Monitoring Innovation in Virtual Enterprises: an Agile Semantic Approach * Claudia Diamantini 1 , Benjamin Knoke 2 and Michele Missikoff 1 1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università Politecnica delle Marche - via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy {diamantini,missikoff}@dii.univpm.it 2 BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH Hochschulring 20 · D-28359 Bremen / Germany kno@biba.uni-bremen.de Abstract. In this paper, the key ideas adopted in the BIVEE project to monitor and support an innovation venture are illustrated, and developed in the context of a virtual enterprise (VE). The proposed approach is based on two pillars: a novel framework, further split into three parts, and the support of a semantic platform. In particular, the novel framework is split into the Virtual Enterprise Modelling Framework (VEMF), the Business Innovation Reference Framework (BIRF) and the Innovation Monitoring Framework (IMF). VEMF is aimed at providing a unique approach to the modelling of a VE, overcoming the divergences that the different real enterprises forming the VE may exhibit. The BIRF is aimed at providing guidelines for carrying out effective innovations in a VE. Finally, the IMF provides a set of methods, including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), to monitor performances of activities and the achievement of planned goals. The second pillar is represented by a semantic platform relying on a federation of ontologies that allow the business context to be semantically enriched in a formal way. 1 Introduction This paper addresses the problem of monitoring innovation in the context of a virtual enterprise (VE). A VE is essentially a network of cooperating enterprises getting together to achieve a production (of goods and/or services) that could not be achieved if separated [1, 7]. Today, an enterprise is required, in parallel to the value production, to be able to constantly innovate. While the structure and organization of a VE is (supposedly) conceived to be optimal for the value production activities, innovation projects are difficult to manage in a distributed, loosely coordinated (beyond production) context. For this reason, the idea is introduced that in parallel to a value production organization there should be an innovation oriented organization that is referred to as Virtual Innovation Factory (VIF). A VIF is a production factory aimed at manufacturing an immaterial good: innovation, where its nature is essentially * This work has been partially funded by the European Commission through the Project BIVEE: Business Innovation and Virtual Enterprise Environment , Grant No. 285746