1. Holistic Innovation Policy
Opportunities and Challenges

2. “Innovation is the process of carrying an idea—perhaps an old, well known idea—through the laboratory, development, production and then on to successfully marketing a product The technical contribution does not have a dominant position.” (taken from IRI, Manager Symposium, 1970 re cited in Godin, 2016)
Innovation is not necessarily dependent on R&D

3. Holistic innovation policy is policy that integrates all public actions that influence or may influence innovation processes
Edquist (2014) STI Policy Review

4. Holistic innovation policy: four policies in one
Science/research policy
Governance of higher education, public research organisations
Institutional and competitive funding for research

5. Technology policy aka RTD policy
Health, transport, agriculture
Procurement, targetted R&D often public/private, infrastructural development (road, hospitals, power grids, etc.)

6. Industry policy Innovation policy
support and infrastructure for corporate R&D and innovation
Pre competitive consortia, fiscal arrangements R&D tax credits, sector specific VAT, standards
Innovation policy
commercialisation and transfer of knowledge, entrepreneurship
Science parks, incubators, patent support, seed funding

7. Science, technology and Innovation Policy
The coupling of innovation to ST was seen as a logical development from the insight that demand, science, etc were all necessary components not alternatives
STI policy is very closely associated with the
reconceptualisation of innovation as collaborative moments
Holistic innovation policy is STI policy which emphasises coordination and synergies among policy instruments

8. Robust results from research on innovation
Knowledge transfer and collaboration take time
Impact is difficult to predict and even more difficult to trace
Investments in creating absorptive capacity are the most useful and give the highest payoff

9. SMEs outside of the high tech sector rely heavily on large firms for knowledge transfer rather than on universities
Research intensive SMEs are reliant on university research in more respects than those captured by extant policies
Traditional low tech areas like agriculture and forestry can be made more R&D intensive by applying existing technologies to increase value added

10. Creating fora for different sectors to meet and for actors to initiate collaboration is an important gap that public sector actors can fill
Consistent funding flows and transparency in how funding will be allocated, which agencies manage what funding is critical
Economic growth is not solely reliant on R&D intensive innovation

11. Challenges of STI policymaking
STI policy is an exercise in balancing contradictory objectives and targets
Excellence in a few areas vs broad based competence in all
Universalism vs strong local relevance
Strong basic science competence vs applied technological focus (absorptive capacity or specialisation)

12. Opportunities
Shift to artisanal production is a potential route to reaching more traditional sectors through innovation policy
An innovation policy focused on services and sectors like agriculture, lifestyle and health may be an alternative to the high tech, R&D intensive approaches favoured by Northern Europe

13. Challenges of STI policymaking
STI policy requires more cooperation across different policy areas
Attention to synergies between policy instruments, between public and private R&D and investment

14. Holistic innovation policy should be taken as an ambition not an objective!

15. Instrument design and selection is key to successful implementation of any policy vision but for holistic innovation policy
IT IS AN IMPERATIVE!

16. Aim for a portfolio approach to policy instruments

17. Allow stakeholders enough freedom to make mistakes and to report unintentional outcomes of actions and instruments
This puts attention on the big picture and encourages actors to see linkages, identify spillover effects.