All GInI certification exams are administered online. Tests to be taken in a facility of the applicant’s choice, The exam must be completed in one session. It cannot be split into multiple sessions.

GInI doesn’t accept documents sent via fax or email. To expedite the auditing process, please send your documents all at once to the mailing address listed below.

Global Innovation Institute
Attn.: Certification Audit Group
38 West Fulton, Suite 400 
Grand Rapids, MI 49503 USA

Your certificate is active for a period of three (3) years, beginning on the day you initially pass the certification exam. In order to maintain your certification, you must obtain the required number of Innovation Development Units (IDUs) within those three (3) years and prior to the certificate expiration date.

If you have failed to achieve the necessary number of IDUs, you can maintain your current certification by retaking the certification exam before the end of your 3-year certification cycle.

You can also reinstate a lapsed certification by retaking the certification exam again. The required IDUs for each certification are as follows:

· CInP®: 45 IDUs during 3-year cycle

· CDTP®: 30 IDUs during 3-year cycle

· CInS®: 45 IDUs during 3-year cycle

· CCInO®: 60 IDUs during 3-year cycle

· AInA®: 60 IDUs during 3-year cycle

The reporting of IDUs is a self-certification process using GInI’s Innovation Development System (IDS) for online IDU Reporting. At the time of continuation, you will not be required to submit supporting documentation of the IDUs in order to continue your certification.

However, for quality control purposes, GInI randomly selects a sample of certificate holders for periodic auditing. For this reason, we ask that you maintain a folder of IDU-related documentation and keep this in place for at least 18 months after your certification cycle has ended.

GInI recognizes that hardships can arise. Certification holders who are incapacitated due to illness, maternity leave, or active duty call can request an extension for their expiration date. 

 
Extensions given due to illness or maternity leaves are typically three months.  However, extensions due to active military duty depend on the expected deployment completion dates. If you are in such a situation, please email your request to GInI@GInI.org and include appropriate supporting documentation to substantiate your request.

You can share the type of GInI’s certificates that you hold on to your account page on MYGInI by the following the below steps:

1- Login to your “MYGInI” account “Link”.

2- Navigate to “Account + Settings” Page.

3- Navigate to “Professional Development”, as the “Journal Entries” window will open.

4- Click “Add Entry” to open a window that you will need to fill the needed information in.

5- In the “Add Entry” window, beside the question “Is this entry for a certification or program?” pick “Yes”.

6- Under “Certification/Program” and “Credit Type” choose the type of the GInI’s certificates that you want to add and fill all the required information.

7- After finishing click “submit”.

*After submitting GInI will get back to you to confirm and approve the Entry.

In order to submit your IDU’s, you can take the below steps:

1- You need to visit GInI’s online store https://my.gini.org/store/ to purchase the required IDU’s application before submitting the entry.

2- Login to your “My GInI” account https://my.gini.org.

3- Navigate to “Account + Settings” Page.

4- Navigate to “Professional Development”, as the “Journal Entries” window will open.

5- Press “+Add Entry” and choose your certificate and add the type of IDU’s you want to submit and fill all the required information.

6- After filling all the needed information, click the “Submit” button.

* After submitting GInI will get back to you to confirm the acceptance of the IDU’s.

For GInI members, the Digital and Print Version of the AInMB costs 300 USD plus shipping fees. For non-members, the Digital and Print Version of the AInMB costs 350 USD plus shipping fees.   For GInI members, the Dual Version of the AInMB costs 325 USD plus shipping fees. For non-members, the Dual Version of the AInMB costs 375 USD plus shipping fees.

Yes.  The Applied Innovation Master Book is GInI's comprehensive body of knowledge, and as such covers all of the topics associated with GInI's professional certification program.

The following lists the sections of the AInMB that should be studied in the pursuit of each respective GInI certification:

·         Certified Innovation Professional (CInP)®:  Sections 1, 2, 3

·         Certified Design Thinking Professional (CDTP)®: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4

·         Certified Innovation Strategist (CInS)®: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

·         Certified Chief Innovation Officer (CCInO)®: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

·         Authorized Innovation Assessor (AInA)®: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The duration is relative depending on the size of the organization being assessed. However, an organization needs to go through the following steps:

• Work with a GInI Authorized Training & Assessment Provider (ATAP) to arrange for and schedule all of the necessary steps, including the securing of two GInI Authorized Innovation Assessors (AInAs).

• Submit selected documents to the Authorized Innovation Assessor (AInAs) for Review two weeks prior to the onsite assessment.

• Submit the required program and strategy documentation to the ATAP, for review by their selected AInAs, at least one month prior to the scheduled onsite assessment.

• Following the onsite assessment, the AInAs will submit, via the ATAP, the Innovation Maturity Assessment Report (InMAR) to GInI.

• Within 14 business days of receiving the InMAR, GInI will review its findings and issue a final CInOrg certification decision to the applying organization and their ATAP.

The 5,000 USD fee charged by GInI is GInI's administrative processing fee. It is to be paid annually on the anniversary of the original certification date.

This excludes any fees that are to be paid to the contracted Authorized Training & Assessment Provider (ATAP) and their chosen Authorized Innovation Assessors (AInAs) for the review, onsite assessment, and reporting work. Such fees are independent of the fee paid to GInI.

Whether for-profit, nonprofit, or governmental agencies, all types of organizations can apply for CInOrg. However, organizations using innovation to pursue strategic aims will benefit immensely from this certification and should apply.

 Here is a list of beneficial industries and organizations:

1. Manufacturing Companies – High Tech, Hard goods, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, etc.

2. Service Organizations – Banking, Finance, Insurance, Hospitality, Travel, etc.

3. Nonprofit Institutions – Schools, Universities, Research Institutes, Libraries, Hospitals, etc.

4. Government Agencies – Economic Development, Infrastructure, Transportation, Utilities, Social Welfare, etc.

Your organization must work through a GInI Authorized Training & Assessment Provider (ATAP) to carry out the CInOrg innovation maturity assessment process.  This ATAP will retain at least two, and potentially more if your organization is excessive large, GInI Authorized Innovation Assessors (AInAs) who will actually carry out the preliminary documentation review, onsite assessment, and final InMAR preparation for GInI.
 

To find a GInI Authorized Training & Assessment Provider (ATAP) who can execute this process for them, organizations should consult the GInI Provider Directory at https://www.gini.org/provider-directory.  Once they have secured an ATAP of their choosing, that ATAP will then retain the necessary AInAs to carry out the process.  Organizations will pay the ATAP / AInA fees separate from GInI's administrative processing fee.  All ATAP / AInA fees should be established prior to carrying out the assessment.  These fees are established independent of GInI, and GInI has no involvement in their setting.

Approximately one month prior to the scheduled time for the on-site assessment, the organization must forward selected strategy and program documentation to the Assessors to be reviewed prior to the on-site assessment.

A business' innovation needs to satisfy the following criteria in order to be endorsed by GInI:

a) Represent a solution to a problem that is truly novel relative to previous solutions.

b) Be legitimately conceived, defined, developed, and implemented by the business – either alone or in partnership with other businesses. 

c) Be used exclusively by the business and/or licensed to another business for exclusive use.

d) Have been in use for a minimum of six months and thus able to demonstrate a positive impact on the business and the intended customers.

The applicant must provide the following for each program seeking accreditation: 

• Program name. 

• Program duration – the number of contact hours required for successful program completion. 

• Program delivery modalities (e.g. in-class public, in-class private, one-on-one tutoring, online, etc.). 

• Program delivery locations – including any collaboration with other business entities.

Accelerator Programs are specialized programs wherein cohorts of startup founder teams are led through a time-bound business definition process. In this process, each founder team must define the nature of their business, the issue it is addressing in the market, its unique value proposition for doing so, its business model for generating revenues and profits, its branding statement, possibly an early prototype of its core solution, a detailed financial forecast of revenues, expenses, and profits over time, a complete business plan documenting all of the above, and a compelling pitch deck which they can use to pitch their business to investors. Accelerator Programs typically end with a Demo Day, in which each founder team demos their solution and the business opportunity it represents to prospective investors with the hopes of being able to secure further investment for taking the business to the next level of validation in the market.