• Announcement: nearest events

• Reports on The ETRIA TRIZ Future Conference 2006

• New books

• TRIZ, Creativity and Innovation on the web

By observing what was happening in 2006, it becomes obvious that innovation is not just a buzzword but a real and working strategy in every area of technology and business. TRIZ and Systematic Innovation help bringing this strategy to the next level: from unpredictable expectations of insight to a well-defined and predictable activity. What is also important is that it is not enough to say "let us develop more innovative products or services". It becomes clear that we must move ourselves towards developing innovative personality to enable successful and winning innovations.

Please note that this year, in addition to our regular in-company and one-day public introductory courses, we scheduled two extended practical public TRIZ courses: 5-day advanced course on TRIZ and Systematic Innovation in technology and engineering, which covers advanced TRIZ techniques, and a unique 5-day course for TRIZ business and management. Both courses are planned to be held in Utrecht, near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. At both courses participants are encouraged to work with their problems. Please see links below to these events.

We also announced a call for papers for the forthcoming "TRIZ Case Studies" (a working title) book, in which we, an international team of editors, invite authors to present various cases of solved problems and innovative improvements made with TRIZ. A goal of the book is to provide better insight in TRIZ and help explain how TRIZ works to the broad audience of readers. The Call for Papers is available at
http://www.xtriz.com/TRIZCaseStudiesCallForPapers.pdf
 
I wish your successful innovations in 2007,
Valeri Souchkov  

ETRIA TRIZ Future Conference 2006

With over 120 attendees from all over the world, the 6th ETRIA Conference TRIZ Future 2006 in Kortrijk, Belgium was again a successful event. About 90 papers were submitted to the conference, and 48 papers were selected for presentations. During the conference, Prof. Gaetano Cascini (University of Florence, Italy), was elected and announced as a new president of ETRIA for the next two-year term.

The next ETRIA Conference is scheduled at November 6-8, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Details will be posted soon to www.etria.net

For those who are interested in detailed reports on the conference, please see:

• Personal report by Toru Nakagawa: A very extended and detailed report about the conference.

• Live daily conference coverage by Ellen Domb, an editor of the TRIZ Journal. Scroll down the blog to see the records about the conference.

• Pictures from the conference
   

Although not necessarily dealing with TRIZ, these books published in 2006 provide a useful contribution to answering general questions regarding innovation, and can be recommended to everyone interested in enhancing innovative competence:

• The World Is Flat (updated and expanded): A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
  by Thomas L. Friedman

• Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity to Powerful Business Advantage
  by Pat Fallon and Fred Senn

• The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More
  by Chris Anderson

• Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win
  by William Taylor and Polly LaBarre

• Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape
  by Henry Chesbrough

• Payback: Reaping the Rewards of Innovation
  by James Andrew and Harold Sirkin

As usual, we continue to update you with a selection of recommended recent papers and other web resources in the areas of TRIZ, Creativity, and Innovation.

• TRIZ: Top 12 questions
  Since the same questions about TRIZ and Systematic Innovation arise more and more often, I decided to post the answers to my blog.
   
• TRIZ: Annotated list of components
  by Valeri Souchkov
  In the article I compiled a list of key TRIZ and Systematic Innovation concepts and techniques.
   
• Most Important Lessons about Innovation in 2006
  In his blog, Chuck Frey posts a collection of answers from his readers to the question: "What is the most important lesson you learned regarding innovation during 2006?" A very interesting summary of responds from all over the world.
   
• Why Innovation will be the word of 2007?
  Jim Carroll explains a number of reasons why he believes that innovation will be crucial in 2007. This is very important: "People are finally "getting it": They are realizing that innovation isn't just about new products; it's about looking at what you do, how you do it, and how you can do it better."
   
• Innovators Were the Big Winners in 2006
  by Washington Post
  "To succeed, computing and electronics firms need to reinvent themselves regularly, not just their products. Doing business in the same old way only invites competitors to leap ahead."
   
• TIME: Best Inventions of 2006
  by the Time,
  An overview of the best inventions of 2006 across varieties of areas: from cooking to military.
   
• The 20 Most Innovative Products of the Year
  by the PC World,
  Find an overview of the 20 most innovative products of 2006 in computer and electronic industries.
   
• The Year of Ideas
  by New York Times
  The article highlights 74 ideas that were found by the editors and writers most interesting in 2006 (requires free registration).
   
• Five Disruptive Technologies To Watch in 2007
  By Information Week
  The article discusses which technologies will be taking off in 2007.
   
• 15 Surprises ahead in 2007
  by Business 2.0
  Another version of what will be most "hot" in 2007.
   
• 40 Inventive Principles in Customer Satisfaction Enhancement
  by Gennady Retseptor, published in the TRIZ Journal
  For those who are familiar with 40 Inventive Principles of TRIZ, it will be of interest to find a rich collection of examples within the customer satisfaction area.
   
• Abstract of the book "Evolution Trees"
  by Nikolay Shpakovsky, published in the TRIZ Journal
  A detailed and well-illustrated 37-page abstract of this forthcoming book, which could be of interest to anyone learning or working with TRIZ and Systematic Innovation. 
   
• More articles about TRIZ can be found in freely available Online TRIZ Journal, including collection of all the articles published during last 10 years. Other publications from ICG T&C are available at http://www.xtriz.com/publications.htm