Innovation Research Interchange

What Innovation Research Interchange does

Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a nonprofit, membership-based association founded in 1938 that serves approximately 100 global member organizations, primarily large private-sector manufacturers and federally funded research laboratories. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and operating as a division of the National Association of Manufacturers since 2022, IRI convenes senior R&D and innovation leaders — typically CTOs, VPs of Innovation, and Directors of R&D — to exchange best practices in a neutral, noncompetitive setting.

The organization's product portfolio is organized around three pillars: Connect (Community Forum, IRI Roundtables, annual Innovators Summit and Innovating the Future conferences, and member events), Develop (i101 Bootcamp, Virtual Workshops, Applied Innovation Certificates Program, the five-day Shaping Innovation Leaders executive program held at Northwestern's Kellogg School, and On-Demand Courses delivered via Absorb LMS), and Inform (the peer-reviewed Research-Technology Management journal published since 1958, the Quarterly Trends Analyzer, the Resource Center, and the IRIS AI chatbot assistant). IRI is credited as the institutional origin of several widely adopted innovation management frameworks, including open innovation, the front end of innovation, and stage-gate.

Revenue is generated through four primary streams: recurring membership dues (the core stream), professional development program fees (with member/non-member tiered pricing, e.g., Shaping Innovation Leaders at $12,625–$15,775), event registration for the annual conference and forums, and journal subscriptions via Taylor & Francis for non-members. The organization markets through content marketing, podcasts (Innovation Ahead, Edge of What's Next), social media, email, and events, and operates globally with member activity across North America, Europe, India, and Australia/New Zealand.

Name

Innovation Research Interchange

Legal name

Innovation Research Interchange

Website

https://iriweb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a nonprofit membership association serving approximately 100 global manufacturing companies and federal laboratories, providing peer networking, executive professional development, and the peer-reviewed Research-Technology Management journal for senior R&D and innovation leaders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Organizations pay membership fees to join IRI and gain access to member forums, resources, events, professional development programs, and the peer network of innovation leaders.
2. Professional Development Programs: Revenue from programs including Shaping Innovation Leaders (executive program at Northwestern's Kellogg School), certificate workshops, and bootcamps. Members receive preferential pricing.
3. Event Registration: Fees for attending events including Innovators Summit, Innovating the Future conference, CTO Forum, and various roundtable series.
4. Journal Subscriptions: Research-Technology Management journal available to members online; non-members may subscribe through Taylor & Francis. Print copies available for additional fee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a global nonprofit membership association that convenes and serves nearly 100 private-sector companies and federally funded laboratories, providing a peer-to-peer community for R&D and innovation leaders. Its core offer centers on three pillars: Connect (Community Forum, Roundtables, annual Innovators Summit and Innovating the Future conference), Develop (professional development programs ranging from i101 Bootcamps and Virtual Workshops to the Applied Innovation Certificates and the Shaping Innovation Leaders executive program at Northwestern Kellogg), and Inform (the RTM bi-monthly journal, Quarterly Trends Analyzer, Innovation Growth Drivers, IRIS AI assistant, and IRI Resource Center).

Product overview

Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) is a membership organization providing a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for innovation and R&D leaders. The core offerings include the Research-Technology Management (RTM) Journal, a bi-monthly publication translating academic research into practitioner insights; the Community Forum for peer-to-peer knowledge exchange; IRI Roundtables for focused monthly discussions; and IRI Events including the flagship Innovators Summit and Innovating the Future conference. IRI also provides professional development through the i101 Bootcamp, Virtual Workshops, Applied Innovation Certificates Program, Shaping Innovation Leaders (in partnership with Northwestern's Kellogg School), and On-Demand Courses via Absorb LMS. Supporting offerings include IRIS AI (the member chatbot helper), the Quarterly Trends Analyzer (Edge of What's Next), the Resource Center, and the IRI Awards Program. The organization is structured as a division of the National Association of Manufacturers and serves nearly 100 global member organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Research-Technology Management (RTM): Award-winning peer-reviewed journal specializing in innovation management, R&D management, and technology management. Published since 1957/1958.
• IRIS
• Innovators Summit
• Innovation Growth Drivers
• The Edge of What's Next
• Innovation Ahead by IRI

Products and services

• IRI Membership Corporate-level membership providing organizations access to IRI's community of innovation leaders, Community Forum, Roundtables, resources, events, and professional development programs; available to private-sector companies and federally funded laboratories.
• Research-Technology Management (RTM) Journal Bi-monthly peer-reviewed journal published since 1958 that translates academic research on innovation management into practitioner insights on R&D, product development, and technology management for IRI members and journal subscribers.
• Community Forum Members-only peer-to-peer exchange platform where innovation leaders share best practices through surveys and discussions on topics including AI, IP, sustainability, and R&D decisions.
• IRI Roundtables Monthly virtual peer-to-peer discussion groups covering Digitalization & AI, Sustainability, Innovation Excellence, and Open Innovation topics for member innovation leaders.
• IRI Events Annual conferences and events including the Innovators Summit (the flagship three-day event held annually) and the Innovating the Future senior-leader forum, plus workshops and webinars for innovation leaders.
• i101 Innovation Bootcamp Two-part in-person workshop covering innovation concepts, design methods, idea generation, stage-gate systems, AI in innovation, building support for ideas, managing creative teams, and overcoming organizational resistance.
• Virtual Workshops Live virtual workshops covering topics including Essential Tools in Managing Innovation, Organizational Challenges, and Innovation Portfolio Excellence for Manufacturers.
• Applied Innovation Certificates Program Professional development program for R&D and innovation professionals to deepen understanding of key innovation topics and earn formal certificates of completion.
• Shaping Innovation Leaders Program Intensive five-day executive program held at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management designed for senior innovation leaders to develop business skills, strategic thinking, and cross-functional collaboration capabilities.
• On-Demand Courses Self-paced online courses available through IRI's Absorb LMS platform covering topics including Open Innovation Strategies, Portfolio Management, Innovation Metrics, and R&D Strategy; three complimentary logins per member company with certificate completion.
• IRIS AI IRI's AI chatbot helper that assists members in finding resources, information, and answers to questions about IRI programs, publications, and innovation topics.
• Quarterly Trends Analyzer (Edge of What's Next) Quarterly strategic intelligence report examining trends that impact innovation and R&D, assessed by IRI's Foresights Advisory Board for potential business impact.
• IRI Resource Center Comprehensive library of innovation resources including RTM articles, reports, case studies, podcasts, slides, webinars, and community forum surveys searchable by topic and content type.
• Innovation Growth Drivers Annual strategic focus areas identified by IRI members and Board of Advisors covering key innovation challenges and opportunities for the year, with the 2026 edition covering Innovation Pipeline, Workforce, Leveraging AI, Sustainability, and Managing Uncertainty.
• IRI Awards Program Recognition programs including the Maurice Holland Award for the outstanding RTM paper, the Innovation Excellence Awards across categories such as Innovation Leadership, Promising Young Innovator, Innovation in Sustainability, Outstanding Innovative Culture, Digital Innovation, Scientific Advancement, and Open Innovation, plus legacy IRI Medal and IRI Achievement Award programs.
• Innovation Ahead by IRI Podcast Podcast series featuring interviews with industry leaders, thought-provoking discussions on technology trends, and insights on organizational growth strategies for R&D and innovation executives.

Quantifiable outcome

• Member organizations include major global corporations and federal laboratories representing diverse manufacturing and research sectors
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• IPG Photonics, PPG, and Whirlpool CorporationnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 May 2026Three organizations partnered to develop and validate a laser-diode curing platform designed to replace energy-intensive thermal ovens in industrial powder coating operations. The collaboration combines IPG's laser technology, PPG's coatings expertise, and Whirlpool's manufacturing environment to advance a fully electric curing approach with potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Innosight: Innosight is a strategy and innovation consulting firm (founded by Clayton Christensen) that advises corporations on innovation strategy, growth, and transformation. Overlaps with IRI's advisory content on frameworks like jobs-to-be-done and disruptive innovation, though delivered via paid consulting engagements rather than peer membership.
• Doblin (Deloitte): Doblin is Deloitte's innovation and design strategy practice, known for its Ten Types of Innovation framework. It competes with IRI for corporate innovation budget by delivering structured innovation frameworks, advisory, and transformation services to large enterprises.

Direct peers

• Product Development and Management Association (PDMA): PDMA is the closest peer — a global professional association serving product development and innovation management practitioners with peer networking, conferences, publications (Journal of Product Innovation Management), and certification programs. Overlaps with IRI on innovation/R&D leadership education and benchmarking, though IRI skews more toward manufacturers while PDMA spans all industries.
• The Conference Board: The Conference Board is a member-based business research and peer-learning organization serving CEOs and senior executives across industries, including an active R&D and Innovation Council. Comparable to IRI in delivering executive peer research, benchmarking surveys, conferences, and working groups — but at a much broader executive scale.

Others

• Sloan Management Review (MIT): MIT Sloan Management Review is a peer-reviewed management publication and research platform covering innovation, technology, and leadership. While a publication rather than a membership association, it shares IRI's audience of senior innovation leaders and partially overlaps with the RTM journal's practitioner-research positioning.
• World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO): WFEO is an international umbrella body of national engineering societies, comparable to IRI in being a peer-networked, member-funded professional organization serving the manufacturing/R&D community at a broader international scale.
• Council of Manufacturing Associations (NAM division): The Council of Manufacturing Associations is a federation of industry-specific manufacturing associations housed within NAM — the same parent organization as IRI. While serving adjacent manufacturing audiences, it provides insight into how NAM structures cross-association member services relevant to IRI's go-to-market strategy.

Broad incumbents

• American Management Association (AMA): AMA is a long-established provider of management training, executive education, and professional development courses. Overlaps with IRI's Shaping Innovation Leaders program, On-Demand Courses, and certificate offerings, though AMA spans all management topics while IRI focuses specifically on innovation/R&D.
• IEEE: IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization, running peer-reviewed journals, conferences, standards, and education programs serving engineering and technology professionals. While operating at far greater scale than IRI, it shares the same nonprofit member-association model serving R&D-intensive technology communities.

Regional players

• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers): ASME is a long-established engineering professional society serving manufacturing-adjacent technical communities through peer-reviewed publications, conferences, and professional development. Comparable to IRI in the manufacturing professional-association model, but focused on mechanical engineering standards rather than innovation management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/IRIweb
• Facebookfacebook.com/iriweb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/innovation-research-interchange

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Innovation Research Interchange