identify practices that may be relevant to a broader set of government innovation programs. Building on a review of the literature and discussions with innovation leaders in the government and private sectors, STPI identified practices worth considering and emulating for each of the stages of an innovation pipeline. Findings focused on mechanisms to source early stage ideas, how to stage-gate ideas (portfolio management tools) and fund them, how to scale-up the best ideas, with the goal of replicating what works. While these practices are not directly transferable as-they-are, they provide useful food-for-thought as government agencies transform their processes and systems to adjust to the challenges of the twenty-first century.