Our report on the future of innovation considers the way that a clearly defined process is being replaced with a complex web of relationships. Successful innovators will have to manage these relationships, as well as sense how a range of wider social, political and economic factors, such as climate change, will shape their work.

The shift to open innovation strategies is just one of the earliest signs of how the new innovation landscape will recast existing disciplines. In our piece on intellectual property, Werner Frohling of Volvo Technology argues that strong IP management schemes will enable, rather than hinder, open innovation partnerships. Indrek Tammeaid of the University of Helsinki says that academics wanting to tap new sources of funding will have to learn some of the language and intricacies of the world of finance.

Though this new innovation landscape may be challenging, it is not impossible. A piece syndicated from the Financial Times describes how a spin-out from Manchester University's computing department has successfully negotiated the new landscape to become a venture-funded company that played a vital role in the fortunes of home-computing pioneer Apple. A third feature describes how the power of computing and robotics is also changing many practical aspects of research.

The changing nature of innovation has not gone unnoticed in the wider world. Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for science and research, argues passionately that industry should support the Commission's efforts to create a European Research Area, well adapted for innovation, in an exclusive Viewpoint for eIQ. A Country Profile on the Netherlands outlines how it is adapting to the new innovation landscape at the national level.

Our news section highlights related issues, such as a Commission salary survey that suggests that some European researchers could afford higher standards of living if they moved to India, and research on the difficulties of measuring innovation in evolving industries such as services. We also follow up on last edition's focus on creativity with news of research into the characteristics of some of the world's most innovative labs.