Authors: Alexandra Waluszewski
ABSTRACT
‘Current economic and social challenges are enormous and often global in
nature. Innovation can help accelerate the recovery and put countries back on a
path to sustainable – and greener – growth.’ (Ministerial report on the OECD
Innovation strategy, May 2010)
Innovations that can make new and old companies prosper, invest, employ, and hereby
contribute to tax incomes and to a nations’ growth – through solutions that at the same time
can solve problems related to a nations’ economic, environmental and social issues. In short,
this is the contemporary political demand list on innovation. With the current societal
challenges in mind, the governmental expectation on what companies, supported by national
innovation policy, can contribute with is undoubtedly high. The contemporary innovation
policy is also resting firmly on the assumption of a business landscape which is close to how
it is depicted in innovation policy. Empirical studies of innovation, among others the research
carried out in the IMP setting, indicates that the business landscape is network like, where
related material and immaterial have a strong impact on content and effect of any renewal
attempt. What do then these network-like characteristics of the business landscape mean for
attempts to boost innovation?
The aim of this paper is to outline:
A) The underlying assumptions about innovation that the contemporary governmental
commission rests upon.
B) The underlying assumption about innovation given that the business landscape is
supposed to be characterised by interdependencies.
C) Opportunities for public policy to support the industrial renewal given that the ambition is
to contribute to the policy investing nations’ significant, stable contributions to
transnational supplier and/or user networks.
Journal: ( – )
Web Address:
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Conference: Glasgow, Scotland (2011)