Your innovation efforts need structure. ISO 56001 provides it.

Released in September 2024, ISO 56001 is the first certifiable international standard for innovation management systems. It moves innovation from an ad hoc activity to a formalized business discipline with auditable requirements.

Why This Matters Now

Research shows 84% of CEOs want to build innovation cultures, but only 56% have systems to support them. This gap costs money. Companies with structured innovation report 21% higher profitability than those without.

ISO 56001 closes this gap. It gives you mandatory requirements you must meet to prove your innovation system works.

What Changed from ISO 56002

ISO 56002 was guidance. It suggested best practices but carried no formal certification weight.

ISO 56001 contains requirements. Each clause uses "shall" statements that auditors verify. This makes certification possible through accredited bodies like UKAS in the UK, ANAB in the US, and RvA in the Netherlands.

Organizations with ISO 56002 verification now need to migrate their systems to meet the stricter ISO 56001 requirements.

How Certification Works

National accreditation bodies approve certification bodies to audit your innovation system. These certification bodies check whether you meet the standard's requirements across your innovation lifecycle.

UKAS launched a pilot program in early 2025 to develop assessment criteria for certification bodies. Key dates include:

• April 2025: Desktop assessments completed
• June 2025: First accreditation decisions expected
• July 2027: Final deadline for all transitions

Certification proves your innovation system delivers value, not just activity.

What Gets Certified

ISO 56001 covers your full innovation process:

• How you identify opportunities
• How you develop and prioritize ideas
• How you allocate resources to innovation projects
• How you verify that innovations create value
• How you improve the system over time

The standard uses the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle common to other ISO management systems. This makes integration with quality management (ISO 9001) or information security (ISO 27001) straightforward.

Global Certification and Accreditation Bodies

The table below shows the global infrastructure of accreditation bodies and certification providers supporting ISO 56001 implementation.

Implementation Support Available

Certification bodies audit your system. Implementation partners help you build it.

Amplify Innovation in Stockholm employs experts who drafted the ISO 56000 series. They offer ISO-aligned assessments and auditor training through their Academy, featuring Ainno, an AI-powered training assistant.

Innovation 360 Group uses InnoSurvey, a database of 1,000+ companies in 62 countries, to benchmark your capabilities. Their ISO Readiness Test maps performance against the standard's eight pillars. They license independent practitioners to use their methodology, creating a global network of consultants.

Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI) offers both ISO 56001 certification and organizational benchmarking. Their "ISO+" approach adds advisory beyond basic compliance, combining an ISO-only audit with additional benchmarking services.

RevelX in Amsterdam designs Innovation Operating Models that embed the standard's requirements into your business processes. They partner with Qmarkets software to integrate best practices into digital workflows.

Vianeo in France specializes in helping governance bodies define innovation policy and structure processes compliant with ISO 56001. They use a Business Design method to trace the validity of innovation projects.

Orient MCT in Dubai provides implementation support helping organizations implement ISO 56002 Innovation Management Systems.

AIMI in Australia provides education, consulting, and auditing aligned to ISO 56002, and helps with ISO 56001 readiness.

BIS in Cairo offers ISO 56002 training and ISO 56001 readiness consulting.

PCS ISO Iraq in Baghdad supports ISO 56002 implementation and prepares organizations for ISO 56001 certification.

BSMD (MoIC Bahrain) in Manama adopted ISO 56002 and is preparing for ISO 56001 certification schemes.

Software That Supports Compliance

Your innovation management system needs digital infrastructure. Software platforms provide evidence trails auditors require.

Ideanote provides the digital backbone ISO 56001 and ISO 56002 requires. Your innovation system needs to collect ideas, develop them systematically, prioritize based on evidence, and track value delivery. Our platform creates the audit trails certification bodies need to verify compliance. We combine AI automation with structured workflows that map to the standard's requirements.

HYPE Innovation aligns platform modules with ISO 56001 clauses. Their System Architect helps design the structure the standard requires. Through their partnership with Amplify, they offer integrated consulting services. HYPE acquired Planbox, consolidating two major ISO-aligned platforms.

Planbox (now part of HYPE) uses AI to cluster ideas and support evidence-based decisions. CEO Ludwig Melik champions the standard as a way to make innovation "predictable and persistent."

Qmarkets provides governance for innovation portfolio management. Their platform ensures projects get gated and resourced according to strategic priorities. They use AI to identify trends and evaluate opportunities, supporting the Strategic Intelligence aspect of the innovation management system.

Wazoku integrates internal idea management with open innovation partnerships, supporting both ISO 56001. They emphasize that top companies invest $782 billion in R&D and position ISO 56001 as the framework to optimize this spend.

Regional Adoption Patterns

Spain leads in volume through AENOR's large client base migrating from UNE 166002.

The UK drives rigor through UKAS's pilot program and BSI's Kitemark standard.

Sweden provides methodological depth through RISE and Amplify Innovation.

Japan adopts rapidly, driven by companies like OKI and support from JQA and JIN.

The Middle East shows strong momentum with accreditation bodies like GAC, SAAC, and EIAC establishing frameworks while certification bodies like TÜV Saudi, Veritas Assurance, and CanaGulf serve regional demand.

Australia and New Zealand build capacity through JAS-ANZ accreditation and AIMI's education programs.

North America emphasizes business cases and agile integration through ANAB accreditation, GIMI's structured programs, and software vendors like Planbox.

Strategic Implications

ISO 56001 certification proves you manage innovation systematically. This matters when:

• Investors evaluate your innovation capabilities during due diligence
• Customers require supplier qualification in complex supply chains
• Leadership needs accountability for innovation spending
• You integrate innovation management with AI governance (ISO 42001)

The standard shares the same High Level Structure as ISO 42001 for AI management. Organizations implementing ISO 56001 complete most requirements for AI compliance simultaneously. Accreditation bodies like ANAB and RvA treat these as complementary disciplines.

What This Means for Your Organization

Innovation accountability now has a global standard. Early adopters signal that proving your innovation capability matters as much as the innovations themselves.

The infrastructure exists. Accreditation bodies define competence requirements. Certification bodies conduct audits. Implementation partners guide transformation. Software vendors provide digital systems.

Companies like Mott MacDonald use the standard to manage innovation across 20,000 employees in 50 countries, preventing innovation from becoming siloed on individual projects. Gestamp received the first AENOR certification for their innovation management system across a competitive automotive supply chain.

Your choice is whether to lead or follow.

How Ideanote Fits This Landscape

Your innovation system needs to collect ideas, develop them systematically, prioritize based on evidence, and track value delivery. Ideanote provides the digital system of record that ISO 56001 requires.

Ideanote platform creates the audit trails certification bodies need to verify compliance. We combine AI automation with structured workflows that map to the standard's requirements.

You get a system that scales innovation and produces repeatable results. It's what ISO 56001 demands and what Ideanote delivers.