The Norwegian Innovation Index Methodological Foundations

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it” is an old management saying. On the national level, the existing sources of systematic information on innovation efforts and innovation performance typically rely on macroeconomic indicators. This top-down and inside-out perspective neglects the experiences and opinions of innovation recipients. Recognizing that it is customers’ adoption and usage decisions that determine the success of new products and, ultimately, of innovators themselves, a research team at NHH – Norwegian School of Economics and the research center Digital Innovations for Sustainable Growth (DIG) developed the world’s first outside-in and bottom-up approach to evaluating innovation efforts – the Norwegian Innovation Index (NII), which was launched in 2016.