Abstract

TORRES, Luz Marina; CASTELLANOS, Óscar Fernando  and  FUQUENE, Aida Mayerly. Evaluating Colombian SMEs' technological innovation: Part 1: conceptual basis, evaluation methodology and characterisation of innovative companies. Ing. Investig. [online]. 2007, vol.27, n.1, pp.158-167. ISSN 0120-5609.

Innovative processes currently constitute one of the most important alternatives for increasing organisations’ levels of competitiveness and productivity. The Colombian state (being conscious of this) has generated mechanisms aimed at encouraging technological and innovative development activities in SMSEs, as was the case with the Colombian Prize for Entrepreneurial Technological Innovation for SMSE (Innova) 2006. The experience acquired through the technical evaluation of such prize was a valuable element for identifying Colombian MSMSC innovative characteristics and trends. The present article seeks to establish the current state of innovation in SMSEs from experience gained when evaluating and awarding the Innova prize; a frame of reference concerning innovation and design, the methodology used for evaluating the prize and some general statistics regarding the results obtained in 2006 are thus presented. A future publication will give the factors influencing innovation taking geographical regions, sectors and impact as reference. Such results revealed innovative initiatives in strategic sectors such as computer science and services, the leadership of cities such as Bogotá and Medellín and the need for producing clear guidelines for incorporating process and product design into being part of the innovative process.

Keywords : technological innovation; small and medium-sized enterprises (SMSE); design; the Innova prize; evaluation.

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