Innovation capability is unevenly spread, and the people who most need support are the least likely to get it. Here's the evidence, and what we're doing about it.
Jobs are changing fast. Organisations know innovation matters, but few are ready to act on it, and smaller organisations are the least likely to innovate at all.
workers worldwide will need training by 2030 as the skills their jobs require change
World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025, January 2025
of employers name skills gaps as a major barrier to transforming their business, the most-cited barrier for 2025 to 2030
World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025, January 2025
of companies are ready to turn innovation into results, although 83% rank it among their top three priorities
Boston Consulting Group, Innovation Systems Need a Reboot, June 2024
of small enterprises in the EU were innovation-active in 2020–2022, against 78% of large enterprises
Eurostat, Community Innovation Survey 2022, November 2024
of enterprises in Ireland were innovation-active in 2022–2024, down from 56.5% in 2018–2020. In Northern Ireland, the figure for 2020–2022 was 32%
CSO, Innovation in Irish Enterprises 2024; DBT, UK Innovation Survey 2023, May 2024
Innovation competence can be described, assessed and developed like any other professional skill. Zookie's framework sets out 52 competences in four groups, each at five levels, cross-referenced to the draft international standard, ISO/DIS 56011.
Innovation competences carry across roles, sectors and technologies. Seeing yours clearly builds confidence, and a record of what you've grown.
See where capability sits across your teams, where the gaps are, and how it changes over time, through a dated Innovation Capability Snapshot.
Places with more people able to innovate adapt better to economic change. Open access means support reaches the people and places that are usually left out.
A friendly coach for the people using it, with the rigour that organisations and funders need behind it.
ISO 56011 is the emerging international standard for innovation management competence, expected in 2027. Our co-founder leads its development as Convenor, Chair and Project Lead of the ISO working group.
Built on F!Sk®, the Framework for Innovation Skills, validated by Ulster University as “the first model of its kind”, and cross-referenced to the draft standard.
Individual progress is tracked competence by competence. Organisations get a dated Innovation Capability Snapshot they can share with leadership and funders.
Expert innovation support has usually meant consultancy fees. Open access for people who need it is a founding principle of Zookie, not an add-on.
Zookie helps people find the funding, programmes and mentors already available to them, so nobody has to start from scratch.
Guidance adapts to your context and experience. Zookie suggests and asks good questions; the decisions stay with you.
Pilot Zookie, partner with us, or help us reach the people who need it most.
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