Transformative Innovation Policy & the Role of Users

Professor Johan Schot, Director of SPRU, University of Sussex

More details www.sussex.ac.uk/spru

Research for a World in TransitionEconomic Crisis

Climate change and global warming

New socio-technical regimes & systems

Biotechnology

Sustainability

New way of provisioning basic

needs

GlobalisationThreat New wars

Dichotomy of externalization & internalization

Governance

Emergence of Asian Century

Changing nature of work

Scenarios: Brutal or Inclusive?

Researchimpact

Training thenext generation

• Research addresses real world problems

• Co-producing knowledge with stakeholders

• Sustained engagement and long term partners

• Impact through concepts, tools, capacity building, providing a knowledge base

• Focus on economic growth agenda, leading to high social & ecological costs, which are addressed ex-post

• Production is capital and skill intensive, with economies of scale, sophisticated knowledge systems & infrastructure

• Greener production & consumption patterns through implementation of capital intensive solutions

Externalization Vs Internalization • Different type of economic growth

& development, with distribution issues dealt with ex-ante

• Actors take responsibility for the ecological & social impacts generated

• Radical transformation towards more small-scale production, shared & collective consumption, & distributed energy generation

What is a deep transition?Deep transition is a shift in a shared direction

3 on a globalscale

2 reorganising the entire economy and society

1 of several sociotechnical regimes/systems

This shared direction could also be referred to as a

techno-economic paradigm (TEP) (Perez, 2002);

A TEP is a meta-sociotechnical regime providing coordination

across a range of sociotechnical regimes.

Three Generations of Innovation Policy

1966

1960s – 1970s

1980s – 1990s

Generation 1: Science & Technology Policy

• This generation was based on the linear model of invention, innovation & diffusion

• This was based on a complex linear model

Generation 2: National System of Innovation Policy

Generation 3: Innovation Policy for Transformative Change

• This is based on new Innovation Theory drawing on the synthesis between STS/evolutionary economics & interdisciplinary inputs

• Sustainability Transition Theory

Definition of Socio-Technical Regime:

“A socio-technical regime consists of a distinct set of stable rules, used by actors to guide socio-technical design, policy-making and use. This rule-set is embodied in shared engineering search heuristics, ways of defining problems, user and policy preferences, expectations, product characteristics, skills and standards.”

Multi-Level Model (MLP)

• Technical change is driven by quasi-evolutionary dynamics

• Variation is not blind, but directed at anticipated future selection

• Attempts to influence future selection through voicing expectations, niche building & the creation of selection-environment

• Builds bridges or nexus between variation and selection

Landscape developments put pressure on existing regime, which opens up, creating windows of opportunity for novelties

Socio-technical regime is ‘dynamically stable’.On different dimensions there are ongoing processes

New configuration breaks through, takingadvantage of ‘windows of opportunity’. Adjustments occur in socio-technical regime.

Elements become aligned,and stabilise in a dominant design.Internal momentum increases.

Small networks of actors support novelties on the basis of expectations and visions.Learning processes take place on multiple dimensions (co-construction).Efforts to link different elements in a seamless web.

New regime influences landscape

Niche-innovations

Socio-technicallandscape (exogenouscontext)

Socio-technicalregime

Technology

Markets, user preferences

CulturePolicy

ScienceIndustry

External influences on niches(via expectations and networks)

Increasing structurationof activities in local practices

Time

Regime change & transitions occur when:

Researchimpact

Training thenext generation

• Research addresses real world problems

• Co-producing knowledge with stakeholders

• Sustained engagement and long term partners

• Impact through concepts, tools, capacity building, providing a knowledge base

• Niches are built up sufficiently. Indicators are deep & broad-learning

• Networks are with robust & specific expectations

• Socio-technical regimes are open for change demonstrated by tensions & de-alignment

• Socio-technical landscape pressures enable change

Innovation Policy 3.0 for transformative change:

• Foresight to influence perceptions of socio-technical landscape developments & shape expectations

• Experimentation to build up niches (strategic niche management = smart experimentation)

• New institution building, in which actors can meet & discuss how to proceed & develop shared responsibility (de-align dominant socio-technical regime)

• Developing new expertise & capabilities (fusing social sciences & sciences in order to address social-technical nature of technical change)

Innovation Policy 3.0 requires:

• Focusing on the World in Transition

• Using the power of innovation, but at the same time re-embedding innovation in moral economy & providing direction (= transforming innovation)

• Managing ecological & social issues ex-ante not ex-post

Users’ Roles for Innovation Policy 3.0

User-

Producer/entrepreneur

Legitimator

Intermediary

Citizen

Consumer

Role of Users Stability of rules

Percentage of population using the rules

Early market niche

Decline of regime

Eroded, unstable regime

Erosion of existing regime, hollowing out

Early niche branching, emergence of technical regime

Wider breakthrough; grows into socio-technical regime

Stable, dominant socio-technical regime

1

2

4

4

3

External change

User-producer

User-legitimator

User-citizen

User-consumer

User-intermediary

Figure X (adapted from Schot and Geels, 2007: 614)

SPRU is hosting a major 50th Anniversary conference7-9 September on Transforming Innovation

 Please join us. The call for papers is out now – deadline 1 March 2016Follow on Twitter: @Johan_Schot

@SPRU 

More details www.sussex.ac.uk/spru