Celsio has collaborated with Ulster University Business School (UUBS) in the creation of a new framework for innovation skills development. F!Sk® is a competency-based matrix for sustainable innovation and is aimed at accelerating how organisations develop innovation capability and confidence in a rapidly changing world.
Innovation skills are in high demand. The World Economic Forum lists innovation in its top ten skills for 2025, and recruitment agencies include innovation among the priority skills demanded by employers. Until recently, innovation skills development has focussed almost exclusively on idea generation. Design thinking, creativity, and brainstorming courses are easily sourced, and while they teach useful techniques, they seldom lead to organisations implementing a sustainable approach to innovation.
The innovation landscape changed in 2019 with the publication of the new international standard ISO 56002:2019 Innovation Management System Guidance. Innovation experts from 50 countries proposed that innovation must be seen as much more than ideation. The standard recommends that organisations look to make innovation sustainable by taking a holistic approach that encompasses leadership, strategy, processes, skills development, measurement, and the development of a culture supportive of change.
Celsio has embraced the future of innovation that ISO 56002:2019 champions, and has created F!Sk® (Framework for Innovation Skills). F!Sk® is a competency matrix that identifies the full spectrum of skills and competency levels required by any team wanting to put in place an enduring approach to innovation.
Recognising the importance of this new approach, Invest NI awarded an Innovation Voucher to fund a collaborative project between Celsio and UUBS. The Business School undertook an academic review of F!Sk®, including a critique of the framework against innovation standards, and an evaluation of the model against both current and emerging academic research and thinking.
The UUBS report confirmed the growing global demand for innovation skills development and found F!Sk® to be distinctive in its approach. It found F!Sk® to be the only skills framework designed to strategically link to the principles of ISO 56002:2019 and underpin a sustainable approach to innovation within established organisations.
Read the full UUBS report UUBS report here.
By Charlie Tuxworth
