Governance and relevance
The conference builds on and deepens the directions proposed by the 2017 Vienna EUSPRI conference and focuses on new practices and new policies for research and innovation. These new challenges for the governance of STI policies also develop in a context where impacts become a political leitmotiv, raising the issue of the relevance of policy frames and approaches.
Five main themes for the conference
- New governance: the question about the governance of STI policy (new players, new processes and new instruments) should be enlarged by reopening the question of the continuing relevance of this amalgamation, by discussing ‘policy mixes’, and by questioning the importance of the context (in particular for non-OECD countries).
- New space of innovation policy: the question of which conditions are innovation policies framed and operated in a knowledge-based society ; discussing the role of civil society organisations, the inclusion of ‘new’ values in innovation processes (focusing on RRI and inclusiveness), and types of innovation other than S&T driven innovation.
- New understanding of globalization: Re-eamine the multiple facets and effects of the globalisation of knowledge and innovation, beyond the dynamics of multinational firms : new geography of knowledge and innovation; structural impacts of absolute advantages; new frames and new non-governmental actors for regulating international trade; or new non governmental actors supporting research.
- New challenges for renewed research orientations: situate the debates on “societal challenges” in perspective with the historical ‘mission-oriented’ and ‘sectoral’ innovation policies, which have developed todays’ portfolio of instruments. Examine the need for systemic approaches, like in transition studies, dealing with climate change and energy. How do similar approaches work with agricultural or health challenges, and what types of transition dynamics are at stake and what are their policy implications?
- Market, users, citizens: The conference will offer the possibility to deepen our knowledge of on-going citizen and user-driven economic and societal changes coined by such ‘umbrella terms’ as DIY society, the sharing economy, crowd sourcing or political consumption; and to discuss their implications about the relation between societal change and innovation and the potential implication for innovation policies.
In each theme, we will focus on the need for original knowledge to understand changes in the policy instruments and public policies, focussing on the large diversity of phenomena and results and their meaning as well as the role of contexts. We also focus on methodologies, relevant indicators, and research arrangements that allow to better position, characterise and follow these on-going dynamics. Finally, discussions are open on all important themes for the field, such as the evaluation and impact of STI policies, innovation ecosystems, funding or infrastructures. Open-ended sessions will be opened repsonding to the needs of colleagues attending the Conference.