The Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) is a global network set up to bring together researchers and practitioners working in the field of Continuous Innovation and related areas of research and practice. The mission of CINet is to progressively become a school of thought on Continuous Innovation. Consistent with this mission, CINet organizes an annual conference. This announcement concerns the 23rd CINet conference, which will take place in Pisa, Italy, hosted by the Dipartimento di Ingegneria of the University of Pisa on 11-13 September, 2022.
The theme of the 23rd CINet conference, “Pursuing Innovation for a Smart & Sustainable Future”, reflects the need to no longer conceive innovation and sustainability as separate, albeit interacting, concepts, but as a conjoint notion. The global crisis due to the COVID pandemic and the rising attention towards environmental concerns suggest that sustainable innovation is a preeminent answer to the issues that the pursuit of the Triple Bottom Line objectives (people, planet and profit) creates. Specifically, sustainable innovation can answer the current call for reshaping production and consumption patterns to attain lower environmental impacts and higher efficiency and making markets and supply chains more resilient against large uncertainty and external threats.
Furthermore, the recent geopolitical tensions regarding the exploitation of scarce resources, such as coltan in the electronic industry, and the quest for a decarbonised society have further put social concerns in the limelight. In this regard, social responsibility, people engagement, and social development can trigger innovation that, in turn, can contribute to achieving the Triple Bottom Line objectives. For instance, in the transition from a linear to a circular economy it is pivotal to take into account social aspects, such as the working conditions of those allowing resource circularity.
Within this scenario, it is not possible to overlook the opportunities offered by digitalisation, such as the exploitation of Blockchain for realising inter-organisational business process integration (business process choreographies) or the development of digital platforms for fostering industrial symbiosis and enabling resource tracking.
This context presents challenges and unprecedented opportunities that feed the agenda of the 23rd CINet Conference and attract the keen interest of both academics and practitioners.
The 23rd CINet Conference invites rigorous research-based papers and research notes aimed at developing theory and/or practical recommendations on:
In addition, papers addressing a broader set of themes within continuous innovation are welcome. These themes include:
Besides the theme and tracks mentioned above, there will also be a special track that you can submit your paper for (please indicate when submitting the abstract that you would like your abstract to be considered for the special track Pursuing Sustainable Design-drive Innovation, organized by Emanuela Conti and Anna Codini.
CINet accepts:
Ever more journals only accept conference-based articles if they are substantially different and/or a substantial extension from the conference paper they are based on. By accepting shorter full papers, we facilitate the development of your work into journal articles. Furthermore, CINet wants to be a place where not only completed research but also ideas for research or collaboration and different stages of work-in-progress are presented and discussed. The “research notes” support the latter purpose.
While most papers presented at the conference are not ready for publication, many provide a good starting point but require additional work before they are publishable. So, true to its nature, CINet selects a number of papers for possible development into a special issue paper, based on their potential and, then, organizes one or more paper development workshops, in the form of a Teams or Zoom event. In these workshops, which will take place late October or early November 2022, the special issue editors will work together with experienced reviewers, to help the invited authors to develop their paper to publishable standard.
Every year, CINet selects two award-winning papers: the John Bessant Best Paper Award and the Mariano Corso Best Practical Implications Award, the paper must meet the following criteria.
The best papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in special issues:
PhD students attending the conference can attend the 22nd CINet PhD Workshop for free.
CIYA will organize their 13th young academics workshop on the Sunday afternoon preceding the conference.
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