Watch for innovation teams: which technologies are gaining traction and which funding arrives in time

What counts as innovation, and why does it change what has to be watched?

The Oslo Manual 2018, the OECD and Eurostat reference for measuring innovation^[1], defines business innovation as a new or improved product or business process that differs significantly from the firm’s previous ones and that has been introduced to the market or brought into use. It distinguishes two types: product innovation (goods and services) and business process innovation, which covers production, distribution and logistics, marketing and sales, information systems, administration and product development.

The consequence for watching is direct: following technologies is not enough. An innovation team also needs to see new business models, changes in how a sector distributes or sells, and signals of real adoption, because innovation only exists once something reaches the market or is put to use.

In management, the reference changed in 2024. ISO published ISO 56001 in September 2024, the first international requirements standard for an innovation management system^[2], and in Spain UNE-EN ISO 56001:2024, published on 11 December 2024, supersedes UNE 166002:2021^[3]. If your system was certified against UNE 166002, agree the transition with your certification body.

How to read a technology’s maturity from public signals

The technology readiness levels (TRL) used by the European Commission run from 1, basic principles observed, to 9, system proven in an operational environment^[4]. Each stage leaves different traces in public sources. The correspondence is indicative, but it orders the watch:

When a topic moves to the next row (for example, from articles to patent applications by industrial applicants), the technology is advancing and its priority in the portfolio should be reconsidered.

Weak signals: when does a topic move from monitoring to exploration?

In 1975 H. Igor Ansoff argued that organisations can prepare for strategic surprises if they respond in a graduated way to weak signals, rather than waiting for complete information^[5]. In innovation, this translates into rules written in advance for promoting a topic. An example of criteria a team might set:

1. Monitoring. The topic appears in only one type of source. It is recorded and tagged, and nothing more.
2. Active observation. It appears in at least two independent types of source (an article and a patent application, for example), or a relevant player in your sector is driving it.
3. Exploration. There is a specific call, a funded project with known partners or a first public customer. An owner is assigned and a pilot is assessed.

Ten news items reproducing the same press release count as a single signal. The independence of sources matters more than volume.

Which funding calls to watch and how far in advance

• Horizon Europe. The EU’s framework programme for research and innovation for 2021–2027, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/695^[6]. Its calls are published on the Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal, the single entry point for applicants^[7]. Work programmes are known before the calls open: watching them gives months to form a consortium.
• EIC Accelerator. It funds start-ups and SMEs with technologies between TRL 6 and 8, with grants of up to €2.5 million and investments of €1 to 10 million. In 2026 the full-proposal cut-offs are 7 January, 4 March, 6 May, 8 July, 2 September and 4 November; short proposals may be submitted at any time^[8].
• The next framework programme. On 16 July 2025 the Commission proposed a Horizon Europe for 2028–2034 with €175 billion and four pillars, one of them devoted to innovation and the European Innovation Council^[9]. It is a proposal: its final shape depends on the negotiation of the multiannual financial framework.
• Projects already funded. CORDIS brings together EU-funded research projects, their results and their publications^[10]. It helps identify partners with experience and see what has already been funded before proposing something similar.

What Innguma offers an innovation team

Innguma continuously monitors news and websites, patents, tenders and specialist sources on the topics the team defines. The AI groups duplicates, which avoids counting the same press release ten times, and classifies each signal by technology, entity, type of event and place. With AI Feed you can browse the content crossing those dimensions, for example a technology with a type of event or with a place, to see which players are moving it and where.

What the team validates is kept in the Library with tags, comments and source. By tagging each signal with its level of monitoring, the history shows how a topic has evolved and when each portfolio decision was taken. The technology and opportunities newsletter is sent from the Library to whoever is preparing the proposals.