No 2017/8 An innovation system framework for system innovation policy

the case of Strategic Innovation Programs (SIPs) in Sweden

Abstract

This orientation towards grand societal challenges can be seen as a new wave or paradigm for innovation policy. Such policy is geared to the achievement of systems wide transformations and often referred to as system innovation policy. Even if policies start to be aimed at system innovation, it is unclear how to implement such policies. While insights from transition studies have provided novel and useful rationales for system innovation policy, these studies provide less guidance as to which policy instruments are effective in addressing system innovation. To translate and concretize the challenges of system innovation towards scope for policy action, we relate these challenges to three generic dimensions of innovation systems, i.e. (1) interests and capabilities of actors, (2) networks and network dynamics and (3) institutions and institutional change. These dimensions will allow us to analyze whether and how innovation policy instruments can be used to foster and expedite system innovation. We illustrate its use to identify and assess system innovation policy in practice focusing on the Strategic Innovation Program, a recent policy initiative by Vinnova, Sweden’s Innovation Agency, targeting system innovation.