Transformative Innovation Policy and SDGs

Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) has become a new major theme in the Innovation Policy discourse. It has been proposed as an alternative framing for innovation policy by ‘people who are desperate to see changes in the current world scene’ to meet the ambitious challenges expressed in the SDGs. While appreciating the importance of S&T in system transformation TIP practitioners believe that technological intervention alone is incapable of resolving systemic challenges such as climate change, inequality, migration etc., hence attempts to bring together social innovation and technical innovation to address systemic challenges. It is generally realized that the predominant tendency to see innovation as promoting economic growth is too narrow, hence the focus on directionality in innovation policy. With inspiration from Dutch STS scholars proponents of transformative innovation policy has applied the Multi-level Perspective (MLP) of Sustainability Transitions with the aim to capture the nature and dynamics of Deep Transitions. Some of this TIP-literature adopts a ‘programmatic’ approach and presents itself as ‘an alternative to innovation policy based either upon neo-classical economics or upon Innovation Systems analysis’. Critical reviewers who question the novelty of this idea find TIP echoing Schumpeter who wrote about ‘path-breaking economic activities’ and recognised the transformative character of economic development. In this vein ideas such as lock-ins, policy interventions for structural change, regional path dependencies etc. are identified to be precursory to TIP. Further TIP can be seen to have influenced by at-least two sets of emerging literature namely ‘innovation and transition studies’ and ‘the missions- oriented policy framework’; both ideas in their original form dating back to the mid-20th century. A critique on TIP is regarding its dismissal of ‘mission economy’ as well as ‘innovation systems analysis’ as 20th century ideas. Yet another point of divergence is with respect to its claim that the current transition is the second one after the industrial revolution in the 18th

century. While recognising the importance of TIP it is pertinent to consider its theoretical foundations as well as historical relevance. Does it offer an adequate framework for public policy to meet the SDG’s in a world

characterized by new digital technologies, growing global inequality and global decoupling and intensified international conflicts? Can TIP bridge the gap between STS-research and public policy? Where exactly do the foundations of TIP lie and how is it related to respectively neo-classical economics and Innovation System-perspectives? Could TIP be further developed in alliance with the broad evolutionary

economics discipline and the innovation systems and mission economy schools? What would be the consequences? The TIP-perspective has been developed mainly by scholars from the North, is it equally relevant for low income countries in the global south? The speakers will discuss some of the aforementioned issues.

SPEAKERS

Bengt Ake Lundvall is professor emeritus in economics at the Department of Business and Management at Aalborg University. His research is organized around a broad set of issues related to innovation systems, and learning economies. Lundvall was Deputy Director for the Directorate of Science, Technology and Industry 1992-95 and he joined Tsinghua University, Beijing 2003-2006 as Special Term Professor. He has been engaged as advisor for international organisations including Unctad and The World Bank as well as for national governments in all parts of the world. He founded Globelics 2001 and he served as its coordinator until 2018. Since 1988, he has published more than 200 publications in the form of books, journal articles, and book chapters (see www.vbn.aau.dk). His two most cited works are:

Lundvall, B.-Å., (ed.) (2010), National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning. London, Anthem.

Lundvall, B.-Å. and Johnson, B. (1994), 'The Learning Economy', Journal of Industry Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 23-42.

Johan Schot  is Professor of Comparative Global History at the Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges (UUGLOBE). He is Director of the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) and the Deep Transitions research project. He was previously Director of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex Business School in the UK from 2014-2018. Johan Schot is an academic entrepreneur that builds bridges between science and

practice by applying a transdisciplinary research approach. He is working jointly with actors from different academic disciplines, policy-makers, governments, civil society, NGOs, the media and business world to address the biggest challenges of our times such as climate change and social inequality. He is the author of influential publications including Transitions Towards Sustainable Development. New Directions in The Study of Long Term Transformative Change

(Grin, Rotmans & Schot) and Three frames for innovation policy: R&D, systems of innovation and transformative change (Schot & Steinmueller, 2018). For more information visit www.johanschot.com, subscribe to Professor Schot’s newsletter and follow @Johan_Schot on Twitter.

JUDITH SUTZ is a researcher in the field of Science, Technology, Society and Development. She has specialized in the study of development and underdevelopment based on the interrelations between science, technology and society. He also researches on the problems associated with the production and social use of knowledge, promoting interdisciplinarity in the field of Social Sciences. She had made a very significant contribution to understanding the innovation process in the South. Her theoretical and empirical research elaborates on the concept of "university for development” and "learning divide”. Her proposal to think of "innovation policies as social policies" constitute one of her main contributions that point at integrating the international literature on innovation and development. In 1977, she graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the Universidad Central de Venezuela when she was in exile. She continued studying at the same University, graduating with a master's degree in Development Planning, with a mention in Science and Technology. In 1984, she defended her doctoral thesis "Informatique et Societé: quelques réflexions à partir du Tiers Monde", a third cycle doctorate in "Socio-Economics of Development: Mention in Economics", at the Sorbonne University. She is a researcher at the Universidad de la República. Since 1992 she has been Coordinator of the Academic Unit of the Sectorial Commission for Scientific Research. She is part of the National Research System and member of the National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay. She has participated in the Organization of Iberoamerican States as an expert/consultant and in the Iberoamerican Network of Science and Technology Indicators. She has also been a member of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Editorial Boards of the Revista Iberoamericana de Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad and Research Policy.

Sylvia Schwaag Serger seeks to understand and contribute to policymaking on research and innovation. Her recent work focuses on policies for transformation and resilience, and on science, higher education and international relations. Sylvia has run a think tank, worked in several ministries and government agencies (among other things she was in charge of international strategy at the Swedish Government Agency of Innovation (Vinnova) for ten years) and as science attaché in Beijing. She has chaired several expert groups for the European Commission and has been one of the external experts in the OECD innovation reviews of Finland (2017), Norway (2017), South Korea and Germany (both ongoing). She currently chairs the scientific board of the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (Formas), She is a member of the Austrian Council for Research and Technological Development, the International Advisory Board of the Norwegian Research Council, and was member of the Swedish National Innovation Council (2018-2021). She has an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a PhD in economic history from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Sylvia is professor of research policy at Lund University, where, from 2018-2020 she was also Deputy Vice Chancellor

Rainer Kattel is Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). He has studied at the University of Tartu, Estonia, and the University of Marburg, Germany, in philosophy, political philosophy, classics and public administration. He led Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance for 10 years, building it into one of the leading innovation and governance schools in the region. Professor Kattel has also served on various public policy commissions, including the Estonian Research Council and European Science Foundation. He has worked as an expert for the OECD, UNDP and the European Commission, and served as a member of E-Estonia Council advising the Prime Minister of Estonia. Currently, he leads the Estonian Government’s Gender Equality Council. He has published extensively on innovation policy, its governance and specific management issues. In 2013, he received Estonia's National Science Award for his work on innovation policy.

Shawn Cunningham is a process consultant working in the field of innovation and competitiveness improvement of the private sector. He supports a range of institutions, leaders and advisors on topics such as making decisions under conditions of uncertainty or complexity, strengthening organisations or conducting learning processes through ongoing search, discovery and adjustment. He has conducted diagnoses and supported improvement processes in various industries and locations worldwide. His research is focused on technological and institutional change, and how the dynamism of learning and innovation between stakeholders can be improved.

He is a partner in the international development consultancy Mesopartner and a Professor of Practice with the DST/NRF/Newton Fund Trilateral Chair in Transformative Innovation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Sustainable Development hosted by the College of Business and Economics at the University of Johannesburg. He serves as an advisor to several think tanks, universities, development organisations and government departments internationally.

Andy Hall is a science and technology policy analyst with a specialization in the study and design of agriculture innovation processes, policies and practices. Andy did pioneering research on the nature and performance of agricultural innovation systems and more recently has explored transformational change and innovation process agri-food systems and the nature of knowledge systems needed to support the transition to sustainable production and consumption systems. He has published extensively on these topics in peer review and non-academic literature. Andy obtained a PhD from the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex in 1994. He has held positions at the Ugandan Agricultural Research Institute, the Natural Resources Institute (UK), the International Center for Research in the Semi-Arid Tropic (ICRISAT), India and the United Nations University Institute for Economics Research on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Netherlands/ India, and the Open University, UK. He also worked as a consultant advising numerous international agencies on effective innovation practice, programming and policy. Since 2014 Andy has been a Senior Principal Research Scientist in the Agriculture and Food business unit of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia.

Mammo Muchie received his primary and secondary education at St. John Elementary School and Fassildes High School [Gondar] respectively. Mammo topped the World Youth Forum Competition and was invited to USA in 1968 for pursuing high school education. Subsequently, he studied at DWhite Morrow High School and in Engle Wood, New Jersey. He studied physics and mathematics and got exposed to all liberal courses in the Ivy League universities. He completed a diploma program at the MENDELEV Institute of Measurement Science, Russia in Measurement Science before pursuing higher studies at Columbia University, New York and Sussex University, England where he was mentored by stalwarts such as Prof. Coleman (Dean of science at Columbia), Prof. Murray (IDS Sussex), Prof. Gordon White and Prof. Chris Freeman (SPRU, Sussex).Mammo Muchie received his primary and secondary education at St. John Elementary School and Fassildes High School [Gondar] respectively. Mammo topped the World Youth Forum Competition and was invited to USA in 1968 for pursuing high school education. Subsequently, he studied at DWhite Morrow High School and in Engle Wood, New Jersey. He studied physics and mathematics and got exposed to all liberal courses in the Ivy League universities. He completed a diploma program at the MENDELEV Institute of Measurement Science, Russia in Measurement Science before pursuing higher studies at Columbia University, New York and Sussex University, England where he was mentored by stalwarts such as Prof. Coleman (Dean of science at Columbia), Prof. Murray (IDS Sussex), Prof. Gordon White and Prof. Chris Freeman (SPRU, Sussex).

Rajesh GK (Moderator) is a director of the UK based Association for South South Cooperation in Innovation Systems Transformation -ASSIST. He is development practitioner and Civil Servant with the Government of India and an Adjunct Fellow of Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. A post graduate in Agricultural sciences, he holds an Mphil in Applied Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India (Centre for Development Studies) and PhD from Gandhigram Rural University, India. His research interests include Innovation Systems and diffusion of agricultural technologies. He founded CRIS-IS.ORG, Association for South South Cooperation in Innovation Systems Transformation (ASSIST), Council for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection (CONCEPT) and headed major projects such as drafting the Master Plan for developing silk industry in North East India and performed the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of Indian-silk, with the Oxford University; findings of which formed the basis for 'Higg MSI for silk' developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). Rajesh is closely associated with GlobeLics and AfricaLics and serves as a member of the Scientific Board of the latter.