Background and Motivation: Innovation is the unifying source of hope for an ever shrinking, crowded, and disunited planet, approaching its material boundaries. We need to savor and exploit the promise of innovation, and its potential for all that it offers. Accordingly, we should bring in all those who feel left out, believing that innovation is the private province of the "Einsteins" and the "Edisons" of this world. We say: whoever you are, whatever you are doing -- you can do it in a better way -- find that way, and flourish by it! Innovation is spiritually invigorating; it is a transforming and universal experience. And as more and more of us take part in large scale innovative undertakings, the need to manage innovation is growing proportionally. Unlike nominal management, innovation management is carried out over unrealized knowledge, guiding its gradual realization. It requires frequent re-adjustment, recurrent re-calibration, and it is an effort improved with broad-based cross-fertilization, and extended community input. It should be recognized as a distinct craft and as a discipline onto itself.

Themes:

Organization: FiiMA will become a members-controlled organization, comprised of two categories of individuals: associates -- innovation stakeholders with minimum admission requirements, and professionals -- vetted credentialed individuals, masters of the art and science of innovation management. FiiMA will extend itself globally and remain meticulously neutral on all political and cultural issues. At present FiiMA is managed by its founder, Gideon Samid, who is currently assembling the founding team that would take over, and guide FiiMA to its mature state of members- controlled organization.