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Identifying the criteria that effectively drive innovation in universities is critical to assessing their innovation maturity level, and hence, planning for the improvements required to reach a target level. This paper aims to propose a three-phase approach to develop a multidimensional maturity assessment framework used by university decision-makers to determine their level of innovation readiness.

First, a systematic collection of evaluation criteria from the literature is conducted. The results are mapped into different categories in a hierarchical and multidimensional way, and validated by experts. The second phase aims to identify the critical factors and their priorities, which are determined using analytic network process (ANP). To facilitate that, a panel of thirteen experts is formed and questionnaires are sent to rank the importance of the criteria and their elements. Finally, a maturity assessment tool is developed to complement the framework, allowing decision-makers to determine the level of innovation maturity with respect to each dimension and the overall position.

Results revealed three clusters, eight criteria and 26 subcriteria related to innovation in universities. The findings about the relative importance of the various attributes are reflected in the developed assessment tool and taken into consideration in the maturity indices computation approach.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to develop a comprehensive list of innovation success drivers in universities and to use this list to design an innovation maturity assessment framework