National interests, global dynamics, sustainability challenges: a framework to make sense of innovation policy in a globalized context

Abstract

The realization that our socioeconomic systems have become unsustainable in many ways urges us to profoundly transform them through innovation, embarking on long-term, multi-dimensional ‘sustainability transitions’. Public support to these transitions will probably need to be articulated in terms of complex ‘policy mixes’. Strategy is a key element of policy mixes that has however received limited attention both in policy studies and innovation studies. We claim that current representations of innovation systems are not well suited to facilitate strategic thinking on goals and external dynamics. We therefore propose a representation that puts these considerations at its core: the Outcome-oriented Innovation Framework (OoIF).

The realization that our socioeconomic systems have become unsustainable in many ways urges us to profoundly transform them through innovation, embarking on long-term, multi-dimensional ‘sustainability transitions’. Public support to these transitions will probably need to be articulated in terms of complex ‘policy mixes’. Strategy is a key element of policy mixes that has however received limited attention both in policy studies and innovation studies. We claim that current representations of innovation systems are not well suited to facilitate strategic thinking on goals and external dynamics. We therefore propose a representation that puts these considerations at its core: the Outcome-oriented Innovation Framework (OoIF).