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Frequently asked questions

# Can Innguma serve several areas at once?

**Short answer** 

Yes. In Innguma, each area can have its own watches and newsletters, and all of them share the same knowledge base in the Library. A signal of interest to several areas is reviewed and validated once, stays in the Library with its source, and reaches each area in its newsletter. The result is a shared view of the environment without each department repeating the work of the others.

## Why a common base rather than one watch per department?

Because procurement, R&D, quality, sales and executive management look at different parts of the same environment, and important changes rarely affect only one of them. The international guidance ISO 56006:2021, on tools and methods for strategic intelligence management, describes that intelligence as cross-cutting and cross-sectoral by nature[\[1\]](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/faq/multiple-areas/#ref-1). UNE 166006 moved in the same direction: its 2018 edition removed the adjectives ‘technological’ and ‘competitive’ and spoke of watch and intelligence, without restricting it to one type of information[\[2\]](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/faq/multiple-areas/#ref-2). AENOR describes its purpose as supporting decision-making at all levels of the organisation[\[3\]](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/faq/multiple-areas/#ref-3).

Watches kept separately by department have three costs: the same signal is reviewed several times, each area interprets it without knowing what the others have seen, and executive management has no single place to see the whole.

## Example: one signal, five readings

| Area | What matters to it in the signal | Decision it may trigger |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Quality and regulatory affairs | Application date and products affected | Adaptation plan and technical documentation |
| Procurement | Which suppliers supply the substance, and who offers alternatives | Approving an alternative supplier |
| R&D | Substitute materials and who is patenting them | Opening a testing line |
| Sales | Which customers will have to comply with the rule | Anticipating the conversation with them |
| Executive management | Impact on cost, timing and position against competitors | Prioritising resources |

The signal: a European rule is published restricting a substance used in a component. It is validated once, stays in the Library with its source, and each area receives it in its newsletter, with the focus that corresponds to it. Illustrative example.

## How is a watch for several areas organised?

1.  **Needs by area.** Each department defines its decisions and key topics.
2.  **A common taxonomy.** Shared tags and categories, agreed before each area creates its own.
3.  **Watches and newsletters by area.** Each area receives what is its own, at its own frequency.
4.  **Single validation.** What interests several areas is validated once and reused.
5.  **Coordination.** A reference person who knows all the areas and arbitrates priorities.

Innguma’s AI helps one signal serve several areas: it filters, groups duplicates and classifies each signal by category, technology, entity, type of event, place and tone. AI Feed allows the content to be browsed along those dimensions, so each area can enter through the one that interests it. People decide what is published and who receives it.

## How to start and how to grow

With one or two areas that have clear needs and a person to coordinate. Before adding a new area, it is worth checking two things: that the common taxonomy serves it, and that there is someone in it who will read and respond. Integration with Active Directory makes additions and removals centralised as more people join.

## Common mistakes when extending the watch

-   **Parallel taxonomies.** Each area tags in its own way, and the history can no longer be searched as a whole.
-   **One newsletter for everyone.** Each reader has to search for what is theirs, and stops opening it.
-   **Validating twice.** Two areas review the same signal without knowing it.
-   **Growing without coordination.** One area’s priorities displace the others without anyone deciding so.

## Sources and references

1.  \[1\] [ISO. ISO 56006:2021, Innovation management. Tools and methods for strategic intelligence management. Guidance. November 2021](https://www.iso.org/standard/72621.html)
2.  \[2\] [Utrilla, F. Watch and intelligence systems in R&D+i management. UNE Standardisation Review (La Revista de la Normalización Española), No. 3, May 2018](https://revista.une.org/3/sistemas-de-vigilancia-e-inteligencia-en-la-gestion-de-la-id.html)
3.  \[3\] [AENOR. The AENOR certificate for Watch and Intelligence (UNE 166006)](https://www.aenor.com/documents/d/guest/3-vigilancia-e-inteligencia)

## Related

- [How is the watch tailored to each department?](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/faq/adapting-to-each-department/)
- [The Innguma Library: your organisation's watch memory](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/software/library/)
- [AI Feed: browsing the watch by what each signal is about, not by its words](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/software/ai-feed/)
- [Can we combine the platform and the service?](https://www.innguma.com/en/resources/faq/mixed-model/)

- [Request a demo](https://www.innguma.com/en/demo/)
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