Strategic watch - A way to feed the innovation process

Strategic intelligence is a key activity in the strategy definition and innovation process.

Oriented towards obtaining information on changes in the environment, it is primarily anticipatory in nature. Strategic intelligence enables general management to establish its development vision, by providing it with information on trends in its environment and ecosystem.

From a more global point of view, strategic intelligence helps boost innovation by bringing in knowledge from outside the company. It challenges the company's offerings and operating methods. It encourages the company to react, to find new solutions and, ultimately, to innovate.

But intelligence is more than simply setting up a tool that automatically gathers relevant information. It requires the involvement of professionals who know both the intelligence business and the company's business(es). They will be in charge of setting up and managing specific processes, a dedicated organization and software that go far beyond gathering information gleaned from the web alone.

After a detailed presentation of what intelligence is, strategic intelligence and the main components of an intelligence system, this article sets out to provide an approach for implementing genuine strategic intelligence within an organization.