As technology continues to be a dominant force in society, innovation is gaining increasing importance in developing and maintaining competitive advantage. Those who are able to create new ideas, develop new technologies and harness the capabilities generated by those technologies are setting the standards and leading the way for the rest of the world. Global leadership in every field is shifting toward innovative use and effective management of technology. The key to leadership is resting in the management of the process of nurturing creative ideas, creating new technologies, developing new products and commercializing them in existing and new markets. In short, the technology-driven world is being defined by the way innovation is managed. Innovation management will be the critical challenge in the years to come. Those who succeed in it will be the emerging leaders in the technology-driven world; those who fail will cease to exist. Recognizing this enormous challenge, PICMET ’04 takes a bold step and examines innovation management in the technology-driven world.