Rising to the Challenge: An Interview with NSAI’s Geraldine Larkin
[This article was originally published in the Irish Independent. Reproduced with thanks to Mediahaus and the Small Firms Association]
National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) has intensified its efforts to promote innovation within Irish businesses in a number of ways, writes chief executive officer Geraldine Larkin
In the past year, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) launched a new certification service, designed to enhance and support innovation capabilities across a wide variety of industries. Developed in partnership with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, the scheme is set to provide organisations with a robust framework for fostering and sustaining innovation.
Offering unique expertise and over 130 test beds and demonstration environments for future-proof technologies, products and services, RISE is Sweden’s research institute and innovation partner. It collaborates with industry, academia and the public sector to ensure competitiveness on an international level and contribute to a sustainable society.
For NSAI, RISE is interesting as it is an expert technical institution that merges science and innovation, which has developed a methodology drawing from standards to certify innovation management professionals. We are not reinventing the wheel, but rather drawing on an established scheme that has already been proven and delivered results and taking that and bringing it to Irish individuals.
This certification scheme provides strong foundations for innovation professionals following the publication in September 2024 of ISO 56001.
Geraldine Larkin NSAI CEO
The Certification for Innovation Management Professionals (NSAI.ie/innovation) is underpinned by the ISO 56000 series of standards, which provide internationally recognised guidelines for innovation management.
This certification scheme provides strong foundations for innovation professionals following the publication in September 2024 of ISO 56001 – an auditable management system standard in respect of innovation management.
RISE has already certified over 50 individuals internationally for the ISO 56001-aligned Innovation Management Certification. Some of the advantages of becoming an innovation leader by getting certified include gaining credibility and a competitive advantage over others in your sector; mastering complex innovation skills beyond traditional management; standing out with expertise in cutting-edge innovation systems; and being recognised for your skills and knowledge in transforming challenges into opportunities.
Sean McNulty, past chair of an Innovation Technical Committee with NSAI, was the first person in Ireland to go through the process and get certified. Speaking about the standards that underpin this certification, he said: “ISO 56001 provides a credible and internationally agreed-upon framework and shared language for managing innovation efforts across multiple departments, sites and countries within any organisation.”
Driving growth and competitiveness
As Ireland's official standards body, NSAI is committed to helping businesses to leverage standards to drive growth, competitiveness, and long-term success. By adhering to the ISO 56000 series, organisations can systematically enhance their innovation processes, ensuring they remain at the forefront of their industries.
ISO 56000 offers a whole suite of standards on how to do innovation – what steps to take, what things to take into account and the language to use when walking through the innovation process. When you think about how many innovation projects fail, to have this type of guidance is hugely important and beneficial.
NSAI has access to over 30,000 standards across a huge diversity of subject matter areas that cover best practice and expert knowledge at EU and international levels. Equally, standards also bring best practice in relation to emerging and new technologies into full focus. It is really important that we, as an organisation, can ventilate our knowledge and expertise in these areas out to wider industry.
Our strategy is two-pronged in this regard – firstly, we support SMEs in adopting standards and secondly, through our knowledge transfer to SMEs so they can take best practice on emerging technologies or innovation back to their own products or services.
There are general standards for areas such as quality management (ISO 9001), environmental management (ISO 14001) and health and safety (IS0 45001) but also more specific standards, including thousands of product standards. A smaller business might not always go for certification, but rather use standards for risk management and to instil best practice within their operation. This enables companies to realise value for their investment in innovation much faster, as it gives them one best way of doing something.
Increasing importance
Innovation has been the cornerstone of NSAI’s strategy since 2022 and we are placing an increasing focus on it in light of digital transformation across industries.
Geraldine Larkin NSAI CEO
Drawing on the international expertise that comes with standards I often think is akin to bringing an international consultant into a business to set out a framework, process and steps to take. Whether it’s the core quality piece or innovation, standards help management to walk through what they need to do with each layer of the process and how to validate and review this on an annual basis. Essentially, standards put a structure in place under specific subject matters.
Innovation has been the cornerstone of NSAI’s strategy since 2022 and we are placing an increasing focus on it in light of digital transformation across industries. In recent years, digital technologies have become increasingly pervasive in our everyday lives from the way we socialise, shop, work and entertain.
The standards that are being developed provide a common framework for digital technology applications. They also complement regulations and laws, contributing to digital-transformation governance. The adoption of these standards ensures compatibility and interoperability among services, products, and processes, while guaranteeing minimum levels of quality and safety.
Interested in learning more about standards? Visit NSAI.ie/standards
Or, to find out more about certification for innovation professionals, visit NSAI.ie/innovation
