Guest article by Kristina Heinonen.
Innovation Index Coalition Meeting at Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland, in June 2026
As part of the 2026 Frontiers in Service conference in Helsinki, members of the Innovation Index Coalition (IIC) gathered on June 30 to continue their collaborative work on measuring innovation from the customer perspective.
Founded in 2023 and building on the Norwegian Innovation Index initiative launched in 2016, the coalition brings together researchers from multiple countries to advance science-based, customer-centred measurement of innovativeness—that is, customers’ perceptions of firms’ innovation capabilities—and develop comparable insights across markets. The meeting brought together coalition members attending the conference in Helsinki, while some colleagues from the United States, Norway, and Denmark joined remotely. Kristina Heinonen, Director of the Innovation Index Coalition, convened and facilitated the discussion, which focused on the continued development of the coalition’s shared framework.
The discussion centred on strengthening collaboration across countries, refining key concepts and measures, and shaping the coalition’s future research agenda. Particular attention was given to conceptual clarity, cross-country comparability, and the continued development of measures capturing commercial, digital, and social dimensions of innovativeness.
Beyond specific methodological questions, the meeting highlighted a broader challenge: how to maintain a shared framework while allowing the coalition to evolve in response to new forms of innovation, changing markets, and emerging research opportunities. Participants also explored how shared data resources could support comparative analyses, joint research initiatives, and the cumulative development of knowledge across countries.
The meeting reinforced the value of bringing together researchers who examine similar phenomena in different contexts. While each national index reflects its own market environment, the coalition’s collective efforts help identify broader patterns and deepen understanding of how customers perceive and experience innovativeness.
Frontiers in Service provided an ideal setting for these conversations. The meeting concluded with greater clarity regarding priorities for the coming year and a renewed commitment to advancing the coalition’s scientific foundations, international collaboration, and practical impact.
