ICIS Innovation Awards 2015 - entries now required

After a break of some time, I'm back to tell you about the ICIS Innovation Awards 2015.
This is the 12th year I've organised these awards, which seek to recognise and promote innovation in the chemical industry.
I'm looking for entries to be in by 26th June and hoping that as usual we will get some super innovations from large and small companies alike.
The Awards seek to recognise and reward companies that show high levels of innovation in products, processes and ways of doing business, as well as providing benefits to the environment and sustainability.
Winners will be those companies that have made significant steps forward in technological and business innovation, with tangible results emerging during 2014 and the early part of this year.
You can read all about last year's winners in a 16-page publication.
The Awards are open to companies around the world, reflecting ICIS's global coverage of the industry
ICIS is pleased to have Roland Berger Strategy Consultants as the overall sponsor again this year and to welcome back U.S. Chemicals as a category sponsor. We are also delighted to welcome ExxonMobil Chemical as a new category sponsor for 2015.
There are five innovation categories for you to choose from to enter, depending on the type of innovation and size of company.
They are:

• Best Product Innovation
  Sponsored by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
• Best Process Innovation
  Open to sponsorship
• Best Innovation by a Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME)
  Sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical
• Best Business Innovation
  Open to sponsorship
• Innovation with Best Benefit to Environment or Sustainability
  Sponsored by U.S. Chemicals

You can see full details of the Awards at www.icis.com/awards, and learn a little more by watching these two short videos. I look forward to receiving your entry!

DSM/AkzoNobel boost innovation push

My colleague Will Beacham on ICIS Chemical Business has just published this interesting piece on the changing pace of innovation in the chemicals sector, with interviews with leading executives at DSM and AkzoNobel as well as consultants at Accenture. Well worth a look.

Accenture's Stephan Scholtissek argues that "CEOs should recognize that the core of the company is no longer the existing businesses, but the innovations. Innovators are today seen as the troublemakers; nobody wants them. Everything is laid on for the standard business to ensure it is working properly. All the effort goes into this. The most powerful board members are all working on the day-to-day business."

In the article, DSM's chief innovation officer, Rob van Leen, says: "Five years ago, we launched our strategy making innovation more center stage in our corporate strategy, to make it more market-driven and to increase the speed of innovation. Now we want to take this to the next level in line with our four strategic pillars: high-growth economies, innovation, sustainability, and partnerships and acquisitions."